Scared of making a mistake

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I am scared of making a mistake. I have a couple faves on my list, but reality is, I have not been able to visit many schools. Sometimes, I see or read about a school and I wonder if that one needs to be on my list. Financial aid is important, but I should qualify, so a school that meets need is best. The only schools firmly on my list are Carleton and Rice, with A&M, Austin College, and St Olaf being second choices. I have a whole slew of schools that look good, but I do not know much about to know if I should maybe apply to them, or beg a visit to see them (not likely to happen unless I give up my trip to MN in Oct, which I would do if I thought there was a good place worth looking at instead). Davidson College, Swarthmore, Haverford, Williams, Bowdoin, Whitman, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, the list goes on.</p>

2

<p>You need a systematic way to approach this. Some suggestions:

  • Use a “Fiske Guide to Colleges” and a pack of post it notes to identify colleges that appeal to you. (If you aren’t clear on your major, a step back to the “College Book of Majors” with a pack of post-its is a good idea before doing the Fiske process).
  • Discuss finances and geography with your parents. They have to be on board with whatever you are doing.
  • Run the Net Price Calculator on the website of the colleges you are interested in. Your parents should help you with that, and take a look at the results. If a college does not appear to be affordable, drop it from your list no matter how great you think it is. Note that if your parents have a small business, trusts, or are divorced, your cost is probably higher than the NPC shows.
  • If you can visit, arrange that if possible. It sounds like you are a rising senior and may not have much time left to visit. Do what you can…
  • If you can’t visit, review the college website carefully, go on the “virtual tour” if they have one, and read up on the colleges out here on CC. Look at the visit comments out here and go back through old postings on the specific college forum. It will * out if I type it regularly, but c-o-l-l-e-g-e p-r-o-w-l-e-r is another website I like to get a flavor for a specific school.
  • Split your list into reach, match, and safety schools. Generally a match is one where your test scores fall between the 50-75% on both Math and CR (if you took the SAT) or ACT overall score. Also a match usually accepts a reasonably large % of their applicants. A safety is a school you are almost sure to get into and are certain you can afford. Reaches are those where your test scores aren’t above the 50% mark and/or the % of students accepted are low. Try to shoot for a list that looks something like 2 safeties, 4 matches, and 2 reaches. If you can only visit some – honestly, my advice is to focus on matches and safeties. You are a lot more likely to end up at one of those schools than a reach school, so you want to make sure you have seen them in person if possible before making a final decision next spring.
  • It is good to keep a spreadsheet tracking the key information about your schools, application deadlines, costs, scholarships, etc. We also kept a paper folder on each college as well with their mailings, notes from visits, a copy of the application once it was sent in, etc.</p>

<p>If you take a systematic approach like this, you are less likely to “make a mistake” in the process.</p>

3

<p>Apply to plenty of schools (if you can afford the app fee or get waiver). Then wait to see where you get in and what the aid packages are. Then visit your top affordable choices, if you can. If you can’t, there is still sooo much info available on sites like ***********<strong><em>, cappex, </em></strong>*********, ratemyprofessor, and of course the colleges’ own websites. There should be enough to help you make a decision.</p>

4

<p>One of the problems with “applying to plenty of schools” is that the financial aid application process is a pretty big pain. Every college has different deadlines, some have different forms they want filled out, different tax forms sent. Some want copies mailed, some want 'em faxed, some have you mail them to iDoc. Agree that this poster may need to wait to see their results before they do final visits, though. You may want to stretch your list to 10 schools vs. 8, but I think you just make yourself crazy by doing that. The net price calculator has changed the game so it is clearer what FA you are likely to get. Five years ago students often applied to 15-20 schools to compare FA packages, but you don’t need to do that any more. The NPC isn’t perfect, but it is pretty good. Don’t spread yourself so thin by applying to a zillion schools. Doing a good job on 8-10 applications makes a lot more sense. If you do your research ahead of time, you can come up with a solid list of 8-10 schools easily.</p>

5

<p>

That’s why your safety may be the most important choice in your application set. If nothing else you would have a school you can definitely be accepted to, definitely afford, and would be happy attending. Any other admissions would be that much better.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>That’s no way to go through life! </p>

<p>Get over it. You WILL make mistakes. Do you best to try to minimize them with the information available to you, but don’t be “afraid” of making them. You will make them.</p>