<p>The first thing is finances, you have to be able to afford the school, so you run net price calculators for that school. After that you want to target schools that has your intended and maybe minors. Then you need to find 2-3 schools that you know that you can afford and that you will get into. Usually these are state schools that are cheaper or OOS schools that give you automatic merit based on certain stats. Ideally these schools should be schools you would still be happy attending. After that you should look for some match schools, probably about 5-6. They should be schools where your GPA, and test scores are a little above average assuming that you are an unhooked applicant. You should consider things like fit such as: urban or rural, greek life, sports influence, male/female ratio, service culture, internship availability, housing, food, clubs, where you want to live after graduation; so whatever is important to you. Then apply to as many dream schools as you can afford.</p>