How did you guys start looking for schools? Do you search around for institutions that are well-known for your potential majors or find lists of generally reputable schools and work your way down?
Step one: Set your budget. Both the student and the parents need to understand how much can be contributed by the family each year. Then you can start looking at schools that have a chance of being at or below that price.
Other early screens besides price are: Does the school have a major(s) interesting to you, area of the country, size, rural vs. city, and size of school. I actually would start with these before price albeit that has to be part of the equation.
My DD started by looking at schools that were strong in her intended major and then we went to visit a variety of “types” - Small, big, public, private, LAC, STEM focused…it really helped her figure out her “type”.
Be sure to talk to your parents’ about budget constraints so you know what you need to target in terms of price.
When you have standardized tests scores, you can start creating a list of safety, match, and reach schools.
IMO, you want to start with your safeties. That’s where the majority of your research time should go!
I’d echo this advice. Lots of kids do the opposite, spending most of their time looking into colleges that 5% or less of applicants get into.
There are many books about college admissions. One I like is called “Admission Matters.” A good book explains the entire process, gives you an idea of how to figure out what college is a fit for you, describes how financial aid works, etc
This is also very good advice, and something you’ll find echoed in admission books. Start by finding the type(s) that are right for you instead of focusing on specific colleges.
We also started with our in-state schools (safeties). From there, my student had to think long and hard about how far away he wanted to be. It’s not easy (or cheap) if you have to fly home, and if you do fly, are there direct flights or layovers? Once we had a geographic radius, then we researched the colleges that fit the budget and major (in that order!).
Budget budget budget.
Unless your parents are in the 1 percent (and even then, don’t take anything for granted), the cost of attendance is likely to be the most important factor.
You, as the student, can only take out ~$5k in loans per year (it goes up a bit each year). The rest of the money has to come from your parents, either borrowing, cash-flowing it or with savings - theirs or yours.
In a perfect world, your parents would be sitting you down and telling you how much they can pay. With that information, you can figure out where to start looking.
To the money mix, add your test scores & GPA, and that’ll give you an idea of affordable places where you’re likely to get merit scholarships, if that’s what you’re gonna need.
And if you’ll need merit aid, the most important thing to do is set your sights at schools where you are in the top 25% of students, stats-wise. Don’t try to squeak into your unattainable dream school with stats under the middle-50% range of students - you might get in, but you won’t get merit, and, see above, if you need merit, this is the wrong school to target.
Really, start with the budget. Everything flows from that number.
I spent some time with Fiske’s Guide, which among other things has lists of schools that are strong in different types of programs/majors. Once I identified some schools for my kids, I began to identify which might be likely candidates for admission, then which ones would fit in our budgets, and which ones might have an opportunity for merit aid (we did not want to take out any loans for college education).