Weeding Out The Bad Choices

So you’re looking at college. You want to go someplace that’s fun, cheap, and gives you the best education in the field you’re looking for. But there’s one problem. Every college brochure you have advertises its college as “Fun, cheap, and the best education.” How do you know which is the right one for you? Start by making a list of your preferences. What do you want to major in? Do you want a big school, a medium sized school, or a small school? Where do you want to go to school–East Coast, West Coast? What is your price range? How high do you value the student-to-teacher ratio? Do you want a party school or someplace more stoic?

Next, you will want to narrow down the schools into ones that fit your preferences. This will probably give you a large chunk of schools that sound like a good fit for you. You’ll need to whittle these down to the ones which you actually want to apply to. To do so, you’ll need to know the overall strategy for applying.
Most students apply to 3-7 schools. You’ll want to arrange your schools into 3 categories: Sure Bet, 50-50, and Long Shot. For the Sure Bet, you want to select 1 school which you are absolutely certain that you can get in to and that fits your other preferences and has a good program for your major. State schools are usually a good choice for this, and usually they are cheaper than out-of-state schools, too. You only need one Sure Bet because it is a sure thing–you are guaranteed to at least get into this college, and if all else fails, you can attend it and be successful.
Next, you’ll want to select 2-3 50-50 schools. These are schools that you are pretty sure you will be able to get in to, and that perhaps provide you with more opportunities than the Sure Bet schools. Finally, you will want to pick 1-3 Long Shot schools–schools that are really selective and that you have a slim chance in getting in to. However, there is always a chance, which is why you still want to pick a few Long Shots, and apply to them.
With this in mind, you can sift through the schools accordingly. For many students, the expense of the school is a big factor, and can help narrow down the Sure Bet and the 50-50 schools to schools which are inexpensive. However, most highly selective schools are expensive, and narrowing down this category to inexpensive colleges would throw out every school. Fortunately, the highly selective colleges offer financial aid packages if you do get in to them.
Another criterion that can help you narrow down your schools is the strength of the major. Some schools are well known for their Computer Science program, while others are known for their Anthropology department. Do some research on the schools that you are pretty sure you can get in to, and see which ones have the best programs in the area of study that you are considering. You can check the school websites, the US News and World Report Rankings, or ask your counselor if he or she can provide more detailed information. Check to see if a school offers a special program that is particularly interesting to you.
The last facets of the school that you want to consider are its statistics. What is the graduation rate? What percentage of students come back after their freshman year? What is the alumni giving rate? Do they accept AP credit or credit for classes that you have taken in high school? What percentage of graduates get jobs/get accepted to graduate school?
In the end, it is up to you which schools you want to apply to. Make sure that you know what you want from a school, and that the school is offering what you want before you apply. Take into consideration all of the factors which are important to you–cost, location, size, reputation–narrow down the field to a few colleges which fit what you are looking for in an education. A little bit of planning can save you from making a big mistake in applying to and perhaps enrolling in a college that is not right for you.
Article by Ben Hiebert and courtesy of www.careersandcolleges.com