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This week’s post is written by guest blogger Beth Newman. Yes she is my daughter. She is also a junior in high school and has done a very good job in her college search. I asked her to write these tips for anyone going through this process.
For high school juniors and seniors, the college search process can be long, tedious, and stressful. Luckily, there are many different websites that take some of the stress off you as the applicant. One website that I have found extremely helpful is http://www.collegeboard.com. This is the company that creates the SAT, so you will have to create an account anyway to register for the SAT. Since you already have an account you might as well utilize all of the other features the College Board website has to offer. One of the most helpful features on College Board was the college search questionnaire. It may seem long and dull but it only takes about 10 minutes. You also don’t have to answer all of the questions or you can save your search and come back to it later. However, once you are done you will have a list of colleges that are specific to all of your preferences. Also you can then look at all the colleges’ profiles which will give you all the important information (like cost, majors offered, and acceptance rate) in one spot. Other features of College Board include articles with tips about visiting colleges and a scholarship search as well.
Another website that I have found extremely helpful in my college search is http://www.princetonreview.com. The Princeton Review has a lot of the same features as College Board but it is not directly focused at high school students. The Princeton Review is a great website to keep in mind when you are looking for a graduate school. The website has tabs at the top so you can specify the type of school you are looking for. It also has tutoring sessions when studying for the SATs, the PSATs, the MCATS, and the LSATs. The Princeton Review also ranks colleges in different categories. For example they have lists ranking colleges by the best academics, town life, quality of life on campus, and politics just to name a few. Schools are sorted by attendance and major. The Princeton Review also helps when trying to decide on a career. No matter where you are in life, trying to find a college or a graduate school can be overwhelming. These websites are free tools to help take some of the pressure off.
Things to remember during the college search process:
- Both College Board and The Princeton Review allow you to create profiles to keep your top choice colleges in order. Keep your profiles up to date and check them often.
- Be aware of all deadlines. That includes all admission deadlines and all financial aid deadlines.
- Go to open houses and visit all colleges that you are seriously considering. You won’t know if you can see yourself going to that college until you experience the campus.
- Take the SATs and/or the ACTs multiple times. A lot of colleges will take your best scores from each section.
- Don’t rule anything out. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
- Don’t overlook at a college because you think you may not get in—you never know until you try.
February 15, 2010 at 10:59 am
Awesome post. I think on a personal level, you need to find a school that ‘fits’ with you, in addition to selecting a major. To use a sports example: Larry Bird famously left Indiana University & ended up attending Indiana State. It was seen as a slap in the face to IU coach Bob Knight at the time, but in his autobiography, Bird revealed he was overwhelmed by the size of the school. Indiana State was around a third the size of Indiana at the time. Even star athletes have certain needs when selecting a college.
February 15, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I remember when I first started looking for colleges to attend. This was a hectic time as I did not know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. However, I used collegeboard.com to see where would be a good fit for me. I didn’t think that this would really work but my guidance counselor told me to give it a try. Sure enough one of the top colleges that came up for me was York College of Pennsylvania. Obviously this is where I ended up and I feel as though it has been a perfect fit since the first day. However, don’t just go by what the website states. Apply to many colleges, that way you have the opportunity to choose where you want to attend. Also, visiting the campus is key as you want to see where you are going to be spending the next four years of your life.
February 15, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I, personally, cannot say that I went through the college search process. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. Finances were my number one concern, and because of that, I knew I was going to go to my local Community College to start off my college career. Luckily for me, I went to one of the more accredited two year colleges in the country that offered a very good Sport Management program. As graduation rolled around, I again did not go through with the college search process. I found a school that offered Sport Management as a major and accepted my Community College credits. I chose York and have not had any regrets. Do I ever wonder what it would have been like to go elsewhere? The answer is simple, and that answer is no. I believe I have made the right decisions and have not regretted a single choice, or lack there of in my case. My brother, on the other hand, went through the college search process moreso than myself. He was on two college visits and applied to numerous different colleges. He ended up going to the University of Miami, which was the second college he visited. He absolutely fell in love with that area, and the college visit sealed the deal for him as he is in his second year as a Hurricane. I can imagine that the process can become long and grueling as it becomes important to not only find a college that fits you, but also your financial situation, but, as I said previously, I have never and will never regret the choices that I made as I feel that I made the right decisions.
February 15, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I would recommend that any high school student beginning the college search do as much research and explore as many options as possible. Personally, I hate to shop. I prefer to buy. Therefore, my college search consisted of choosing the first college that met a certain set of criteria, at which point the search ended once and for all. This is known as “satisficing”. While I wouldn’t say that I regret my choice, I do think that I denied myself certain opportunities that may or may not have been available at the time.
As I begin my graduate school search, my attitude could not be more different. I am researching (and planning to apply to)dozens of schools and taking the GMAT several times in an effort to be accepted into the best school possible.
After going through the process both ways, I would definitely recommend doing as much research as possible before choosing a school. It may seem like a pain now, but the decision you make will reverberate throughout your life forever (aka the Butterfly Effect). Therefore, it benefits you to make the most informed decision possible.
February 16, 2010 at 9:17 am
It seems like just yesterday that I was conducting my college searches and now I am basically one year away from graduating. It is amazing how fast the time passes by but as I was reading this blog it brought back memories of the notorious process of college searching. The main site that I used was also collegeboard.com. I can remember at one time it seemed like I was filling out that college search survey once a day with different answers each time just to see the different results that would appear.
If I could give one bit of advice in the college search process it would be not to procrastinate and to do heavy research. College is a big decision and you want to be sure you make the one that is right for you. Though your decision is never set in stone due to the option of transferring at any time, graduating in the standard four years becomes much easier if you stay at the same school during the duration of your time at college. I enjoyed searching for schools but take your time because it is a decision that will heavily change the rest of your life. Though a fun process for some people, it can turn into a nightmare if you throw it on the backburner.
February 17, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I love it!
I might also add that you do some personal inventory too. Think about the type of campus that appeals to you: small, innter city, rural, etc. Culturally, what appeals to you? Knowing what you desire will also help you find a good match when studying and visiting the potential schools.
February 17, 2010 at 4:35 pm
The process of finding the right college for any high school student is a challenge. There is so much preparation to be done before making your final decision. Things like visiting colleges, knowing what you might want to do and to pursue the best colleges for your area of interest, and making sure you have enough on your applications to make you seem like the best fit for getting accepted. There is much to be done and the one thing to do during all of this is not to stress. Just taking it one step at a time will allow you as a student to make the best choice. For me I had failed to do that, I had chosen to attend Barton College located in North Carolina. After attending my freshmen year, I realized there was a better college for me somewhere else and that is when I transferred into York College.
February 17, 2010 at 11:21 pm
This is a great outline for choosing a college. Personally, I only wish I went through the same thought process. Back then I knew all along what I wanted to major in, Sport Management. However, I only applied to a few schools that offered this program. As a result, I was left with limited choices in making my final decision. If I were to go back and use some of these tactics it would have left me with more options. Today, I don’t regret my college choice but it makes me wonder what other possiblilites were out there for me. Having a plan like this and following it definitely seems like the better route than what I took.