<p>After having an idea of what i want to major in, what are the first steps to crafting a list of colleges?</p>
<p>Please reply ASAP and be specific</p>
<p>1) Figure out what your parents can afford, and what range of schools you should realistically look at based on your GPA/SAT.</p>
<p>2)Decide what sort of school you’d like. Would you want a small (<3000 people), medium (3,000-12,000 people), or larger school (>12,000 people). Do you want it to be in a rural, suburban, or urban setting, and would you prefer that it be in a specific state/region? Also consider whether you want your college to have a specific academic or nonacademic program, like Jewish life if that’s important to you, if you want the student body to have a certain “feel”. For instance, Reed College is noted for having a quirky, liberal, and intellectual student body, while Washington & Lee is known to attract more conservatives than the average liberal arts college. At larger institutions which attract students from all over, there’s more likely to be more diversity in terms of interest, and socioeconomic class. Are there any features of the college life you’d like to have? For instance, little to no Greek life, or popular DI sports?</p>
<p>3) Finally after narrowing down the colleges, look to see which have the strongest program in your proposed field, all while keeping in mind that the vast majority of students will probably change their majors, often more than once. For instance the reality is, even at the best schools, only a tiny percent of students who think they’ll become doctors will actually do so.</p>
<p>Start looking at colleges that have good programs in whatever you are interested in.</p>
<p>Consider in-state vs. out, public vs. private. How much $$$ is a big factor sometimes. Think about if you want to go to a small, medium, or large school. Rural, suburban, urban? Are sports a big thing? Do you want to go to a Big 10 school so you can watch/play football? (Note: I’d advise against athletics being the main factor in your college decision)</p>
<p>Start thinking along those lines. CC has a college search thing, so you might want to use that to get a good idea. Once you come up with a few schools, looks at schools similar to them. Before you know it, you’ll have a (long, most likely) list!</p>
<p>Happy college hunting.</p>
<p>Edit: Cross posted with whenhen, repeated a lot.</p>
<p>Get a copy of a good college guide, like the Fiske Guide to Colleges, the Princeton Review Best Colleges book, etc. and start flipping through and noting colleges that interest you. Then, look in the sidebar that says “overlaps” for more college ideas. The Fiske Guide to College Admissions also has a chapter called the “One-Hour College Finder” that has lists of colleges that fit different criteria (“Nonconformist Colleges”, “Public Ivies”, etc) and lists for different majors.</p>
<p>You could also go on a mini-college tour. Since you’re just starting, visit a few colleges near you. Even if they’re not very good schools or you have no interest in going, take a tour and see what appeals to you about different types of schools. At least visit one big university and one small college to see which you like better. This is in addition to the suggestions above, which are very good.</p>
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<p>This may be harder for an undecided student, since the school needs to have decent degree programs in all of the possible majors.</p>
<p>Based on other posts, it looks like the OP’s interests are in computer engineering and/or electrical engineering.</p>
<p>The first college you need to put on your application list is a safety. It must have the following characteristics:</p>
<p>a. Assured admission for you.
b. Assured affordability for you.
c. Suitable academic offerings for all of the things you might want to study.
d. Desirable for you to attend.</p>
<p>This time of year, there are high school seniors posting here looking for safeties, only to find that some of their deadlines for application for admission or scholarships have passed. Try not to be in the position of risking being shut out.</p>