<p>Alright so I really know nothing about anything, regarding college selection. I always find myself getting caught up in the prestige and the name of the college. I always tell myself, Duke has a good basketball team so they can't be smart. Isn't Cornell the poopy ivy? I don't want to go there etc... I find it very hard to compose my own list of colleges I would like to attend because I don't know what to look at. This brings me to my point, how should I go about searching for colleges? Should I look at how good their certain programs are? That brings me to another problem with not knowing what I want to do, I don't even know what an engineer is. I mean I do, but I don't know what kind of career an engineering degree leads to. Anyway, I know it's probably painful to read through this, so I'll conclude with this. What factors should I consider when searching for colleges?</p>
<p>Bump? 10char</p>
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<p>Well for one thing, I’d stop using weird logic like this!</p>
<p>Super cliche answer but I started with collegeboard’s college matchmaker.</p>
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Me too. And Princeton Review’s Counselor-O-Matic (really!).</p>
<p>Sit down with your parents and have a firm grasp on what the finances are (ie, who is paying, how much, etc), and if there are geographic limitations (some families say the kid must stay within a 3 hour car-ride).</p>
<p>Then visit schools that are nearby, or near where you are visiting relatives - not for the idea of attending those schools, but to understand what is meant by:</p>
<ul>
<li>urban setting with a defined campus vs urban setting without a defined campus</li>
<li>rural</li>
<li>3000 students vs 35,000 students
etc</li>
</ul>
<p>That gave my daughters a sense of the terminology used to describe schools.</p>
<p>Basically, you want to put in some parameters and restrictions, as a starting place. And then be open to schools that do, and do not fit, the parameters. They are only there as a guide to help you get started.</p>
<p>If you haven’t done so already, try to find a good career interest test and see if the results match how you feel about different careers. (Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t). Talk to someone who knows you well…a parent, a teacher, a guidance counselor…see if they can shed some light on what different careers are and if they might be a good fit for you. </p>
<p>Start the conversation NOW with your parents as to what their expectations are and what they can or cannot afford, then start doing as mentioned above…think about what kind of college you want to attend (large, small, rural, urban, etc.)</p>