DEVELOPING YOUR COLLEGE LIST

A. Getting Started

How does one intelligently examine the thousands of colleges available in the United States and abroad? We would like you to remember two maxims as you consider this question. First, there will probably not be one magic choice. There are likely to be many institutions at which you would be happy. Second, the only poor college choices are uninformed choices, those made without enough information.

As you begin to consider the characteristics of colleges that will be important to you, you will have to ask yourself several important questions in figuring out which mean the most to you. As a start, there are a few particular areas which you should address as you begin to consider your options.

SIZE: Do you want a large university or a smaller liberal arts college? How important is class size to you? Knowing your teachers? Working with professors rather than graduate assistants? Having a sense of community on the campus?

LOCATION: Do you find cities exciting or threatening? Do you see rural areas as providing opportunities for outdoor activities and sports and a close-knit community? Do you want access to a city without being in one?

REGION: Would you like to spend four years of your life in a part of the country different from that in which you have been raised and educated? Will it be the Northeast? South? Mid-West? West? Abroad?

TYPE OF STUDY: Do you know that you want a career in engineering? Medicine? Law? Business? Art? Or are you looking for a broad education in the liberal arts?

COST: While most private colleges cost in excess of $30,000 for one year's tuition, room and board, there are state universities which cost considerably less. There are a number of colleges that have merit scholarship programs; keep in mind that these scholarships are highly competitive.

Other considerations might include the diversity of the student body, weather, academic requirements, study abroad opportunities, resources for students with learning differences, athletic facilities and programs, musical or other extracurricular activities.

B. Investigating Colleges

Having asked yourself these questions in the context of your self-evaluation, you are now ready to begin researching colleges and universities. You have equipped yourself to recognize aspects of schools which do or do not meet your requirements. Your next question is: Where do I start?

Some of you will wait until your conference with your college counselor to start thinking about specific colleges. Others - through talking with friends, siblings, or parents -- might have some positive feelings about certain institutions even before meeting with us. Whatever category you fall into, there are a number of ways for you to find out more about colleges.

First, as with any research project, you should be certain at the outset that you understand the terms with which you will be dealing. The following list explains the types of institutions and programs generally considered by St. Albans students:

LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE: A four-year institution which emphasizes a program of broad undergraduate education. Pre-professional or professional training may be available but is not stressed.

UNIVERSITY: An academic institution which grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of fields and which supports at least two degree-granting professional schools that are not exclusively technological (such as medicine or journalism). It is composed of a number of "schools" or "colleges," each of which encompasses a general field of study.

BUSINESS SCHOOL: Business schools fall into two categories. At some colleges it is possible to specialize in business administration in conjunction with supplementary liberal arts courses. Other institutions offer business courses primarily.

ENGINEERING OR TECHNOLOGICAL COLLEGE: Independent professional schools that provide four-year training programs in the fields of engineering and the physical sciences. They are often known as Institutes of Technology or Polytechnic Institutes.

MILITARY SCHOOL: Federal military academies prepare officers for the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Merchant Marines. These institutions (West Point, Annapolis, The Air Force Academy) require recommendations and nomination by U.S. Senators or U.S. Representatives. Private and state supported military institutions, however, operate on a college application basis as does the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. They all offer degree programs in engineering and technology with concentration in various aspects of military science.

PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL OR CONSERVATORY: Professional schools offer specialized study in areas such as art, music, drama, dance, photography, etc.

Second, you can read any of the many readily available source books. (See also Other Resources.) The College Handbook (published by the College Board), The Insider's Guide to Colleges, (published by the Yale Daily News), The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, and Peterson's Guide to Four Year Colleges are some of the many works available in bookstores or libraries. Copies of these and other guidebooks -– as well as viewbooks and academic catalogues from individual colleges –- are also in the College Office where you may read them at your leisure. In the Ellison Library there are also a number of videos produced by individual colleges which you may borrow. Use any of these sources judiciously, for they invariably reflect the biases of the author or producer. You should also visit the Home Pages of colleges on the Internet (usually collegename.edu). These are excellent sources of information, and you can use the sites to request that colleges send you printed materials or to e-mail students or admissions counselors with specific questions.

There are a growing number of online college search engines which allow you to specify your interests and then provide you with a list of schools that meet those criteria. Check the St. Albans College Office and Ellison Library sites on the St. Albans home page for links to some of those sites. (See On-Line Resources.) Be forewarned that many of these sites require that you register which may result in your receiving a deluge of promotional e-mail.

During your individual conferences with your college counselor, you will develop a tentative list of colleges. The list will reflect both your preferences and our suggestions based on your self-evaluation, our meetings with you, and your personal and academic record. By no means is this initial list the only group of colleges from which you may choose; over the next nine months, you and we will constantly revise your choices to reflect changes in your record and in your feelings about schools based on your research and visiting. Once you have developed your initial list, you should e-mail or write each college, requesting that your name be put on the mailing list.

Most colleges will send you glossy, professionally-produced "viewbooks" which appear designed to convince you that students on their always-sunny campuses smile during all of their waking hours and never have a negative word to say about their intellectually stimulating and socially fulfilling school. After you have read several of these, you might begin to wonder what all the hubbub around finding "the right" college is all about, given that there seem to be so many that would be perfect for every student!

You will have much more luck answering your most important academic questions about colleges if you can obtain their catalogues which describe graduation requirements and course offerings in detail. Colleges may be reluctant to send these to prospective students, in their continuing efforts to reduce publication and mailing costs; however, most college catalogs are available on line or you can obtain them during a campus visit. There are also many college catalogs on file in the College Office which you are encouraged to peruse. With the catalogues, you can make meaningful and accurate comparisons among the academic opportunities at various colleges.

C. Your Final List

One of the questions asked most frequently is, "What should my final list of colleges include?" Inherent in this question are two considerations. First, how many schools should I apply to? And second, what ranges of admissions selectivity should these schools include?

As a general rule, your final application group should include six to eight colleges which vary in terms of selectivity, but which have the most important features that you desire. As long as you do not limit yourself geographically, finding such a group of schools is not a difficult task when we consider the large number of colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and abroad. Think about admissions selectivity in these terms: What percentage of applicants are offered admission? How do my grades and test scores compare with St. Albans students who have been admitted to these colleges in the past? The response to the first question can be found in a college guidebook. Your college counselor can help you find the answer to the second.

While colleges consider numerous subjective factors in the admissions process, such as essays, extracurricular accomplishments, and letters of recommendation, we encourage you to focus on the more concrete factors affecting admissions: your academic performance and standardized testing. Colleges publish the middle 50% range of testing for their admitted students. This will give you a general indication of how you compare to the strength of the applicant pool at that college. Your academic record will be the most important factor in your application. Highly selective colleges look for students who have challenged themselves in a rigorous program of study, and while they value a high level of achievement throughout high school, they also view positively students who have shown improvement.

We suggest that your final list include:

Reach Schools: These are schools for which you will have to stretch, where the chances of admission are less than one in three, but where you have some chance of admission. There is a real difference between a reach school and one where you have absolutely no chance of admission.

Middle Schools: You should have two or three schools where you are a truly viable candidate, with roughly a 50-50 chance of admission, in order to provide choice at the end of the process.

Probable Schools: You need to have one or two schools where the odds of admission are strongly in your favor and where you will be happy and productive.

It is often easier for students to think of colleges in the reach category, but it is the other two categories to which you must direct your most thoughtful and major efforts if the application process is to work for you. The student who is involved, informed, and realistic has no difficulties developing a balanced and focused list of colleges which results in his having choices and positive feelings concerning the college admissions process. Remember that a college that is classified as a middle school for one student, may be a reach for another. We will do our best to give you a realistic assessment of your odds of admission at the schools on your list based on historical data of St. Albans students and the admissions statistics of the specific colleges.

D. A Few Points of Caution:

1. Many students spend hours deciding on their few top -- usually "reach" -- choices and five minutes selecting one or two safer institutions. We strongly advise that you spend as much time and consideration selecting your "probable" schools as you do your reach schools. Realistically, you may eventually matriculate at one of the "probable" institutions. While it may not be as selective and prestigious as the top choice, you should be sure that it has what you are looking for and is an institution where you stand a good chance of being happy and successful. If your few top choices are small, selective liberal arts colleges, it does not make a great deal of sense to include a large, multi-dimensional university as a "probable" choice. If you want a small, liberal arts college, you should spend the necessary time finding a school of similar type that will qualify as a "probable" choice.

2. Many students feel that simply because a particular institution falls into the middle category as opposed to the "reach" category, it does not offer programs of equal quality. Such an assumption is incorrect. The selectivity of any institution is dependent on the size of its applicant pool which, in turn, may be affected as much by geographic location, popularity, and reputation as by actual academic quality. Many schools, for a variety of reasons, may be "middle" or "probable" schools from an admissions perspective yet offer programs equal in quality to those in the student's "reach" category.

3. There are many excellent schools throughout the country, and we encourage you to investigate options beyond the east coast. You might, for a variety of reasons, be considered a more unique and attractive candidate by a selective college in another part of the country than by a school equal in quality in the eastern United States.

4. While much has been made about the decline of male applicants in recent years, this is not necessarily the case at most of the institutions that students at St. Albans identify as top choices. At most colleges competition for admission remains keen no matter what a student's gender.

5. Many students and parents still feel that they can select any one of the various state universities as a safety choice. Many state universities have become extremely competitive, both for in-state and out-of-state applicants. Some state universities have established quotas governing the number of out-of-state students admitted, thereby creating intense competition for a limited number of places.

6. Beware of publications which attempt to rank or compare schools based on "objective" criteria. All students must make their own personal decisions, and a magazine or guide cannot include your personal needs in their rankings. Colleges with high average SAT scores or low acceptance percentages are not necessarily the best for you, nor do they necessarily offer stronger academic programs than colleges with lower averages and percentages.

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