How to Select the Right College

By Debolah Pointer

Getting into college, and choosing the right college to apply to, is not a mystery. But it does seem overwhelming unless you have a plan that gives you a road-map and strategy to choose the right colleges to apply to.

But how do you do that? There are almost four thousand colleges to apply to. How do you narrow your college search down to just three or ten colleges? Since you know that you want to go to college, how do you find the right one, the college that is the perfect fit for you?

Every year there are students who do not get accepted into any college. That’s because they did not know how to find the right colleges to apply to. They did not have a sound plan or strategy when they made their college application list. One student I know only applied to one college. When that college said no, the student had to scramble to get accepted somewhere. So how do you make your list?

Choosing the right college is a big decision for your entire family. Education is a lifetime investment of time, money and effort. This is a tough and important decision.

First, you must ask yourself some important questions. If you don’t ask yourself these questions now, you may be asking yourself the same questions as a freshman looking at finding a college to transfer to. Don’t apply to a college simply because your best friend applied there or it’s a prestigious school. Choose wisely. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Location - Where do I want to go to college? Do I want to go far from home or stay close? Large campus or a small campus, city or small town?

• Type of Institution - What kind of college do I want to attend? Two year community college or four year institution.

• Housing - Where do I want to live? On campus, off campus, at home, single room or double?

• Enrollment – Do I want large classes or small classes? Am I comfortable in a student body of thousands or just hundreds?

• Student Body - Do I want to go to a coed school or a same sex college?

• Academics - Majors or course offerings. Does the college offer my major? Or if I don’t know what I want to major in, does the college have a strong liberal arts curriculum that offers me lots of majors to look at?

• Campus Life – Sports, intramural sports, clubs, band, theater. Are athletic and recreational facilities available?

• Costs -Can my family afford the cost of the college? What percentage of students receive financial aid? Does the college offer scholarships? Am I eligible for federal or state based financial aid?

• Criteria – What criteria does the college use in making their admission decisions?

After you have complied your list of schools that meet the criteria you have selected, you can narrow your list even further by ranking your list. Which colleges are your reach colleges-(those that you may have a hard time to get into) reasonably attainable colleges (those that you have a reasonable chance of getting accepted to and (3) sure-shot colleges (those that you know you’ll be admitted to). Make sure that your list has all three categories.

You may have more than one favorite college. But if you take the time now to carefully consider your choices, you’ll be happy wherever you go. You will be comfortable with your decisions because you asked yourself the right questions when you applied.
Deborah Battle Pointer is co-founder and co-executive producer of the Peabody award winning television show Def Poetry. She is the former Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Cornell University, former Director of Engineering at Columbia University School of Engineering and and former Director of Financial Aid at Columbia College, Columbia University.
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