<p>It’s hard to say. My son’s HS has a unique approach that worked very well. In the middle of Junior year, the guidance counselor has each student fill out a questionnaire about himself, and the parents are also given a detailed questionnaire to fill out about their student. Each questionnaire asks for suggestions about schools the student is interested in or that might be a good fit. Then the GC schedules a 1 hour meeting with each family and provides a list of schools that he thinks might be good based on the questionnaires and his knowledge of the student, and some schools are added during the meeting. So, by the end of the meeting we had a long, preliminary list of schools, and I’m not really sure which schools came from which source. That said, I don’t think he would have come up with many schools on his own because he was kind of in denial about the whole process.</p>
<p>I could have mentioned that the high school’s guidance counselors were totally useless in helping to compose lists of schools to apply to. At a session with parents, they opined that students should not apply to more than 2 or 3 colleges because if they got too many acceptances they might end up depriving opportunities to their fellow students. In practice, however, they provided the support to students who made more than 2 or 3 applications; but they were sooo parochial and useless otherwise.</p>
<p>With both kids, I chose nearby schools to visit early in HS - LACs, large Us, different settings, so they could get an idea of what felt good. I also did a lot of online research to develop an initial list of schools to consider and visit.</p>
<p>The kids had absolute veto power over my suggestions as well as the right to add any reasonable school, both did. </p>
<p>Once the apps were done and final options on the table, within the bounds of finances, they chose their school.</p>
<p>My kids had veto power too, but they knew that H and I weren’t dummies so they listened to what we had to say. Giving a starter list doesn’t mean things can’t come on and off or that anyone is forced to apply anyplace. I just don’t see the point when I already KNEW about a lot of schools. </p>
<p>And I’m LOL-ing at the idea of the GC having a 1 hr meeting w each family! She didn’t know my kids and their interests at all, she has no time to suss out whether we are full pay or not, and what did she know about schools on the East especially that I didn’t? Her time was better spent finding ways that other students could afford state u in the first place, not the finer points of a Haverford vs Swarthmore for the one kid every 5 years who might be so inclined. </p>
<p>My oldest made her own list after I said “You need to make a list of colleges for us to visit” in my pre-CC days. I did add one college to her list which is the one she ended up at.
My youngest is not as into online investigation and was quite happy for me to come up with a list for her.</p>
<p>I came up with a list but I have geared it somewhat to my daughter’s feedback.</p>
<p>I think part of the answer relates to the amount and quality of guidance kids get from their HS GCs.</p>
<p>My two oldest sons went to a large, well-respected Public HS, but GC attention was VERY limited. In their cases, we actually looked together at a couple of match tools that are out there to identify potential fits based on answers to various questions and characteristics of schools. That generated a starting list of about 20-25. They added a few along the way due to coaches that recruited them or mail propaganda. Worked pretty well.</p>
<p>My youngest son attends a Private with much more involved HS GCs. He has a starting list he came up with working with them and doing some further research on his own. I suggested a few additions he has added to his list.</p>
<p>The list has been building over time. We started with very casual campus visits (no formal tours) at schools with DSs desired field of study when we were on vacations. First formal tour was back to one of those schools spring of Sophomore year. More tours since then have covered seeing a small, 2 medium and two large schools. Only 1 is not on the current “likely to apply” list. I came up with those first 5 based upon very general parameters supplied by DS + specific field of study. I think knowing the field of study narrows thing down a lot. After some Naviance and school web-site research by both of us, it was up to DS to decide to do formal tour or not. I have told him I expect him to apply to 6-9 schools and the ball is in his court to find additions to the list. We have meeting with GC coming up 2nd quarter. GC will likely suggest some. My DS is not inclined to do much initial research but has found campus visits to be the most informative part of the process. It was not until the 3rd tour that he realized how varied the choices could be. The “feel” of the campus was not something he would have even considered as a variable prior to seeing several schools. I am glad we have spread it out over time so he could really consider the differences. </p>
<p>For DS1 (who is a sophomore in college) - I created the initial list. The process overwhelmed him. He was willing to go to college anywhere in the USA with a few exceptions. He was all over the place in terms of major interests (Music Performance, Engineering, Cog Sci). His final list was crafted by whittling down the list I began. </p>
<p>Now, DS2, who is still in high school, is very focused. I do not expected to be involved at the level I was for DS1. DS 2 will likely have a major focus and likely reduce his search to certain regions.</p>
<p>Different kids need different aid in mapping the process.</p>
<p>I have made it a point to know much more than my DD’s guidance counselor at a her large public school with above average academics</p>
<p>1st kid was a music major. He crafted a list of private college teachers with the help of his private instrument teacher and precollege orchestra director (who happened to also play the kid’s instrument). The colleges where those folks taught were targeted. It also helped that the kid went to a great summer program too…and that helped. We just looked at the options.</p>
<p>Second kid wanted strong sciences, an orchestra to play in as a non-music major, and pleasing weather. Since we knew nothing about schools in the southeast and west, I solicited input from the parents on this forum. I sent the info to the kid who actually vetted the schools. We visited the ones that made her initial cut…and she applied to the ones that made her final cut. She took charge…we just gave her some input.</p>
<p>We are from the northeast. Our GC was very well versed on schools in this region, the Midwest, and the mid Atlantic states…but not so much so for the west coast and southeast.</p>
<p>Just to add to what I already posted in post #19…</p>
<p>My youngest daughter, at age 12, had a “dream school,” and when we walked by it on a trip, she pointed to it and said, “I’m going to go here some day.” Of course she didn’t know hardly any other schools at the time. When she created her college list, I am happy to say she fully explored all options and came up with a list because she knew how highly competitive the process would be in her field and to get into these schools. She didn’t even apply ED to her dream school because we had yet to visit every school on our list at that point (because we hadn’t counted on her going to college early and she applied to colleges around her 16th birthday in junior year, the year we thought we would visit all her schools). In the end, she did land at her dream school, but I am really glad she fully explored all the options to come full circle in realizing it was the best fit and indeed, now that she has graduated, it was perfect for her. </p>
<p>My kids both had only one school on the list. I made a list of many options, based on what I knew about them and where they would likely get merit money, and went with whatever they wanted to do from there, for whatever reason they wanted. One picked four or five sort of “at random” to apply to (never even applied to dream school, bc would not have received merit money and we weren’t willing to do full pay). The other said he would apply to wherever I suggested, but did not want anyplace warmer than our home state. He applied to four or five also. </p>
<p>Is there an all-of-the-above check box? D1 wanted to be a nurse so we looked for colleges with BSN programs. Due to financial limitations, we stuck with in-states. D2 had no idea what she wanted to study but had higher stats so we looked regionally. Both Ds created lists but D2 had a much longer list. Public school GC didn’t add much. We worked with a private college counselor for D2’s college search process. Her input was invaluable in identifying colleges of interest, identifying D2’s likes/dislikes in a college environment, and facilitating the down-select process to a reasonable number of apps. I wish we’d used her services when we started with D1. </p>
<p>First S came up with his own list. Second S came up with his own list and I added one school (which is where he ultimately went). D said “Help me come up with a list. I don’t know where to start.”</p>
<p>How Not to Do It: (long time posters, do not read–repeat)</p>
<p>So, my son comes home wednesday before winter vacation, and announces he is in trouble for all the classes he took at local U (5 APs in HS, + band, and 5 college classes), and his GC says he should apply to flagship now–he is a junior. Me, the optimist, said, “why not apply to dream schools?”</p>
<p>So, we call H and Y and others to find out if he would be considered a transfer student if attends local U or flagship for a year, and son calls his former math teacher for suggestions, and we run to B & N for college guide. We are up until 2 a.m. figuring out a list. Son had to get LORs within next 2 days, and GC had to do her work in 2 days. Son was too late for most interviews, but H, CMU, and MIT came thru, thanks to the GC. Really good schools were forgotten, e.g. Harvey Mudd, U chicago & RIT. I wanted Brown on list, but that was too foreign. Anything in the country, like Cornell, was excluded. To sum up. we visited on accepted students’ days, and son made his choice. </p>
<p>This is not a route I would recommend, but the task did get done in 6 hours. </p>
<p>D1 loves to shop, and considered college hunting just another kind of shopping! 
She spent hours reading Fiske. We might have added one state university to her list as a financial safety, and (ironically), I think I found the school in Fiske she actually attended when looking for another school in the vicinity of a visit we had planned with an extra day to spare.</p>
<p>D2 asked me to mark colleges in Fiske she might like, and then we went over the list to narrow it down and plan visits. She did, um, end up at “Mom’s choice” (a school I asked her to apply to and visit overnight if she got in – she is there now and loves it).</p>
<p>Once it was clear that DD was a likely National Merit Finalist, I screened Bob Wallace’s AWESOME list of schools with big awards and presented DD with a smaller list of schools that matched her criteria. DD’s self-defined role was to investigate top-notch private schools. Neither of us believed she’d end up at a school on the other’s list. Turns out she was right, but it could have gone the other way sooooo easily.</p>
<p>I did. When in her sophomore year of HS my DD16 decided she wanted a BSW, I complied a list of colleges with accredited BSW programs as well as colleges with clinically focused Psychology majors that could be good prep for her long-range goal of the MSW. Each college on the list needed to be part of my tuition exchange benefit program. I did add a state school with a BSW that was not on the TE list. Maybe 20-25 schools total in accessible cities I think she’d like (she does not want rural or isolated schools). They include a wide range of admissions selectivity, from exceedingly low to middling. There are also local, commutable schools along with the sleep-away schools. Since that first list, I’ve removed some schools after my own online research (too Catholic, too homogeneous, too big, too Greek). </p>
<p>The main limits regarding her desired major, her likely ACT scores, and my TE benefit made selecting options manageable. I don’t know what I would have done without those parameters. </p>
<p>Then, the past spring she started going to college fairs and college visits, and her school is hosting college rep visits. Now, she’s either doubling-down or knocking schools off the list after these encounters. She won’t get to visit any out of town unless she’s admitted. So, I’m forcing her to watch virtual tours of all the schools on the existing list and to research each more, bit by bit. I hope that by the new year, this list will be “all hers” and I can get it off my hands. </p>
<p>I made the list for kid #1, she only wanted schools in California. But I made her add a few schools outside of California.
But honestly, when kid #1 applied to college, even sending SAT scores she made mistake, like sending to UCSD, she selected USD, so it’s not easy for them. For kid #2, I gave her a long list, like 30 schools base on her interest, told her to pick at least a few EAs. But in the end she decided where she wanted to apply because of the essays, but we had to give the counselor a list upfront so we had to narrow down quick.</p>