Some students begin thinking about college as early as their freshman and sophomore years. However, many students don’t do anything about it until their senior year. It is NEVER too early or late to create a college list. Your College List Should: Include your personal choices, not your parents’ or your friends', consider suggestions and recommendations from other people, but what you want should matter the most. Be “realistic” and do not aim too high, or settle for too less. Cover enough number of schools and it should include reach, match, and safety schools.

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2. The College List: When and Where to
Start?
• Some students begin thinking about college
as early as their freshman and sophomore
years.
• However, many students don’t do anything
about it until their senior year.
• It is NEVER too early or late to create a
college list.

3. • Include your personal choices
o Not your parents’ or your friends’
o Consider suggestions and recommendations from other
people, but what you want should matter the most.
• Be “realistic”
o Do not aim too high, or settle for too less.
• Cover enough number of schools
o It should include reach, match, and safety schools.
Your College List Should...

4. Creating a “Realistic” College List
1. Evaluate Yourself
2. Research, Research, Research
3. Narrow Down Your Options
4. Identify Reach, Match, and Safety
Schools
5. Finalize Your College List

5. • Finding a good college begins with self-discovery.
• Identify your interests, hobbies, talents, and goals.
These will help you determine in which colleges will you
fit best.
• Figure out what you need to thrive as an
undergraduate college student and what will help you
achieve your personal and professional goals.
1. Evaluate Yourself

6. • To help you get to know yourself better, ask the
following questions:
o What am I interested in?
o What am I passionate about?
o How do I spend my free time?
o How do I learn best?
o What kind of students do I want to be around?
o Will I do better in big class sizes than small
ones?
o What do I want to do after college? In the future?
o In which profession do I see myself in the next 5
or 10 years?
1. Evaluate Yourself

7. • Get enough information about the particular schools
you are interested in. Visit their campuses, view their
website, or talk to current students to gain insights
about what it’s like to attend such colleges.
• For each school, find out relevant things that would
help you establish your list (and even narrow down
your choices) such as program offerings, type of
curriculum, class sizes, culture, etc.
2. Research, Research, Research

8. • Talk to the people you trust -- parents,
teachers, high school counselor, and friends who
are in college attending different schools. Ask
which college they recommend and why.
• You may also seek the help of college
admissions consultants, counselors, and
experts who can help you come up with a list of
schools where you could be a good fit.
2. Research, Research, Research

9. • By this time, you should be able to come
up with a preliminary list of colleges you
want to and/or can apply to.
• To help you trim down your list, decide
what matters most to you.
o Do you want a challenging academic
environment?
o Are you looking for schools that promote sports
and other extracurricular activities?
3. Narrow Down Your Options

10. • Compare your GPA and test scores to the
average scores of admitted freshmen students at
each college on your list.
• Additionally, check the acceptance rate of each
school. These figures can help you gauge
whether or not you have a chance of getting
admitted.
3. Narrow Down Your Options

11. 4. Identify Reach, Match, & Safety Schools
TYPE OF SCHOOL DESCRIPTION
Reach Schools Your GPA and SAT/ACT scores fall below the school's
range for the average freshman. Reach schools are long
shots. You should apply to 2 reach schools
Match Schools Your GPA and SAT/ACT scores fall within (or even exceed)
the school's range for the average freshman. The majority of
schools to which you apply should be match schools.
Safety Schools Your GPA and SAT/ACT scores academic are above the
school's range for the average freshman. You should apply
to at least 2 safety schools

12. 4. Identify Reach, Match, & Safety Schools
• Based on your own profile (GPA, test scores, etc.),
include colleges that fall into each school category.
• Don't include a school on your list that you wouldn't be
willing to attend or you have no -- or very little chance --
of getting admitted.
• Your college list should be taking a more vivid shape
during this time.

13. 5. Finalize Your College List
• From all the steps and guidelines given above, you
should be ready to finalize your college list by now.
• Include schools you WANT to and QUALIFIES you to
attend.
• Remove schools you have NO CHANCE of getting
into.

14. The College List: How Many is Too Many?
• There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing a
college. It is a personal decision that you need to make.
• The number of colleges you should include on your list,
therefore, depends on YOU.
• A good number, however, is 8 to 15 colleges or
universities, composed of a combination of reach, match,
and safety schools.

15. Other Factors You Need to Consider
• Cost: Most elite schools have application fees of $60 or
more.
• Match: Did you really visit all schools in your list and
find that each one felt right for you?
• Time: The applications, especially at competitive
schools, take a lot of time to complete.
• Personal Touch: Can you personalize each application
and respond to the supplemental essay prompt that
asks why are you interested to attend a particular
school?

16. The College List: Mistakes to Avoid
• Not knowing yourself / not being able to identify what you
want
o Students who pick colleges based only on what they offer --
and not on what colleges best "fit" them -- often end up
disappointed.
• Not taking time to research
o Students who choose colleges only by name, location or
because their best friend is going there, and don't look into
what the colleges are all about, might find themselves let
down after they start college.
• Being too unrealistic or over confident
o Some students believe in themselves so much that they fail
to include enough colleges in their list, applying only to their
dream school.

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