What School Is Right for You?
Advice from experts on the college search
To help students cope with the process of picking colleges, U.S. News asked two veteran high school counselors, Bonnie Fitzpatrick and Marge Loennig, to draw on their collective 47 years of experience to address questions that are often on the minds of prospective applicants and their families. Fitzpatrick is guidance director at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland; Loennig is college counselor at the Holton-Arms School, a private school in Bethesda, Md. Here is their advice:
How do I begin? Before you even try to figure out what schools are best for you, take a personal inventory. Ask yourself: What kind of students do I want around me? What do I expect to get out of the college experience? Am I interested in a research university, or am I more concerned about the quality of undergraduate instruction?
Next, take an academic inventory. Include your unweighted grade point average in academic courses and your best combined SAT I or ACT scores. Did you take any SAT IIs? If so, write down those scores. If your high school ranks its students, see where you stand so you know how you compare academically with your peers. Succinctly spelling out your interests, academic profile and goals will help you focus as you develop a list of potential colleges.
How do I devise that college list? Think very specifically about the geographic location of schools, the kind of setting that appeals to you, the nature of social life you seek, the course offerings you want. Is religious affiliation a factor? Does it matter whether the school is single sex or coed? How important is cost?
Now flip the question around and ask yourself what kind of school you definitely are not looking for. You may learn even more by answering this question.
If you are having a hard time answering these questions--and many students do--try reading entries at random from one of the major descriptive college guides. Did any of the schools sound appealing? What made one more attractive than another? Visit nearby campuses to see what the atmosphere is like and how much colleges differ. Ask if you can attend a class. These visits will give you a much more realistic context for making your decision.
Once I have identified the type of school I think would be best, how can I zero in on specific schools? Develop an initial list of as many as 20 to 25 colleges. It will no doubt include institutions you think sound ideal. It may contain others you hear about from your guidance counselor, a classmate, a friend, your parents or a relative. Put them all down. Keep an open mind, but remember that you, and only you, must make the final decision.
How can I streamline the process? There are a number of commercial software and CD-ROM programs, such as EXPAN and those produced by Peterson's and U.S. News--available in many high schools or for purchase in bookstores--that will help you develop a list. Or you can build your list by using some good college guidebooks. The Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Insider's Guide to the Colleges--the latter written entirely by Yale students--are favorites of many high school students. Your guidance office or library will almost invariably have several such books.
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