Narrowing down colleges to apply to

Narrowing down colleges to apply to

Picking colleges is daunting, considering there’s thousands upon thousands from which to choose. There are many factors that go into the uniqueness of a school, and it’s important to find ones that fit. However, there are many available tools to ensure the colleges students to which students apply are suitable and challenging.

College Board has a college search program that offers students a way to enter preferences, such as school size, location, major, and so on. Then, once all of the information has been entered, the website suggests colleges along with how well they fit the criteria entered. This is a surefire way to locate schools, whether it’s in state or halfway across the world. Likewise, it clears out all of the institutions that don’t offer a desired major, eliminating hours of research in only a few minutes.

Another useful tool is Cappex, a website mostly centered around scholarships. However, the site also suggests colleges based on preferences entered by students. This can help students choose colleges to apply to based on courses and their projected probability for being accepted to those colleges, another unique feature of the site.

Additionally, looking at certain schools’ websites can establish a feeling for the institution. Researching specific majors and minors offered, their mission statement, and whether they are more dedicated to their images or their students can all let students know if applying to certain schools is preferable or not.

For those who want to experience campuses first hand, college visits are vital for choosing schools. It’s easy to send in an application to a “dream school” without seeing it first. Likewise, those who apply for early decision without seeing their college may end up not liking the atmosphere or the surrounding city. By signing up for a college visit, whether it’s just a meeting with an admissions counselor or getting an all inclusive tour of the school, students will have a first-hand experience the environment in which they will potentially be studying. Seeing colleges will help eliminate some of the extra applications for those who are not preferred compared to other schools.

Whether it’s a dream school, a reach school, or a safety school, looking into the specifics of colleges is essential to narrowing down and having a definite list of those that warrant an application.