I spent a good 30-40 hours of my time researching and spending an hour here and there on weekends talking to my niece about her interests and the types of schools she feels like a good fit (we focused less on ranking). We also attended a college fair. We initially came up with a list of 12 colleges (3-4 in the top 100 in U.S. News) and some high-ranked LACs. From an initial list of 12 schools, we have been able to narrow it down to 6! Two safeties and 4 matches (low and high matches or low reaches). Out of the 6, her top choice LAC she applied to as ED, and two as EA’s, then 3 as Regular Decision schools. It is a long-winded process, but worth it!