How did you pick your college in the "before times"? (Before the internet and Common App)

Parent Cafe
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So let’s share all the silly ways we picked our colleges in a time before all of the information was at our fingertips.

My mom was the Dean at our local community college, so I probably had more resources than most as to what schools were out there. She handed me a list of schools that offered my major, along with a printout of my SAT scores, class rank, and a copy of Peterson’s Guide to Colleges. I, however, relied on Lisa Birnbach’s Guide to Colleges and The Preppy Handbook (same author). I then sent away for catalogs, and that collection became my bathroom reading for my entire junior year.

My parents gave me the parameters of a 4-hour drive or a $99 flight (Which was almost anywhere, thanks to People’s Express, which just so happened to go out of business right after I flew them for Orientation).

I hated the heat and knew I didn’t want to go to school with a bunch of pageant queens (My picture of any Southern school after reading the Preppy Handbook). I loved skiing and was obsessed with the humor and cozy vibes of The Newhart Show, so I zeroed in on going to a small rural college in New England. UNH was off-limits according to my parents because that’s where my boyfriend was attending.

I was going to apply to Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Hamilton, and Colgate. Although UVM didn’t fit the small, rural vibe I was going for, it was the #2 party school in the country that year (Yes, I also used Playboy’s Guide to the Best Party Schools List), so it made the list, as well. It also happened to be the year they named it a “Public Ivy,” so my parents thought I was picking it due to its stellar academic reputation :rofl: .

My first visit was to Alfred University. It wasn’t on my list, but they were calling me non-stop (back when they still did those things), so my parents figured they’d give me a lot of money and forced me to visit. I hated it. Then we went to UVM. I thought I’d be overwhelmed by a large school, so I don’t know if it was how beautiful Burlington was and the 5 person suite with it’s own bathroom they showed us, or the fact that Alfred was so gloomy that I thought all small schools might feel that way, but I filled out the ED app as soon as I got home.

A giant book listing every school in the country, Preppy Handbooks and Playboy Party Lists, sending away for catalogs, two visits, one application. That’s how we did it in the days before The Common App, TikTok, and the Internet.

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I remember going to the library and checking out a bunch of the college guide books. Pretty sure Fiske was one of them. Our guidance office also had a small library of the popular college brochures that you could go and browse. I also went to a college fair at our high school. I remember writing away to the schools on my list for their current brochures.

I was lucky my mom was up for taking me to visit schools. We toured Cornell, Dartmouth, Colgate, Bucknell, and some of the SUNYs (Binghamton, Buffalo and Geneseo). There were a few other schools I applied to that we didn’t visit (Penn and UCLA). The only school that fell off my list after visiting was Dartmouth.

I applied ED to Cornell. Loved everything about my visit and we had close family friends whose son went to Cornell and was always talking it up. My #2 would have been Bucknell.

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Almost no one from my high school went to college. My information source was a friendly librarian at the public library downtown. She told me that there was such a thing as financial aid (I had no idea!), told me that I should sign up for the SAT (I had no idea!) and directed me to a book on colleges (I’m guessing Fiske, if it existed back then). I think I applied to four or five colleges… I picked them out of the book, and wrote to each one for applications. I didn’t have the money to travel to visit more than one college, so I visited the one that sounded best from the book. Fortunately that one accepted me. Thank you, public librarian whose name I do not know. :heart:

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Public librarians are the saints of our times.

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Financially I had one option the first two years -local community college. I actually enjoyed it, had good teachers and a lot of fun. My parents required me to stay in state so I visited a bunch of schools both public and private. The school I ended up transferring to was not on my list until my guidance counselor suggested it. I visited and fell in love with it.

My parents were set on all four of us going to and finishing college ( we all did) but neither of them had a degree. ( my dad was a self taught engineer). They knew nothing about the admissions process. I visited schools on my own or with friends.

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Syracuse reputation for sportscasting and men’s basketball. Pure and simple. I went even though I did not get into Newhouse and would have to transfer in. Big East basketball was a known marketing draw for all the schools in the 80s/90s heyday - Gtown, Nova, Providence, BC, Pitt…many articles were written about its power/pull.

For my MBA, I was Bus Week rank and value conscious (of course) and was in the restroom at U of Arizona and someone asked where else you were considering. I said Indiana, UT Austin, ASU and UCI and they said, if you got into UT, why would you even be here ? I knew to take them (U of A) off the list. Gotta have confidence in the school you attend.

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Living in the NE, we were familiar with many schools, and my HS friends and I were all familiar with even relatively unknown/unfamiliar schools (e.g. Harvey Mudd). Back then, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, we had course catalogs and applications mailed to us. My criteria were: wanted my specific major/area of interest (which was very new back then and not many schools had it), didn’t want Greek life (though would consider a school where it didn’t dominate) and I was sick of languages and preferred not to have to take any more (I was taking the AP French test, which should have been enough but the test got interrupted by a fire alarm at the school!) so those were my “wanna haves” (they were preferences). I applied to 3 (an Ivy, a LAC and one that was supposed to be a safety). Got into the Ivy (Penn) and the LAC (Vassar) and was WL at the “safety” Union ! Haha. :squinting_face_with_tongue:. But, even back then when people looked a bit down on Greek life, Union was probably too Greek for me.

I almost applied to what was then called Slippery Rock State teachers college b/c the name cracked me up. I also almost applied to Princeton as it had gone coed not too long before, but I chickened out. So between Penn and Vassar, Vassar won. No more languages for me :slight_smile:

I clearly remember sitting in my HS Russian class when everyone had their final college decisions. There were probably 15 or so of us in the class, and we went around the room telling the teacher where we were going to college. It sounded like a who’s who of top schools. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Haverford, Berkeley, Stanford, Swarthmore, Cal Tech, Brown, Pembroke (yes it was still Pembroke back then, though in its last year or so before combining with Brown), MIT, Cornell, etc. Every one of us.

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Grew up in Texas. Back then, most students wanted to go to either Texas or Texas A&M. Texas A&M had a weird, cult like vibe so that was a no go.

Loved Austin and everything about it so UT was the clear choice. I only applied to UT. About 60 of the 800 kids in my graduating class went to UT. That would be impossible today.

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I thought I wanted to be a nurse. U of Rochester had a nursing program, so upon the recommendation of my guidance counselor, I applied ED. (I have no idea why I considered it highly enough to apply ED.) I got deferred. There was a representative from Northwestern at my HS and it sounded nice, so I applied there. And then for some reason I don’t recall I also applied to Wash U in St Louis. I got into all three schools and chose NU because it had the best reputation and was farthest from home.

It was hardly scientific!!

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I checked out college guides, dreaming of ivies. I didn’t know anything about financial aid, so figured that there was no way I could afford traditional college (I probably would have received significant need based aid, BTW). So … I applied to a co-op college, where I alternated work & school. It was actually difficult to be accepted, so there was no guarantee, but I didn’t apply anywhere else. (My guidance counselor was completely useless, judging colleges by the strength of their men’s basketball teams.)

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I applied and attended university back in Israel. Because rent was super expensive, I only applied to Hebrew University, so I could live at home. I did the psychometric test and had them send the results to Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, wrote to the Ministry of Education send my matriculation certificate, which was a copy of the scores for my matriculation exams (equivalent of O-Levels), and submitted a paper application by mail (no essay, as far as I can remember). Nobody cared about my high school diploma or transcripts, which was good.

I even applied for my PhD mostly old school. I looked up which universities have graduate programs in my field, because libraries had these huge volumes which had this information. I wrote to the programs and asked for the brochures, which had the names and research interests of the faculty, and sent out letters of inquiry to all potential advisors. All this was via airmail. International airmail.

I went futuristic by following up the letters with emails (Thank You Gopher!!), and supplemented the brochures by looking at the new webpages, using Mosaic, and going through the servers at UIUC.

I then sent out paper applications in large envelopes with cover letters, statements of interest, research statements, university transcripts for both my degrees, and called or mailed my references who sent LoRs via snail-mail. I did, however, write everything using word processing software, so no typewriter needed. My GRE results were sent directly to the university (I took the tests in the American consulate).

Oh, the applications also included checks to cover application fees.

All sent via international airmail, of course. I did follow up with emails to my potential advisors, as well.

I did fly to the USA for two weeks to visit all of the programs as well.

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Back in the day, that was as important as the qualities we look for today :slight_smile:

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My grandmother, mother, father, aunt, uncle, 3 cousins, 3 younger siblings, and I all went to the same university, the University of North Dakota. I never knew there were options. That said, I was shocked to learn that very few of my high school class pursured a higher education.

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My high school was 50/50 sending a student off to college. My grandmother told me I should be in business and I read in the Fiske guide that Alex Keaton-types (i was a fan) would like Babson. I drove down to watch the tennis team (which I assumed I could play on without realizing they recruited kids), applied, and got in.

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My high school sent over 90% of students to some kind of post high school education…mostly colleges.

Like everyone else, I went to the guidance office where they had a TON of college catalogues in a bookshelf. I asked my (not very helpful) guidance counselor for advice…and she suggested several colleges. I applied to Bethany WVA (where I went freshman year), Albion (in Michigan), and Ohio University (I transferred there after my freshman year).

No college visits, and the first time I saw Bethany was on move in day. BUT I had to follow the money, and they gave me sufficient aid to attend with a federally funded loan as well.

I agree…not scientific at all.

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Pretty much everyone at my high school went to college. Back then I wouldn’t have considered community college as college. Nobody did that.

That being said… I was going to be an engineer. So I applied to to Virginia Tech - in-state. Financially makes sense. One and done.

My high school experience was very different to my kids’, where very few go to college, including community college.

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@FallGirl I knew I liked you. Jucos FTW!

Neither of my parents went to HS much less college. They started me in school early and there was no way my conservative Hispanic parents were letting their 17yo dd go away to college. I started at a local junior college and had a great time, got a great education and made friends I still see today. When I transferred, I wanted a state school (never even considered a pricey private) with a good reputation in my area of interest at a place close enough that my parents would let me go but far enough away that I wouldn’t have to live at home.

Vastly different experience for my kids.

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My parents grew up in the city and my dad went to college at night. So they were determined that I should have the all American college experience and they saved and sacrificed. To them ANYWHERE would be amazing. I didn’t see my school until I arrived for orientation.

I went to a huge HS and really listened to what my classmates, whose parents were doctors and lawyers etc, were saying.

I applied to one Ivy (rejected) and a bunch of schools in the next highest “competitive” ranking in the Barrons guidebook. I got into all of them and I think I would have been happy anywhere: F&M, Lafayette, etc but made amazing friends and found a spouse at Bucknell.

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Too funny- I grew up in Athens and couldn’t wait to get away. My dad taught at OU and tuition for faculty brats was part of the compensation structure at the time.
I took the SAT and then the mail started coming. I applied and was accepted to Brown but my family couldn’t afford it. Grinnell gave me tons of aid so away I went. First time I saw the school was orientation and I was sure I’d made a huge mistake. Happily, it turned out okay.

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That’s so funny…I loved my three years in Athens! 1970-1973. Maybe I had your dad as a professor.

I should add…At Bethany I followed the money. As a transfer, I didn’t get any aid…BUT I was on a first name basis with the financial aid office by the time the first quarter ended, and they always found me the money to continue.

Selecting the transfer college was even less scientific than my freshman one. I simply chose where I had already been accepted, and where I had a TON of friends from high school (that was a good thing back when I went to college).