Choosing which colleges to apply to

Choosing which colleges to apply to




Deciding which  universities to apply to can be confusing.   College brochures and websites are full of  appealing  photographs and its easy to start picturing oneself  on campus.  There are also  several  rankings  which can be misleading.

 Because   all colleges look very appealing , it is not uncommon for students to end up  applying to  more than 15 universities and even upto 20 schools.. This is unnecessary and a waste of  time and money. University application fees   range from $50 to 100.

 It is recommended you apply to  around 12 universities.
 A good way to go about selecting the universities is to  start by making a big list of all the places  you are interested in.    They should be divided into  3 groups.

1.  Aspirational  - basically highly selective schools  including ivy league programs
2. Realistic -  universities where  your odds of admission are over 20% but  probably below 50%
3. Safe - universities where the chance of admission is over 40%.
4.  Ger advice from your school counselor and  friends at universities regarding this.

 Its useful to start with a big list of about 20 universities in each category.

 As  your   SAT and  SAT I scores come in  along with your  school results , its time to reevaluate your lists. If you have excellent scores  you  will see that  schools move from inspirational to realistic and from realistic to safe. Conversely if you   did not perform well you will  see the opposite happen with safe schools becoming realistic and the realistic universities  becoming aspirational.

 At this stage , you should have formed a long list of universities and   start  grouping  them  based on your profile.

 fell free to email us  your profile to get a  list of universities by group  for you  to  consider.