Creating a great list of schools is a difficult process. It involves a student getting to really know him/herself as well as make projections for their distant future. There are many, many colleges and universities, from large, urban research institutions to small, rural liberal arts colleges.
Narrowing down your college list.
Most students have a series of colleges they’re interested in and want to know more about. In order to narrow down this list of colleges you’ll apply to, it’s important to do your research and look at a number of different factors surrounding each school. Here are a few examples of what to look at when slimming down your list:
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Location
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Size
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Academic programs and majors
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Special programs, such as study abroad
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Clubs and activities, such as intramurals and Greek life
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Housing options
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Environment, or “feel” of the campus (student atmosphere)
All of these items factor in when you are refining your list of schools. Going on campus visits and talking with current students are two great ways of getting some more information on these elements.
Categorizing your college list.
After narrowing down your list of colleges based on the aforementioned factors, you should arrange the schools into three categories: foundational schools, range schools, and reach schools. You should categorize each school based on your own academic credentials and the credentials of previously admitted freshman for each school. You can find this information through the schools’ websites. The Common Data Set is a set of statistics that each school collects and publishes each year. A quick search of a college’s website for “Common Data Set” will get you a ton of information on the school, including Section C – Freshmen Admissions.
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Foundational schools are those where your academic profile is well above the range for admitted freshman. These colleges are the ones you should be most confident about getting into. You should be interested in these schools, as they may give you financial incentives to attend that will be worth your consideration.
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Range schools are those where your academic credentials are similar to the middle 50% of those admitted, meaning your academic credentials fall well within the range for admitted freshman. For target schools, your likelihood of acceptance will be similar to the acceptance rate of the school.
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Reach schools are the most difficult to get into and are usually a stretch for you to be admitted. Reach schools are those where your academic credentials are below the average range for admitted freshman. It may be disappointing for one of your top choices to be a reach school, but that shouldn’t discourage you from applying. You will need to put extra effort into the qualitative parts of the application.
Balancing your college list.
Finally it’s time to decide on the schools you are going to apply to. From the list of categorized schools you want to select between 9 and 12 to apply to – ideally you should opt for 2-4 safety schools, 3-5 target schools, and 2-4 reach schools. Narrowing down and categorizing your schools, although tedious, helps you arrive at a well-balanced and diverse list of colleges to apply to.
