<p>What is the best way to find the college that is right for me? Should I go with my gut or should there be more aspects invovled like a college search engine or something?</p>
<p>Use the search engine as a base to work on, then go by fit.</p>
<p>If you throw out the safety/match/reach designations, PR's Counselor-o-matic does a good job of creating a list of possibilities.</p>
<p>Search engines are a good start. After that, you need to do more research. Look at the school website, talk to people, etc.</p>
<p>Look at everything--Princeton review online, check out some of the books that really give descriptions, not just facts, visit the college websites, visit schools themselves, and then, once armed with some facts, I say go heavily with your gut. This is a place that you are, hopefully, going to spend 4 years. You should like being on campus, want to get to know the people you see there, be excited about the academics, etc. If, once you get on a campus, you really don't want to leave, that is a good sign.</p>
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Search engines are a good start.
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Actually, I think it's best to start a step before that. Many important factors in college selection (urban/rural, LAC/university, etc.) can be puzzling in themselves. How does one know if a large college would be a better fit?</p>
<p>My advice would be to start off by visiting various colleges in your area. Get a variety- big, small, public, private, artsy, athletic. Once you've visited a couple, you'll start to figure out exactly what you want in a college. Many people think they want a college larger than their high school, only to realize their freshman year that they would've thrived in a smaller environment (and vice versa).</p>
<p>Once you have an idea of what characteristics you want in a college (size, location, extracurriculars, housing, cost, etc.), you can begin to formulate a tentative list. As mentioned, college search engines are great for this.</p>
<p>After you have a list, you have the hard task of narrowing it down. Visit their websites, including blogs and discussion boards if they have them. Order course catalogues or DVDs/CDs, if available. Contact alumni in your area. Visit in person and stay overnight, or try to attend an information session in your area. Contact admissions to see if they can put you in touch with current students.</p>
<p>I actually hated most of the results I got from Princeton Review's counselor matic. But looking through their lists (you know, the ones that are like "best radio station" "birkenstock wearing hippies") and reading the student synopses of the schools that appeal to me. Then I check out studentreview.com for a more realistic look, and if the college still appeals to me, I'll visit their website and poke around, check stats.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's true. Baylor (where I ended up going) wasn't very high up on my results on the search engines.</p>
<p>But the search engines are still a start at least, if you have no clue what's out there.</p>