<p>I am a high school junior beginning the college search, and am not really sure where to start. I don't really know what I want to major in yet (probably something in either the humanities or social sciences, but that's pretty broad), and am not sure where in the country I'd like to be, or what size school I'd like to attend. This is proving to make whittling down my options fairly difficult. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get over my indifference on all these really important things?</p>
<p>Buy the Fiske Guide to Colleges, or take it out of the library. Start reading about some colleges and their pros and cons. </p>
<p>Identify things that you care about. </p>
<p>Find a nearby school that has classes on Martin Luther King day or President’s day. Visit a small liberal arts college, a medium sized university, and a large university. See what matters to you. Figure out if you want urban, suburban or rural, or if that matters to you. </p>
<p>Once you have the characteristics of a school that you want, then you can start looking for schools to meet your needs.</p>
<p>Also have a look online for college videos. Keep in mind they’re advertising material so show a sunny campus full of students playing frisbee on the lawns having a fun group study session. They don’t show what the place is like on a dark wet January or when everyone’s in a panic over exams or the worse dorms on campus :)</p>
<p>Dare I suggest you have a start by looking at the videos of some extremes which would then be interesting to compare with what Fiskes says?</p>
<p>A small liberal arts college- Middlebury
A large state university- UTexas
A large private university in a major city- NYU
An Ivy- Stanford
A Service Academy- United States Military Academy (USMA)
A religious college- Brigham Young University (BYU)</p>
<p>This might help with some instant likes and dislikes. </p>
<p>Enjoy your research. You’re a completely open book at the moment so the possibilities are truly endless.</p>
<p>Talk to your parents early in the process about how your family will finance your college education. You cannot build an appropriate application list if you don’t know what your family is able and willing to pay. Unless your parents (or grandparents) are able and willing to pay up to ~$250,000 to send you (and each of your siblings) to college, you’ll need to pursue at least one of the following kinds of cost-reduction:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Need-based financial aid. Most colleges offer it, but do not cover full need. A state university like Texas or Wisconsin might cover about 60-80% of demonstrated need. This percentage may be much lower (and the sticker price much higher) for out-of-state students at public colleges. About 50-60 colleges claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need ([Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014)). Almost all of these are selective, highly-ranked private colleges. If you are a good student whose parents are able and willing to cover their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), this list of 50-60 schools is a good place to start. You can estimate your EFC for these schools by using their online Net Price Calculators or collegeabacus.com.</p></li>
<li><p>Merit scholarships. These are especially desirable if your parents are unable or unwilling to cover your entire EFC, or if you simply want a good school at a discount price. Many selective, highly-ranked colleges cited above do not offer merit scholarships at all. Generally, to be eligible, your stats (GPA, rank, scores) should place you in the top 25% or better of students enrolled at the target school. Kiplinger’s tracks the average merit awards and percentage of students who get them for several hundred “best value” colleges ([Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Private Colleges-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php]Kiplinger’s”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php)). There also are lists on the Internet of schools that offer “full ride” scholarships. Example (sorted by selectivity):[National</a> Universities That Offer Full Ride Scholarships](<a href=“Loading...”>http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/09/national-universities-that-offer-full-ride-scholarship/). </p></li>
<li><p>Affordable sticker price. This is your best strategy if you think you won’t be able to get adequate financial aid (need-based or merit). To find relatively low sticker prices, focus on public colleges in your home state. There are a few other low-cost/no-cost options (like the military service academies). For many students the best low-cost alternative is a 2-year community college or a 4-year college close enough to commute from home for at least the first year or two (to save on room and board).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For many applicants the best strategy seeks some combination of the above (a reach school that covers full need; a match school where you qualify for merit aid; a safety that your family definitely can afford.)</p>
<p>@highland_poppy- very well researched comment, but id like to point out that Stanford is simply Ivy caliber, and not an actual Ivy. The Ivy League is an athletic league of eight schools that are all known for their high academic standing as well.</p>
<p>Great advice here for getting started. Just to add some broader context, remember that the goal is to come up with a list of schools you can afford, have a chance of being admitted to (including at least one ‘safety’), and would be happy to attend. This isn’t like getting married, where you will select only one person and changing your mind after a year would be seriously traumatic.</p>
<p>Once you’ve done some reading, visited a few ‘typical’ types of schools, talked to your folks, try to develop a list of criteria for what you are seeking: the kind of school, the geographic area, the size, the culture, etc…Then come back to CC with your ‘profile’ and see what kind of suggestions you get. Schools that didn’t appear on your radar the first time, may come up.</p>
<p>This is a really fun process if you don’t get too vested in a particular outcome (the ‘dream school’). You’ll learn a lot about yourself if you put in the time and the thought.</p>
<p>Try to get a sense of what your major might be. If you feel strongly about something, target schools that are strong in the area, even if they are not the strongest schools all around. For example: some schools are known for their theater programs. Other schools just have a theater program. Some schools have a marine biology course. Other schools have a marine biology program.</p>
<p>Even if you have many interests and can’t narrow it down to 1-2, you can still choose a school with those interests in mind.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I already have a Princeton Review guide that I’ve flipped through, would the Fiske guide be pretty similar to that? Also, thank you for the suggestion of looking at some of the videos online, I didn’t even think of that and it would seem to be a pretty quick and easy method for getting a feel for some of the school’s atmospheres. I haven’t talked with my parents about money yet, but I get the general impression it shouldn’t be too much of an issue, although that does definitely need to be confirmed.
Also, is there anything I should be on the lookout for during campus visits? I’ve visited two schools so far, a very small urban school and a suburban Ivy, and I felt like both places were pretty nice, but like I didn’t really know what I was looking for, so it was hard to form a really specific opinion.</p>
<p>I liked the Fiske Guide better than the Princeton 373 (though both were helpful, in different ways). Fiske reviews are longer, more in-depth, and a bit more subjective. Fiske seems to be the universal favorite on these forums.</p>
<p>I used both and found them complementary, each offers something the other doesn’t. If you are looking at highly selective colleges, The Hidden Ivies is also a useful book - extensive reviews of the colleges covered, including many/most of the top LACs and non-Ivy elites.</p>
<p>As stated above, the best thing you can do is start to narrow down the type of college you’re looking for and get a size range in mind, though be flexible on that, as there are ways to make large colleges smaller through specific programs like honors colleges. Once you start to narrow it down, find a favorite or two, and use the guides to find schools that other students compare them to. Once you find what you’re looking for, it’ll be obvious you’re on the right path - when they all look the same, you haven’t found it yet.</p>
<p>There are entire threads devoted to planning campus visits and what to look for. Do a search, OP, and you’ll get a lot of useful information. A key suggestion is to write down your impressions immediately after visiting. If you do a lot of visits, the schools will start to blur in your mind. (And for those you like, you can always mention something you saw/enjoyed on campus to personalize an essay or interview.)</p>
<p>A vote for Fiske over Princeton here as well. </p>
<p>Another book that might be useful is the Collegeboard Book of Majors. Go though with post-it notes and flag majors that sound interesting (maybe with a couple of colors, green for “sounds great”, yellow for “sounds interesting…”). Then look for colleges that offer the majors that seem like your top choices. You don’t have to decide before you go to college what to major in, but this could help give you some direction to pick colleges that offer majors you know you are interested in. Once you are on campus you can take a couple of classes in a few different majors in the first three semesters to try to narrow down your interests, and also use the career counseling office at the college to help you make your major choice.</p>
<p>You need to have the “money talk”… not too many families can really afford $60K/year that some top colleges cost without difficulty. Ask your parents to run the net price calculators on the websites of some of the colleges that look interesting to you, it will give you an idea if you might get some need based aid.</p>