On the face of it, comparing buying a mattress to choosing a college might feel apocryphal. Insulting even.

College encompasses a series of experiences—from the classroom to extracurricular activities and social opportunities—that, in the best of scenarios, are transformative.

A mattress is, well, a mattress. A bunch of foam and coils on which you sleep.

But a mattress can be incredibly valuable—and, like institutions of higher education, increasingly complex. It impacts one of the things that is most important in someone’s life—a person’s sleep, the quality and quantity of which is one of the top determinants of health and wellness.

But beyond the normative question, choosing a mattress has some similarities to choosing a college. Comparing and contrasting the two helps us learn.