How Colleges and Students Differ: Finding What Fits

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Everyone knows some students who have thought about college since sixth grade and know exactly where they want to go. It may be their parents’ Ivy League alma mater or the highly regarded state university the family has been talking about all their life. But scratch the surface and ask those same students why a particular college is their first choice, and you might not get much of an answer. Ask what other colleges they are considering if, heaven forbid, they are not accepted at their top choice, and you may find an unwillingness to consider such an unthinkable outcome.

At the other extreme are students, and we know lots of them, too, who have a hard time even beginning to construct a list of potential colleges. Not only do they not have a first choice, they don’t have any well-defined choices at all, nor do they have a clear idea what they should be seeking. Most students, of course, fall in between. They have some ideas about college choices but no good way to determine whether those choices are really the best ones for them. Regardless of where you are at this point in your thinking, reading this article will help you build your college list with confidence.

So Many Choices: How Do You Begin?

For all these students—even those who think they know what they want—the first step in developing a good college list is an honest self-assessment.  As much as the viewbooks and campus tour guides would have you believe otherwise, there is no such thing as a perfect college. The college application process is all about fit—finding colleges that are a good match for you based on your interests, abilities, values, aspirations, and preferences, both social and academic. The more you know about yourself and the more you know about colleges, the better that fit can be. Although no perfect college exists, you can find many where you would be perfectly happy. That itself is a key point to accept. Even if you eventually apply to one college for early decision because you are convinced that it is the college for you, it is actually only one of many that you could have chosen and where you would be happy.

My original criteria for choosing a college were (1) it had to have cute squirrels, (2) it had to be bigger than my high school, and (3) PE should not be required. But my school does have PE; you have to take a whole year. Their squirrels are vicious. And it’s about the same size as my high school. So I violated all three of my criteria. I’m sure I could have found my own niche somewhere else, too, but I absolutely love it here. - College sophomore happy with her choice

In deciding where to apply, you are in full control. Based on your research, you create the list of colleges to which you will be applying. The colleges do not make the decision for you, even though they are marketing themselves to you like crazy. Make the most of the opportunity and select carefully. Later on in the college admissions process, control will shift from you to the admissions offices, where the colleges decide whom they will accept. At that point, you can only wait patiently for the review process to play out. Finally, at the end of the process, control shifts back to you as you decide which offer of admission to accept, ideally from among two or more fine choices that you like.

Thoughtfully considering your own preferences as well as how colleges differ, and then narrowing the list carefully to the right choices for you, are critical parts of the admissions process. College rankings can’t do this for you. And no matter how great your record, how eloquent your essays, and how full of praise your letters of recommendation, a college will never accept you if you don’t apply! One admissions officer used to ask campus visitors what they thought all the successful applicants of the previous year had in common. After listening to assorted (wrong) guesses, he’d always say, “They all applied.” Doing your homework to identify a group of good-fit colleges is well worth the effort. It is easily half the battle.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself

Be honest with yourself as you try to answer each of the questions that follow. Most students find some of these questions easy to answer and others much more difficult. You may have strong preferences or weak ones. Perhaps you have never thought about your preferences before, and maybe you just plain don’t know. That’s OK. You have lots of company regardless of which description fits you.

• What are your academic interests? Do you have a strong interest in a particular field, such as nursing or engineering, and plan to work in that field after college or pursue graduate study in that area? How specialized is that field? Are you undecided about a major and want to explore different options before making a commitment? Are you somewhere in between?
• What kind of student are you? Are you strongly self-motivated to achieve, or are you somewhat less ambitious academically (although you may have done very well)? Do you thrive on intellectual engagement with bright and talented peers, or is that less of a priority? Do you need to be at or near the top of your class to feel good about yourself, or is lower down OK if the competition is stiff? Are you willing to actively seek out help or resources if you need them, or do you want them easily available with little effort on your part?
• How do you learn best? Does the format of your classes matter to you? Do you prefer large classes with no pressure to participate actively, or small classes where you are expected to contribute to the discussion and always be prepared? Do you want some of both?
• What activities outside of class matter most to you? Do you enjoy being involved in a number of different activities at once, or do you prefer to focus on one or two? Are you interested in intercollegiate or intramural athletics? How specialized is your sport, and what is your level of skill? Is your sport relatively unusual (and therefore available only on some campuses)? How involved do you want to be in community service? Do you strive to be a leader in every activity, or is being a contributor OK?
• How important is prestige to you? Do you want people to be visibly impressed when they hear where you are going to college? Would you be disappointed if they have never heard of your school or don’t know much about it? Even if this is true, just how important is this to you when balanced against other factors?
• Do you want a diverse college? Do you want to be on a campus that is highly diverse in gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual and religious preference? Or would you prefer a more homogeneous campus? How important to you are campus programs that openly welcome and celebrate diversity?
• What kind of social and cultural environment would you like best? Would you like to join a fraternity or sorority, or do you plan to be an independent? Do you want a campus with a strong sense of community, or would you prefer to “do your own thing”? Do you like the feeling of knowing almost everyone, or are you comfortable with a large campus where you will never know most of the students? Do you prefer an “artsy” environment, a politically active one (liberal or conservative), or something else? Preppy or not? Do you want lots of options on how to spend a Friday night, or will a smaller list of possibilities work for you?
• Where do you want to live for the next four years? Do you want or need to stay close to home, or are you interested in experiencing a new part of the country? Do big cities excite you, or do you prefer a small town, suburban, or country setting? Do you want guaranteed on-campus housing for four years, or are you eager to live off campus, maybe as soon as sophomore year? Do you want to be near skiing, surfing, or lots of bookstores? What kind of weather do you like, and what kind can you tolerate?

Try to keep these questions in mind as you research colleges. As your list develops, you may be surprised by your emerging preferences and by just how flexible you really are (or aren’t). The self-assessment process is designed to help you identify your preferences so you can begin to consider colleges systematically. You will also need to know how colleges differ from each other so that you can narrow your choices.