How to Choose a College: Start by Making your List
There are so many resources that can help you begin making that long list of colleges you want to research, apply to, and visit. You have probably received postcards, emails, or other mailings from institutions that promote certain events, visit opportunities, or programs.
Write down the schools that look most interesting to you and hop on the links below to learn more about them:
College Navigator
This website gives basic information and statistics about colleges and universities and is brought to you by the National Center for Educational Statistics, a subset of the U.S. Department of Education.
College Board
This is a great resource to learn about other schools as well as scholarship opportunities.
Visit the University’s Website and Be Curious!
Spend some time on the websites of institutions you may want to apply to. Watch videos, read testimonies, and click links to learn more about their academic and student life community.
The Application
Every student is different in how they approach this process so find a method and stick with it. I strongly recommend using either Excel, Word, or some other digital platform that allows you to input application requirements, deadlines, and your own to-do list for each. Having a dedicated location for this information means you won’t have to think about it all the time and rely on your memory (that is probably also filled with when your chem test is or where your next practice will be) to make sure you don’t miss out on important opportunities.
Check out this template to help you with this process
Scholarships
It’s no secret that college is expensive. The biggest opportunity students miss is not spending time applying for outside scholarships. This is YOU investing in YOUR future! Find at least one hour every week to investigate and apply to different outside scholarships. You will be surprised how quickly these add up!
Helpful links for outside scholarships:
Also make sure to ask your place of worship and parent’s workplace, as well as search for scholarships based on what academic program you’d like to pursue.
Visiting Campus
This might be the most fun part of your new journey! At these visits, you’re the star of the show! Colleges and universities will show you different ways you can see yourself at their institution. That means they’ll give you TONS of information. This can all be overwhelming and can even get confusing after you’ve visited a few schools. Here’s a tip: take notes, ask questions, and follow up. Here is a great tool to help give you ideas about what to ask during your visit. You’ll want to speak with different populations as well so try and meet a current student to ask them why they chose that school to be their home.
