<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377931%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377931</a></p>
<p>Someone earlier had a similar question: he/she didn't know where to begin and asked where the best school east of the Mississippi was. Read the long post first, because that summarizes (in a really long post) how to go about looking for colleges.</p>
<p>Who are you and what do you want out of college? The best college for you is the one that fits you best and the one that will give you the most of what you want out of college.</p>
<p>Once you have a good idea of what you want, that is when you start looking. So if you haven't done your "Who are you?" self-assessment and haven't decided what you want from college, don't start looking at guide books yet.</p>
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<li><p>Go to <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegeboard.com</a>, click on For Students, and do their College MatchMaker. It's a great tool, but unfortunately there are lots of mistakes. </p></li>
<li><p>Then I would go on CollegeConfidential and ask people, Hey guys, I'm looking for these types of schools: (List your Important Criteria). Does anyone have any suggestions? Then when you have around 10-30 schools, start looking at guidebooks.</p></li>
<li><p>Or you could take a look at the Students' Guide to Colleges, use their categories, and sort from there, keeping in mind that you should always look outside the box and consider all the schools in that book.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am not sure, but I think Peterson's and CB guide books have mostly statistical information, which probably won't help you too much until later. Insider's Guide to Colleges (I'm basing my opinion on the 2006 edition) has some information, but they say pretty much the same thing for a lot of colleges. I don't know much about the Fiske Guide or the Best 366 Colleges. I'd probably start off with the one that has most info on the student body, because then you will have a better idea of if you'll actually fit in. </p>
<p>About majors, it's probably not the best idea to base your college decision on which school has the best of a certain major. So many people change majors in their college years. If you have a general idea, that's good, but you have to be prepared to change your mind, as so many people do.</p>
<p>And above all, don't stress too much. In the Students' Guide to Colleges, people asked college students what they would tell people about the college search, and pretty much everyone said, "Not to stress too much." So don't worry! There ARE colleges out there that are more than happy to take you. It's like those Internet dating services. You can't find a good one until you have a good match!</p>