<p>So I'm a rising Junior, and I feel like I'm just completely overwhelmed by college. There are just so many! I feel like I just have no idea where to start. I'm getting all of these emails and letters from colleges due to standardized testing, and it's just overwhelming me even more. I feel like whenever I do a search on College Board, I just get hit with so many results. I wonder if I'm being too picky, or not picky enough? I want to go to a small school, but then my father told me that he went to a massive public university but within his individual departments, it felt like a small school, which overwhelmed me even more! Also, I'm not 100% sure what I want to do with my life (maybe something in museums? maybe a teaching job?), and I feel that larger universities would give me more options in terms of degrees. I've been pretty adamant that I don't want to go to a local school, but is that a bad idea? I'm visiting some local campuses over the summer to try and figure out what I want, but I'm also afraid that it will just overwhelm me more. Please help!</p>
<p>Breathe. Wait until you get some test scores. Breathe. As long as your parents support your preference of a college away from home, then that’s absolutely fine. My younger son (about to begin college) determined that he wanted to go outside of the northeast, because he spent his first eighteen years here - he applied to colleges in NC, FL, LA, CA, OR, and WA. He applied to tiny, quirky, liberal arts colleges and huge public universities.Breathe. If your parents have the time and resources for college visits, take every opportunity you can to see a variety. If possible, combine visits with family trips to resorts, parks, historical sites, scenic roadways, major cities, etc. Road-trips are nice, because you’ll have a chance to familiarize yourself with a region and to discuss the college and its surroundings with parents.Breathe. If your parents are giving you a lot of freedom to decide for yourself, be grateful. You’ll find a lot of students and parents alike on this thread whose family relationships are being torn apart over disagreements. Breathe. Once you have an idea of how your junior year (the most critical one, academically) is going, you can begin identifying realistic “reach” colleges. Breathe.</p>
<p>My daughter was much like you – no idea where to start or how to choose. Visiting campuses was the way to go for her – she just couldn’t envision what a college was like until she went there. Reading reviews or going to the school’s website didn’t do anything for her, but once she set foot on a campus she was able to decide. So I highly recommend visiting campuses – I don’t think it will overwhelm you.</p>
<p>Beyond that, once you get your test scores back you will know what range of schools you should be looking at. And once you start running Net Price Calculators on those schools’ websites, you will know more about what schools you may be able to afford. You’ll narrow down the universe of choices, but it will take time.</p>
<p>In any case, don’t panic – you have plenty of time to decide. In fact you are in a good position, since you haven’t had your heart set on Yale or Princeton ever since you were in 2nd grade! You have an open mind, which is all to the good. Good luck!</p>
<p>The whole process can be overwhelming at first, but it gets clearer. Think of it as ever narrowing concentric circles; as you eliminate options you reach the center. </p>
<p>At this point you could have a long list of ideas to research. As you learn about each one and focus on what appeals to you the list will shrink to a manageable size. The key is to end up with a balanced list by selectivity – reach/match/safety.</p>
<p>The first thing you should do is talk to your parents about the money. Do you need financial aid? If yes, does your family qualify for need based aid? If you don’t know, pick a few colleges and ask your parents to use the on-line net price calculator. This will tell them how much the college expects them to contribute to the cost. If that works for your family financially, then you can put together a wide list. If it doesn’t then you need to start looking for colleges that offer merit aid. </p>
<p>Next start thinking about what kind of environment you want, not just size but also location and culture. City/suburb/rural? Geographic location? Fraternities/Sororities or none? Political activism? Sporty/Outdoorsy? You get the picture. Visits will help you define what you like.</p>
<p>Does your high school have a college counselor? S/he can help you get an idea of where students with similar grades and scores ended up. </p>
<p>It’s okay not to have firm career goals or a specific major in mind. That too will develop over time. For now, focus on the environment and culture that you like and make sure you can afford it.</p>
<p>Use the Supermatch engine on the left side of this page for a first cut.</p>