Researching Colleges and Building a College List
Get excited; this is the fun part. You are in the driver’s seat; only you get to decide where you apply. This is a great time for rising juniors to start thinking about college. For rising seniors, this is a very important time to be finalizing the list of colleges you want to attend.
Before researching specific schools for you, think about what you might like in a college.
Do you want to be close or far away from home?
Do you want to go home to visit a lot or rarely?
Do you want a big, small, or medium size school?
Do you want a specific type of weather or area of the country?
Do you want a particular major or area of study?
Do you want an urban, suburban, or rural campus?
Do you want a school with big games and lots of school spirit?
Do you want Greek life or lots of cultural events?
What activities do you want to partake in at school?
Do you want to be near off-campus stores or restaurants?
Do you want students that are competitive or collaborative?
Do you want an intense environment or a more relaxed one?
How do you feel about a core curriculum or distribution requirements?
Do you want a lot of diversity racially or socioeconomically?
Are opportunities for job experience/internships significant?
What about study abroad options?
Do you want a school with a great sense of community?
Do you want relationships with your professors? Small or big classes?
Do you need/want a school that provides extra academic support?
Do you want a politically involved student body? Liberal or conservative?
There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in this country alone. There are so many questions to consider. It is essential to keep an open mind as there are so many wonderful schools you might never have heard mentioned. I like to tell students to visit an example of different types of schools.
A really large public university
A smaller private college
A mid-size university
For this first exercise, I do not want anyone to spend money but just visit what is close to where they live. This year with COVID, of course, everything is difficult, so you can start by researching different schools online. For example, if you are a Connecticut resident, I might start by doing an online tour and information session at UConn, Connecticut College, and Northeastern. These three very different schools will give you a feeling right away of what you might or might not want in your college or university.
Now that you have some idea of what you might want for yourself, it is time to talk about your college tuition budget as a family. The best way to do this is to figure out what your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) would be according to Federal Methodology (FM), the FASFA, and Institutional Methodology (IM), the CSS Profile. More on this for another time as it is quite complicated, but families should use the EFC calculator on the College Board site as a start.
A great place to start your college search is College Navigator. Use the “more search” options button to create even more parameters for searching schools. There are many different ways to search, so you need to play around with this site. You can search by Geography, Major, Type of degree and Institution, Undergraduate Student Enrollment, Tuition, Campus setting, % of applicants admitted, Test Scores, Varsity Athletic teams, Religious Affiliation, and more. Once you have a basic list, I will send you to do more research from here. One place I like is The Fiske Guide to Colleges. You can get the new 2021 version from Amazon, or if you prefer, you can get an online version, which I like because it has pictures, here. While you are there, check out the College Countdown site for more great information on building a college list.
Next, I would suggest going to sites like Induck. Induck is a student-focused college guide providing a "detailed rendition of what happens socially, how different types of students navigate the social scene, and how they feel about it."
I also really like Campusreel, which is free to join. Check out 15,000 real videos, tours, and experiences from 300+ college campuses. Use them for further research on any school that excites you.
After these three places, you should have narrowed down your college list to 25 colleges or less; I would recommend going onto each school's website and booking a virtual official tour and information session. This is the MOST IMPORTANT way to learn about a school. If you have any questions, reach out to your regional admissions representative. Each school assigns an admissions representative to your area of the country or specifically to your high school. You should be able to find this on a school’s website. Obviously, you do not want to be annoying and contact your representative a lot, but asking a couple of thoughtful questions about a school is an excellent way to gain better insight and show a school good demonstrated interest.
With COVID restrictions and social distancing, many schools are not doing any in-person tours or information sessions this year. Some are significantly smaller schools in low-risk locations that can offer personal, safe one-on-one tours with masks. Look at each school’s website for guidance in this area. As another resource, I have created a list of almost 500 college students at over 200 colleges and universities who are happy to discuss their experiences with prospective high school students. We are working on getting this online to help even more people but for now, just email us to be connected.
In the end, you will want to create a list on average of between 10-14 schools that you will have a mix of chances of getting admitted. This is not about finding the hardest school to get into or the most prestigious schools. It is about finding the best “fit” list for you. Schools that you will be proud to attend, that your family will be happy to invest in, and moreover, one where you will be successful. List building is part art and part science. There is no way to generalize it for all, but there is one vital thing to remember, ENJOY this. It should be fun to think about where you might want to go to college.