Admission Advice > Improving Your Chances

Square One: Getting Started On The College Search Process

By Deborah Knight and G. Gary Ripple

When you set off for college, you’re heading out into the world. You want excitement and challenge, but you also want to feel comfortable and accepted. How do you find a college that is right for you?

Finding the right college is an art, rather than a science. Your search can’t be reduced to a checklist, chart, or formula. Even the articles in this magazine can’t provide all the suggestions or guidance you might need. Just remember: you are hardly alone in this process, and there are endless resources out there tailored to assist you.

So how do you narrow a seemingly endless list of possibilities down to a manageable size? Big decisions require simple steps. It takes time, energy, and a willingness to ask yourself some tough questions about what kind of college experience you want and what kind of college is most likely to give it to you. Follow these eight steps to help you explore widely and choose wisely.

Know yourself.
Start by building your own college. How important is the school’s academic reputation? How large would it be? Where would it be located—in a city, a suburb, or in the country? How far from home? Whom would you recruit to be its students? What academic majors and extracurricular programs would you want to offer? What other comforts would it have? Look for a school that is strong in the areas you might want to major in and think about its size. If you are considering a large school where classes can be big, sit in on some large lecture classes; if you aren’t comfortable, visit other schools that offer smaller classes and more personal attention.

Apply yourself in high school.
Don’t go for the easy A. Colleges, especially selective colleges, want to see challenging courses on your record. Get involved in things beyond academics, too—and not just sports. Try community service, a local youth group, student government, or a club. And don’t be reluctant to take a leadership position in these kinds of organizations. Also be sure to take your SATs/ACTs in the spring of your junior year; this gives you the chance to take them a second or even a third time. Most schools will accept your highest scores.

Make your own list of priorities.
Take stock of yourself and decide what is most important to you. No college will have  everything you want, and what is important to your best friend or your classmates or even your parents may not be important to you. If you want to experience a different part of the country, then location may be a big factor for you. What about opportunities for internships and research that might interest you? What about academic support services, such as tutoring or assistance in writing papers? Which of these are most important to you?

Get your parents involved.
Take them to college fairs and open houses held by colleges. Visit some campuses together. If a college is too far away to visit, research on their website and/or request an interview with an alumnus in your area.

Don’t forget that your parents may be unsure of how to help you, so it’s important to make them feel part of the process. They may be concerned about the cost of college, especially a private college. You might also find your parents have strong opinions on where you should go. Now is the time to sit down and iron out any areas of disagreement before the search process gets too far along. Whatever their concerns, involving your parents in your search can help them feel more at ease about the choices you’re making—decisions you want them to support.

Visit, visit, visit.
This is crucial to get a sense of what your life might be like at a particular college. Go to classes. Eat lunch in the dining hall. Stay overnight if you can. Go to a social event. Read the campus newspaper. Listen to the radio station. Watch the flow of students as they move from class to class. Look for campus political or religious organizations or other activities there that appeal to you. Talk to current students from a variety of backgrounds and with interests similar to yours. And pay attention to that “inner voice,” your gut reaction, as you do all these things.

Think about majors and careers.
If you have an interest in a particular field, screen your choices with this in mind. However, it’s wise to keep your options open, since many students change their minds once they’ve had a chance to sample the many offerings in a typical college catalogue.

With a few exceptions (such as engineering, nursing, and accounting), most majors are not necessarily connected to career options, since skill sets are usually more important than course content within the workplace environment. For example, a study of recent graduates of Lafayette College in Pennsylvania showed biology majors working as attorneys, economics majors serving as clinical psychologists, sociology majors as systems engineers, and philosophy majors pursuing careers as bankers. During your college search, keep your choice of a major in perspective: it’s important to have a focus, but there’s a good chance that your eventual career choice will be only indirectly related to your undergraduate course of study.

Don’t be put off by “sticker shock.”
Apply regardless of a school’s cost. Some of the colleges that cost the most also offer the best financial aid packages—and most college students do receive financial aid of some kind. Scholarships and grants are valuable, as you do not need to repay them. Loans and work-study opportunities also make education more affordable. Ask if the college is need-blind, meaning that your need for financial aid is not considered in the decision to admit you.

Consider schools you may not have heard of. Some excellent schools don’t have big names, and even some top-ranked colleges are well known only in their own region of the country. Use resources such as this magazine, your guidance office, the many college guides/catalogs, and the Internet to search for colleges. (One good place to start looking online is www.privatecolleges.com.)

Many students also underestimate the value of their school counselor, who can identify reliable sources of information and help weed out information that is designed strictly for entertainment value or to sell books. Think of your college search as homework. In truth, it’s probably the most important homework assignment you’ll do all year.


San Diego-based writer Deborah Knight is a frequent contributor to this magazine.

G. Gary Ripple, Ph.D., is a college consultant and former Dean of Admissions at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. His website is www.garyripple.com.

2009