How do I get started on choosing a list of colleges that I’d be interested in applying to?
Is there a recommended number of reach/match/safeties?
I have a long list of reach schools, how do I choose between all the options?
Do I have to look at if they have a strong program in the “track” that I’m interested in?
Should I do college tours first? (In case you haven’t noticed I have no idea where to start) Thanks!
Well, where do you live? Where do you want to go to school? What are you interested in studying?
My suggestion would be to get a Princeton Review book about colleges so you can read through the descriptions. The book with the top 380 or so schools (the number changes every year) has sub-lists, like “top schools that value undergraduate education”, “schools that have the best mathematics departments”, “schools where students study hard and party hard” etc.
Also, you should visit a sampling of local colleges - just go to some info sessions and take the tours so you can start to get a sense of what you like and what you don’t like, what kind of vibe you’re looking for, what size school you want, what programs interest you, etc.
Or, if you have an intended area of study, location, cost, etc., you can post here and ask for suggestions.
My daughter started with the academics - which schools were strong for her intended major. Then we did tours to see if she like big vs small, public vs private, city vs rural because she had zero idea. Going on some tours really helped her figure out what was important to her - big, rural, STEM focused, good study abroad opportunities, few gen ed requirements, undergrad research opportunities, and career focused programs.
Her guidance counselor recommended 20% reach, 60% match, 20% safety for the list. My daughter ended up applying to 8 schools - 2 reach, 4 match, 2 safeties. That translated to lots and lots of essays, especially with honors college invites.
If you need financial aid or are chasing merit, that will add another layer to your search.
Talk to your guidance counselor, look at the college guide websites and books (Fiske is a good one), and do your research.
Take a look through a Fiske guide or something similar just to get a feel for what may appeal to you. But most importantly, I’d start by having a discussion with your parents about how much they can pay per year and then build your list around that.
A general guide for determining match is this
If you are on par with what they admit, middle 50%, you have a good chance with ED but not RD.
If you are on the 25 percentile, even at ED is a bit reach.
If you are at 75 percentile, you can consider it safety in the RD.
Start with a major, research schools that offer your major, make a list of filters are important to you. Rural campus, need base grant, strong D1 athletics…etc.
Good luck to you. And start working on your essays, they are pain in the anus.
I am a big fan of a site that isn’t discussed much - called Parchment. Parchment has some great insights and integrates with real data from students who were admitted to particular colleges.
Start with money. If you can’t afford it, you’re not going there. Out of state colleges are triple the cost of in-state. Private schools are generally even worse with a few exceptions. Second, look at what your interests are. All universities have a few specialties they have a bigger than average reputation for, but offer a broad selection of majors. Elite schools are no exception.
I’m not a big fan of touring. In a tour, you only see what the school wants to show you, and it’s always one-sided. Most of the information you get is not very useful. College life requires adaptation and adjustment with any school.
Are you a small town person, or a city person? College towns have plenty of school pride, but a lot of people get bored or depressed if it’s too isolated. Prestige doesn’t equal happy.
Are you applying this year? Next year? How much time you have will impact what your tactics should be.
In general, the choices where to apply are quite complicated. There are many variables, such as price, campus size, weather, major, type of location (city, suburban, rural, etc), type of architecture you prefer, variety of off-campus activities, intensity of academics, sorts, fraternities & sorofities, political climate, and so on. Some of these might be very important to you & some might not matter at all. It’s hard to even know where you stand on all the varianles until you visit at least several colleges. Be aware that the importance some things might surprise you. Like you might not think weather is a big deal, but the truth is you will probably never spend as much time outdoors as you will as an undergrad. Or you might think size of campus isn’t a big deal, but when you have to walk to classes or wait for busses, it might turn out you hate large campuses.
“I have a long list of reach schools,”
For many students, the reach school are the easier ones to pick.
The safeties might be easy for some students, but can be difficult for others. IMHO the safeties are the most important, because that is where you know that you will be able to attend. To be a safety you need to be quite confident that you will be admitted, quite sure that you can afford the school, and know that you would be willing to go there (even if it is not your first choice). I would start with finding two safeties.
Your budget is one important thing to keep in mind. Most students are constrained by their budget. Full pay can be over $70,000 per year at some universities. This is crazy for most of us, but for most of us there are much more affordable options.
What you want to study is also important to keep in mind. If you want to be a music major, MIT might not be the first place to look.
You might want to think about whether you would want a large school or a small school. Visiting a couple of big schools and a couple of small schools might be a good thing to do just to get a feel for what the differences are.
I notice on another thread that you mentioned the word “premed”. Of course premed is not a major. Instead there are multiple premed requirements that you take while majoring in something else. There are a great many universities that have very strong premed programs. However, it would be best not to go into debt for undergrad if you want to keep open the possibility of maybe going on to medical school. As such, your in-state public university is often one place that you should at least consider if you are thinking of possibly being a premed student.
Some students want to go far from home to get a “different” experience compared to high school. However, you should keep in mind that if you live on-campus, you could attend a university 10 miles from your home (if there is one) and it would be a completely different experience compared to living at home with your parents. You don’t have to go very far to feel like you are in a different world. There is something to be said for the ability to see a friendly face quickly if something goes wrong (breakups do sometimes occur, even for university students).
Have you spoken with you parents about the money? How do they expect you to pay for your education? Will they help pay? If so, how much each year, for how many years, and with what conditions? If they flip out at the cost of college, don’t be surprised. Help them create a login, and send them to the Financial Aid Forum.
There is some very good advice given here.
If I had a vote, I would vote for “boots on the ground” regarding a tour. While there is some truth in what @coolguy40 states about seeing what the college wants you to see, I found that the real value of a tour – at least when the college or university is in session – is that it gives you a chance to see what the student body is like, and whether you can picture yourself as part of that student body. I toured a couple of dozen schools between my kids, and the most unsatisfying visits were ones when there were no students on campus.
For my kids, early in the process we visited a mix of large/medium/small sized schools, as well as ones that were located in urban/suburban/small town areas; so that might be a way to cull some schools from your list. (Although keep your mind open; my kids had ideas about the size/location of the college/university they initially thought they wanted to attend; and both ended up at places that weren’t in the categories that they initially desired.)
I also concur with the posters who suggest 1-2 “safety” schools (including both admissions and financial aspects), 1-2 “reach” schools, and 4-6 “match” schools (my kids ended up applying to 8-9 schools each). Also, with regard to your “reach” schools, realize that the chances are against your admission; so don’t get your hopes up about getting into a “dream” school that is a reach.
Do talk to your guidance counselor early and often; AND have your parents meet with you and the guidance counselor also, at least once or twice. If you are in a public high school, it might be a little more difficult to get face time with the GC; just remember that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and be persistent.
We can help.
What are your preferences for the following? (if you have no preference, just say “N/A” or skip it):
Academics:
- Majors of interest?
-Would you prefer or rule out an open, core, or a curriculum featuring standard distribution requirements? - Do you require small lecture sizes even in introductory courses?
- Do you require a high level of personal interaction with professors / professor availability?
- Would you prefer a more pre-professional or intellectual vibe?
- Do you care about the calendar – semesters, trimesters, quarters?
- How hard are you willing to work – are you eager to skate through, or are you willing to be very busy with your studies?
Environment:
- Any regional preferences or exclusions?
- Surroundings: rural, urban or suburban?
- Weather?
- Campus size, number of students, etc?
- Campus design?
Social vibe:
- What are your thoughts on partying, Greek participation/presence, etc.?
- Would you rather spend a Saturday at the mall/in the city, or on a long hike?
- Does political activism excite or repel you?
- Do you require a school with a big fan/sports scene?
- Do you want a lot of club options? If there isn’t a club to suit you, would you be willing to start one?
Cost:
- What are your parents/family willing to spend?
- Have you run any practice NPCs to get an idea of what kind of aid you could expect?
(you can always filter out the schools we suggest that the NPC indicates would not be affordable, but if we have some basic idea it will help.)
^ right on the mark.
Fiske Guide and Google.
@prezbucky Thanks! Here are my answers:
Academics:
- Majors of interest: Biology/premed, neuroscience, computer science (not 100% sure what constitutes a major but those are areas of study I’m interested in)
- Open, core, or a curriculum featuring standard distribution requirements: N/A
- Do you require small lecture sizes even in introductory courses? N/A
- Do you require a high level of personal interaction with professors / professor availability? Yes
- Would you prefer a more pre-professional or intellectual vibe? Pre-professional
- Do you care about the calendar-- semesters, trimesters, quarters? N/A (leaning toward semester but not a big issue)
- How hard are you willing to work – are you eager to skate through, or are you willing to be very busy with your studies? I’d be willing to be busy with studies and work hard provided there’s some room for free time/fun
Environment:
- Any regional preferences or exclusions? I’d prefer somewhere near the East/West coasts and less towards the middle of the country
- Surroundings: rural, urban or suburban? Not extremely rural
- Weather? Warm most of the year, snow in the winter is alright
- Campus size, number of students, etc? N/A
- Campus design? Not a fan of really modern buildings, would prefer colleges with some older architecture (ex. Dartmouth and Georgetown are a couple that I’ve stayed at and I liked them both). I’d also prefer somewhere that feels like a campus and not just scattered buildings.
Social vibe:
- What are your thoughts on partying, Greek participation/presence, etc.? Sure
- Would you rather spend a Saturday at the mall/in the city, or on a long hike? Mall/city
- Does political activism excite or repel you? N/A
- Do you require a school with a big fan/sports scene? N/A
- Do you want a lot of club options? If there isn’t a club to suit you, would you be willing to start one? Yes and possibly
Cost:
- What are your parents/family willing to spend? haven’t had this talk yet, will use it to further narrow schools soon
- Have you run any practice NPCs to get an idea of what kind of aid you could expect? No
Not true for most top 50 colleges.
@ everyone who replied here: Thanks so much for all of your advice! I really appreciate it and I’m starting to get a better idea of what to keep in mind while looking at colleges 
What are your stats OP? That combined with your answers in post 14 will help people give you some suggestions?
SAT: taking it this month
SAT subject tests: Bio M - 780, Math II- 760 (retaking this in October since I took it the first time without much prep)
GPA: 4.33 weighted
Is there anything else I should add (major ECs or AP scores etc)?
^Unweighted GPA: 3.88