Choosing A College; How To Start

With more than three thousand colleges anduniversities with the highest academic profiles tend to
universities from which to choose, every studentbe the most selective, many fine institutions do not
who takes the time to intelligently explore his or herenjoy the luxury of receiving applications from a
educational options (and adheres to application andsignificantly greater number of students than they
financial aid deadlines) should gain admission to atare able to admit, and are therefore only moderately
least three or four institutions in which they are highlyor even minimally selective.
likely to be happy and successful. Students andKeeping in mind what we have just discussed, you
parents will therefore not find the college applicationare now ready to begin your college search.
process an anxiety provoking experience if theyYour first and most important step to identify at
understand there is no single "right" college, if theyleast a half dozen institutions which offer the
maintain reasonable expectations, do a little planning,academic programs and co-curricular activities of
and take full advantage of the many informationalinterest to you, provide a campus environment in
resources available to them.which you will feel comfortable, and are likely to
It is important to realize that only about five percentoffer you admission. Begin by meeting with your
of the colleges and universities in the United Statesschool counselor to:
deny admission to more than fifty percent of their1.solicit his or her college recommendations.
applicants. Therefore, unless you plan to apply to2.discuss the courses you plan to take in future
those highly selective institutions, the odds of youryears.
gaining admission to the colleges to which you do3.sign up for the SAT and ACT.
apply are probably very strongly in your favor. And,4.learn which college representatives will be visiting
if your grades and SAT or ACT scores are highyour school.
enough so that applying to the most selective5.find out about upcoming college fairs in your area.
colleges is a reasonable and realistic option for you,Don't forget that the web is a great source of
you can almost be assured of admission to anyinformation. Do a few searches for terms like
number of excellent but slightly less competitivecolleges", "college scholarships", "financial aid" and
institutions."college admissions" to identify some good online
The extent to which a college can afford to beresources.
selective is a function of its perceived quality and/orAfter completing the above steps, you're off to a
popularity. Thus, while it is true that the colleges andgood start. Enjoy your search!