<p>How does everyone here already know where they want to go? I'm a junior, and I have no clue where to apply, yet freshman already know their entire list. How do you narrow it down, and, heck, how do you even start?</p>
<p>Also, I don't know what my major will be (but that's for another topic)</p>
<p>Trust me, a lot of those freshmen will end up changing their lists, if not trashing it completely. Things to consider are: your academic interests, the type of environment you want to spend 4 years of your life in (I wouldn’t survive a year in an isolated rural town, much less 4 years!), the school size and access to resources (ie: internships in hospitals/other medical setting or research opportunities). Oh, and tuition.</p>
<p>Yea I made a list towards the end of junior year but now as a senior I changed a few things around</p>
<p>This is just the 1% on here. The majority of people at my school don`t even know what type of career they want, let alone major or school.</p>
<p>TheKongo,</p>
<p>To try and narrow it down, how about asking yourself a few questions such as (1) do I want to go to a large university, medium sized or small, (2) are NCAA athletics important to me so that I want to go to a school with a good football or b-ball team, (3) how far away from home do I want to be/what geographic area of the country do I want to be in (or do not want to be in), (4) what can my parents realistically afford and what are my odds of getting a scholarship, (5) do I want to go to college with at least some of my high school friends, (6) what do I want to major in (or at least area-- say liberal arts v. STEM) and do the universities I am looking at have good programs in those areas, (7) do I want to go to a liberal arts college, (8) do I want to go to a technical college that focuses on STEM, do I want to go to a Top 30 school and what colleges are realistic for me given my grades/rank activities etc., and (9) do I like parties and frat life or would I rather discuss Plato at midnight (or maybe both). </p>
<p>If you answer these questions, you will have at least started to narrow your search.</p>
<p>In May I would never apply to UF…yet right now it’s my top choice and the only acceptance I’m really looking forward, too.</p>
<p>I made my list at the end of sophomore year with the intention of modifying it. So far there have been a couple of minor adjustments and I plan to remove at least three schools by the time I apply (right now there are 15 on the list). Muckdogs07 gives good advice, personally I found the easiest way to start was to visit a variety of colleges (if you live in/near a large city this won’t be hard to do), I visited an ivy, a state school, the local school (Pitt), a large private school and some LACs, it lets you get a feel for what you want in a school.</p>
<p>Try to figure out what you want in a school. It’s certainly important that the school has a good program in what you plan to major in, but consider what other things you may value more than others. For example, I prefer a school either in or near a city (not really necessary, as I’m applying to Cornell, but it definitely helps). Meanwhile, school size isn’t really a factor for me. For some people, neither of those are the case. It should be noted that you might not know what you want until you actually visit schools, that was the case for me.
Once you have all of these down, go onto a college search site (such as the one you are currently on) and search for schools that have these qualities. It generally gives a good list. Then, just visit these schools and see how you feel. Nothing beats a good ol’ college visit.</p>
<p>Ya I wouldn’t worry too much you have the summer to further decide.Last year I wasn’t sure what career/major I wanted but I had a general field.</p>
<p>If you’re more into a certain school subject try looking into it or if its a class you do well in.</p>
<p>OP, </p>
<p>Be sure to check it twice.</p>
<p>I didn’t even decide I wanted to go to college until this January (in the second semester of my junior year). I researched colleges obsessively, now I have my list and I’m applying. If you have no idea right now, that’s ok! But now is a good time to start thinking about it.</p>
<p>I knew exactly what I want to study (theater) and how I want to study it, so that made it easy to narrow my search. But I also thought about things like diversity, size, urban vs. rural, LGBTQ acceptance, student to teacher ratio, general student body vibes, etc. </p>
<p>You don’t absolutely have to know your major when you choose colleges, but it’s 1000x better to have some solid ideas, so that you can look into suitable programs. When you’re thinking about a major, ask yourself if there’s something you want to do in your life that you won’t be able to do without college. Choose a major correspondingly. </p>
<p>If you can’t think of anything like that, choose your major based on what you spend your time on now, when you’re procrastinating from homework that doesn’t interest you. In unproductive moments when you get sucked into Wikipedia/reddit/tumblr, what are you reading about? Fashion, science, politics? Consider majoring in that. </p>
<p>Or maybe there’s a class you’re taking this year (or as a senior) that you’ve been looking forward to since freshman year. Or a class that interested you more than you expected. You could major in that subject.</p>
<p>Now is a good time to start making a list. Don’t be worried that you haven’t had one since freshman year: my list only has one school that hasn’t changed since then!</p>
<p>I’ve been revising my college list since freshmen year, but I haven’t found the solid list I’ll use come senior year.</p>
<p>I was… nevermind–I AM clueless about college and my parents are immigrants, but I managed.</p>
<p>I would recommend using Big Future on collegeboard.org, asking your parents about financial stuff, and looking for colleges that fit you socially and have what you’re looking for in a college (location, a community, research opportunities, a major or program, school size, diversity, etc.). And remember, there’s no required number of colleges you need on your list. Just make sure to apply to one that is inexpensive for your family and that you are 100% sure of getting into.</p>
<p>Don’t worry at all. I’m a senior now, and I literally finalized my list like a week ago. Prior to that I went from like 20 maybe schools all over the northeast to 10 to not knowing about any to my final list (6) I suggest just going to a visit. </p>
<p>Think about what you are interested in, and this doesn’t have to be one specific thing. Look for a few different things you’re interested and look for schools that offer them all. Unless you are looking for a business or like chemical engineering you can go to a liberal Arts College as an undecided major. Experience it a little and then you’ll have an idea.</p>
<p>When I started looking, I went based off of the college mail I was getting and I started there. I started out really huge (Northeast Region) then I narrowed it. My process went something like this</p>
<p>1.Northeast
2.NY,NJ,CT,PA,MA,NH
3.NY,NJ,CT,PA
4.NY,NJ,CT
5.NY,NJ</p>
<p>and eventually I decided that I wanted to stay within 2 hours from my house (NY) So I went on websites like College_ board or I just googled “schools near ___” I knew I wanted to Do either Sociology, Psychology, Education (adolescent/ childhood/ early ed).</p>
<p>Once I decided the major I wanted (or in your case the group) I visited the first school that was nearby & sent me mail- I visited and turns out that I hated it. I took that and narrowed my search more
(ex college_board my search was now: >2500 students, Urban/ Suburban Area, 200 miles from my house)</p>
<p>I certainly had no idea what schools I would apply to freshmen year, or sophomore or junior year for that matter.</p>