I don't know where to look !!

dchow08
Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:35:34 +0000

It seems like you’re just beginning this college search, and you’re very late in the process.

Listen: The best college is the one that is the best for YOU. Honestly, too many people are worried about getting into “the best” college. Too many people today worry about getting into even a good college. They buy into all the U.S. News and World Report hype. They cry out loud in distress, “There are so many colleges out there, how am I going to choose one? I have to find the best college. And what is the best college? #1.”

As you’re going through the college search, you have to remember that the best college for you is the one that suits the most of your needs. Let’s say you couldn’t stand a really fast-paced environment and you wanted a more laid-back atmosphere and student body. You look at “the top ten national universities” and see Columbia University. Unaware of how the college search should go, and seeing that Columbia is prestigious, you apply there. You get admitted and you are excited. In the fall, you go, confident that you’ve gotten into one of the best schools in the country. And after a week of Columbia, you’re miserable and want to transfer as soon as possible.

This is the danger of buying into U.S. News and World Report. Think about it like this: how can one school be the best for everyone? If you look at how the people rank colleges, you’ll see that they consider statistics–they even consider how selective a college is. Supposedly, the harder it is to get in, the better. Don’t believe it, just don’t. You need to let YOUR criteria be the basis of your search. The best school for you is the one that meets your criteria, i.e. the schools that you should apply to are the ones that give you what you want from college. So really, saying that you “want to go to the best school east of the Mississippi that I can get into” is simply ridiculous.

I know this is such a long post, and I know that you are probably feeling impatient right now, but bear with me. I want to help you find the college that’s right for you. And the college that’s right for you is the one that fits you the most. It’s the one where you’ll have the best time and learn the most and have the best experiences.

But in order to find the college that will give you the best experience, you need to ask yourself, “What do I want from college?” But that’s a pretty vague question.

First, you need to ask yourself, “Who am I?” That means, what kind of person do I want to be? What classes did I like in high school? Why? What classes did I hate in high school? Why? What motivates you, in terms of education? Do you want to work extra-hard or take it easy in college? Do you like to work with people on projects, or are you more independent? Do you want to learn lots of theoretical stuff, or do you want to learn things that can be used directly? Take your time.

The ideal college fits who you are.

Do you want a big school? Why? Do you want a small school? Why? Think carefully about this. In 9th grade, I said to myself that I absolutely wanted a huge school like the state university, and now I know that I want a small-medium school. Do you want a rural environment, suburban, or urban? Do you want a slow-paced atmosphere or a fast atmosphere? Does diversity matter? Do you prefer lecture classes or group discussions? Do you want to go to graduate school after undergraduate school? Would you like a school with a core curriculum, or do you want an open curriculum? Do you mind if there’s absolutely no school spirit? Do you want fraternities or not? Do you care? Which suits your needs better: a competitive atmosphere, where everyone’s competing and bragging over the best grades, or a non-competitive atmosphere where learning is the concern? Do you want to do undergraduate research? Do you want to go to a liberal arts school or a pre-professional school? Do you want to go to Medical School? Is a safe school environment a priority? There are so many things to choose from, but all the questions above are factors in the most important question that you must constantly think about: WHAT DO I HOPE TO GET OUT OF COLLEGE?

Note: You may have a desire for a particular major. My advice is to consider the major, but don’t judge all schools by major alone. So many people change majors in college. You may think that you’re really sure of what major you want, but it’s better to not let that be an overriding factor. More important is what type of learning environment will suit you best.

Again, take your time–and don’t jump to conclusions. Because this is big–it’s a big investment for you, and it will be your home for the next four years (about). Deciding where to go to college is like trying to buy a house–You wouldn’t ask someone, Where can I find the best house east of the Mississippi River, would you?

Please say no.

Thank you.

Again, buying a college is like buying a house, because college will be your home, where a lot of your personal growth will happen, and you don’t want to be miserable in college–especially because it comes with such a high price tag. And like buying a home, you need to consider what YOU want–does the weather matter, how big, etc.

I hope you realize now that asking people what “the best college east of the Mississippi” you can get into won’t help you much and will probably hurt you a ton.

So, write down your thoughts about what you want from college, and take your time. And once you have that down, get out a piece of paper and write down your Important College Criteria:

The most important criteria in selecting a college are:

1. Academic programs that include:

2. These admissions criteria:

3. This kind of competition level:

4. The following facilities:

5. Tution and/or financial aid requirements:

6. School size:

7. Student/teacher ratio:

8. Gender composition:

9. Distance from home:

10. School setting:

11. Other Important Things (e.g. Diversity):

12. Other:

13. Other

14. And so on until you have it all down.

Remember, this is like a summary of the most important things you want, so you should go to 15. and stop. If you’re too picky you might not find enough colleges to apply to.

Okay, now that you have your list of criteria, it’s time to make a list. And remember, base your college/university choices on your criteria. If U.S. News and World Report 2008 Edition: America’s Best Houses says that the best houses in America were painted hot pink, and everyone around you says that the best houses in America were painted hot pink, but you hated hot pink, you clearly would not pick one of the “Best Houses in America,” according to U.S. News and your friends. Same with colleges. YOUR needs and YOUR wants have to guide you. The best college for you is the one that meets most of YOUR criteria. So if you ever decide you need to change a criterion, change it, soon!

But let’s say that by now you know what you want in a college or university. How do you pick from a bazillion colleges? Where do you start?

Here’s where: parents, family members, friends who’ve been through the process, teachers, guidance counselors. Don’t talk to people who say that the best schools east of the Mississippi are Princeton, Harvard, and Brown. Ask people, I’m looking for a small liberal arts college in a suburb or urban environment, where everyone’s really intellectual. I want somewhere where it will snow. Et cetera, et cetera, and people will eventually say, Hmm… You should consider Reed or Swarthmore or Kalamazoo or Amherst or Carleton.

Then you can check out those schools and see what you think.

Also, you can check out www.collegeboard.com. Click on “For Students” and do their College MatchMaker. It categorizes schools, so you can answer a few questions about what you want, and POOF! Up pops your list–schools that match what you’re looking for. A word of caution: I’ve found lots of mistakes in College MatchMaker, so be aware that it’s not perfect. But if you are flexible with it–you look for reach and matches and safeties, and you change some of your answers to get a wider range of schools–you’ll find some interesting colleges for you to consider. Your high school might have very good resources. Your guidance counselors probably pay for college search software and are probably demanding that every student use it. My school, for example, uses something called Naviance, and although very few people take advantage of it, I use it and I’ve gotten a lot out of it.

After all this, you should have between 10 to 30 colleges. These schools should meet around ten to fifteen of your important criteria. Make sure that your list covers a wide range of colleges: reaches that are unlikely you’ll get into, good matches that you have about a 50:50 chance you’ll get into, and safeties that you will definitely get into. Don’t just have one safeties and 29 reaches–have a variety.

This list, Your Initial College List, has all the schools that you’re going to explore–they meet lots of your criteria, so you know you’ll probably have a good time at at least some of them (roughtly 5 to 8 colleges, the ones that you will apply to).

Okay. Time to explore. Where will you get more information from the colleges in your list?
Here are some resources:

1. Guidebooks.

2. School websites.

3. People who are either in the college or have been there.

4. School counselors.

5. College visits.

6. College Confidential.

A word of caution: don’t ask your high school friends who haven’t even visited the colleges. Especially when you have so many better people to ask!

Through this process, you should narrow down your initial list. Cross off colleges you don’t like, that you wouldn’t want to go to, until you have about 10 total–these are the colleges that you will apply to. Make sure the list has 2 or 3 safeties (Not just one. What if you forgot a recommendation from one of your teachers when you were applying to only one safety school and you didn’t get admitted? You want to have a choice of schools that admit you.), 2 to 4 matches, and 2 to 3 reaches.

Then apply and go from there.

Whew! That was a very long post!!! I’ve basically summarized an entire book!

Now, here are two books that you should look at, if you have time.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Into College by Dr. O’Neal Turner. A very how-to guide that gives you good information on how you should be conducting your college search.

Looking Beyond The Ivy League: Finding the College That’s Right for You by Loren Pope. Has very good insight. The author is a firm supporter of the “good small liberal arts college.”

And of course, you have lots of people here at CollegeConfidential to support you. Remember: Ignore US News Stats. You should find colleges based on what YOU want, based on YOUR CRITERIA. The schools that have what you want will be the ones for you.

Happy Trails!