<p>The title describes it all</p>
<p>and what are the most important factors for you? (finan aid/money, size, school spirit, etc.)</p>
<p>8th grade, LOL</p>
<p>I like to see my major and to have small class sizes. Fin. Aid is also a big deal to me and the size of the whole campus doesn’t matter if I have small classes.</p>
<p>I started in the second half of sophomore year (~6 months ago). My top priority is extreme, harsh rigor in mathematics and engineering. Beyond that, I look for a social scene without big parties, smart students, and socioeconomic diversity.</p>
<p>At the beginning of junior year.
Bought Princeton Review’s The 36X Best Colleges, Fiske’s Guide to Colleges, Insider’s Guide to Colleges, read them inside and out.</p>
<p>-generous financial aid
-quality of life
-quality of academic experience
-prestige
-location
-proximity to home</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely started more seriously in Jan. (I’m a rising junior)</p>
<p>(I won’t start visits until like Spring of Junior year though)</p>
<p>In the middle of junior year. I wish I didn’t start until this summer.</p>
<p>My requirements:</p>
<p>Good science, engineering and math
Fairly well known/prestigious (sorry…)
Medium/Large student body
Active social scene
Not an extremely high cost
Good weather is preferable</p>
<p>I started looking after AP exams in 11th grade, because I had been taking an online class at school so I had free use of a computer for an hour everyday. Looked for:</p>
<ul>
<li>good in math</li>
<li>overall academic reputation</li>
<li>general atmosphere of the school</li>
<li>specific programs in the math department</li>
<li>plus if near home</li>
<li>plus if near/in big city</li>
<li>minus if sports competed with UCLA (:D)</li>
</ul>
<p>I already had a list of schools in mind though, and there wasn’t a huge change. The actual application process probably had as large an effect. The main school I came across and really liked was UChicago, but I couldn’t stomach actually writing one of their essays.</p>
<p>I began researching late sophomore year, then started narrowing down junior year. I did visits the summer before senior year, then re-visited the ones I liked most during the beginning of the year. I looked for:
- distance from home
- academic reputation for intended major (BME)
- “fit” (hard to explain, easy to discern)
- some semblance of a sports atmosphere
- smaller class sizes
- good fin.aid
- good social scene</p>
<p>Sites that might help you are collegeboard.com, princetonreview.com, essayforum.com, students review.com - these are four sites where you can register for SAT (collegeboard), get some practice tests and get help with essays (essayforum) and find universities you want to attend (students and princetonreview).</p>
<p>8th grade I started college search and seems like it will never end yet.</p>
<p>I found my dream school freshman year, but I wasn’t actively looking for colleges then.</p>
<p>My search began in earnest at the beginning of junior year (i’m a rising senior).</p>
<p>I’ve been looking for intellectual culture, challenging academics, and urban/international environment.</p>
<p>I have been reading about and looking at colleges for as long as I can remember, but my search became serious in the fall of my junior year, right before I took my SAT. However, I would say my search picked up its pace when I began receiving college mail after my sophomore year PSAT.</p>
<p>My biggest requirement was that it had to be urban. Then, it had to have excellent financial aid. Even though challenging but manageable academics has always been a qualifier, I’ve never really “considered” it one of my requirements because it was sort of a given for the schools I was looking at - not necessarily prestigious schools, but all large schools well known in my area, anyways. I had no desire to go to a school labeled “college” and no desire to go to a school I had never heard of before. That remains the same - mostly because those schools are either far away, small, too selective or not selective enough.</p>