Putting Together Your College List
With thousands of colleges and universities to choose from, there’s a school for everyone.
Ready to bundle up? The University of Denver has a ski bus to take you to the slopes on the weekends. Love a party? Tulane University offers the best of New Orleans seafood at its annual Crawfest. Whether you want to bring your cat to school with you (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), work on a student-run farm (California’s Pomona College), or design your own major (Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania); this is the time to dream about the perfect four year academic experience.
Step 1: Your Likes and Dislikes
The first step in putting together a college list is to think through everything you want in a college experience. Start by jotting down the answers to these questions:
Do you want to stay close to home or are you comfortable being far away?
If you are ready to be a bit farther from home, how far a drive are you willing to take on? Would you be okay knowing that you have to fly home? Make sure to keep in mind the travel expense!
Is there a particular city, state, or region of the country that you’ve always been curious about or wanted to live in?
Do you want a school located in a city, in a small town, or in a rural area? What about weather?
Do you want to go to a big school or a small school? Bigger schools usually offer more classes and activities, but the class size is also larger, so you may not get the individualized help you need. Small schools will give you the chance to know your professors better, but they may not have as many classes or extracurriculars.
Do you play a sport? Do you want to play it on a college, club, or intramural level?
Do you like a school with a lot of school spirit; including football games and Greek life (fraternities and sororities)?
Are you searching for a school that welcomes a diverse array of cultures, religions, and experiences?
What field of study are you interested in? Don’t worry about specific majors right now, just think about your general academic interests.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is prestige and status to you?
Step 2: Develop a Preliminary List of Schools
Use the CollegeBoard’s Big Future tool,NCES’s College Navigator, or Peterson’s College Search Tool to search for colleges by location, majors, type, or campus life options. College Confidential can also give you great advice.
Step 3: Take Virtual Tours
While you can’t fly around the country popping in on every school on your list, you can take virtual tours of many universities. Most colleges offer videos, slideshows, or 360-degree tours of campus:
YouVisit offers 360 degree virtual tours of many campuses
CampusReel.org has short student-made clips of their campuses
Campus Tours has interactive campus maps
Visit your college’s YouTube or Admissions Office page for additional info
Step 4: Dig a Little Deeper
Now that you’ve carefully considered the possibilities, be sure these colleges offer a blend of features to lead to student success. You’ll want to check:
Support Services: Does the college you’re considering offer strong academic advising and career planning services? You can size this up on the university’s own website.
Freshman Retention Rate: This will show you how many students return for their second year of college; an important indicator of student satisfaction.
Highest 4-Year Graduation Rates: Completing a degree in four years is essential to keeping college costs low. Taking classes beyond four years means additional tuition and fees.
Cost of attendance: There is an enormous difference between the costs of a public college and a private college. The costs of attendance include tuition, housing, food, books, and other fees at the college. You can find that information at Tuition Tracker.
Admission Selectivity: Is the college a reach for me or is it one which I am likely to attend? Check the average GPA, SAT, and ACT scores for the recently admitted freshman class; then compare it against your own metrics. You’ll have a mix of safety, match, and reach schools.
Step 5: Balance Your Choices
At this point, you’ll have several desirable options. You can compare colleges at sites like College Results Online and the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard. As you winnow down your list, be sure it is balanced between safety, target, and reach schools:
Safety Schools:
Your standardized test scores and GPA should place you at or above the 75th percentile in admitted student scores. Two to three schools on your list should be safety schools.
Match Schools:
Your standardized test scores and GPA should place you at or above the 50th percentile in admitted student scores. Three to five schools on your list should be match schools.
Reach Schools:
Your standardized test scores and GPA should place you at or above the 25th percentile in admitted student scores. Two to three schools on your list should be reach schools.
And there you have it! Before you know it, you’ll be there – studying abroad in Florence, Italy (Syracuse University), designing digital media games (University of Central Florida), or living within a UNESCO World Heritage site (The University of Virginia). A school for everyone, a place for you.
