July 27, 2022

How to Create a College List

Introduction

Starting the college admissions process is extremely daunting. With thousands of institutions across the country, how can you choose a select few to apply to? I remember having tons of schools I was interested in, but it was not feasible to apply to every single one of them. So, where to start? There are a lot of resources that you can use to create a foundation for the applications you will eventually submit.

How Many Schools?

Most students apply to about 8-12 schools. It is up to you how many you apply to, but I would strongly advise against applying to more than 17. At that point, it’s hard to dedicate enough time to each application, especially since many colleges require supplemental essays along with the main Common Application or Coalition Application essay that you will send to any private institution you apply to. You also need to keep in mind that you will most likely be in the fall of your senior year when you begin to write all of your essays, and it’s important to remain in good academic standing.

Which Schools?

There are three tiers of schools that you should be applying to: safeties, targets, and reaches. Safeties are schools that you are extremely confident you’ll get into (you want at least three of those). Targets are schools that you think you will get into based off of your academic credentials like GPA and test scores. You can Google the averages of these for every college and assess whether or not you’re in that range. Reaches are schools that are a lot harder to get into- maybe you’ll want the more prestigious and highly-applied-to bunch, or any school whose averages stats are above yours. I also highly recommend applying to at least one public university that is in your state. It’s a great financial option, and state schools are funded by the state they are in, allowing them to have excellent resources.

Avoid basing your college choices off of ranking- try to look for schools that you think would fit you the best. Think about size, location, if they offer your major, etc. These are vital aspects of a college that you cannot change once you get there. For example, small schools aren’t for everyone, some people want to be in the city, others hate cold weather, so on and so forth. These are important to keep in mind and should be the foundation of your search. However, if you don’t know what you want just yet, that’s totally fine! I didn’t either, so I decided to apply to a bunch of different schools all over the country and of all sizes.

Assessing Fit and Comparing Schools

One great resource is http://niche.com. Using Niche’s website, you can create a college list, take a quiz to see what colleges might fit you best, virtually tour schools, and assess aspects of campuses (party scene, student life, academics, etc.). Microsoft Excel also has a college comparison tracker template that you can use!