THE ROAD TO COLLEGE
A ONE-YEAR ACTION PLAN
FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
#2 of 20:  December, Part Two 

You're not looking for the "best" college – you're looking for the college that's best for you.

by Martha Green Quirk, M.A.

As a high school student, you make choices every day—what you’re going to eat or wear, how hard you’re going to study, what you’re going to do next weekend, how you want to commit your energies…and which college to attend is one of those choices.

When it comes to choosing a college, it’s all about the “fit.” It’s not about finding the “best” college; it’s finding the best college for you—the one that “fits” your goals and will help you define and achieve your educational priorities.

Don’t be overwhelmed, or afraid of the process. Don’t be mad at yourself if you haven’t done as well in school as you would have liked. Don’t feel stressed out by other people’s expectations of you. Remember this: there are over 3,400 colleges in the United States, and over 90% of them admit over 80% of the students who apply. The key is to find the right college for YOU.

And that’s what the college search process is all about—finding the best college—the eventual one that is the right “fit” for you. This is accomplished by taking a series of specific steps, starting with a willingness to be open to the college search and a willing participant in it.

Here are the steps you need to take:

1.  Ask yourself questions (and respond honestly) about your academic achievement and your educational goals.

2.  Figure out the characteristics you are looking for in a college (size, location, opportunities, etc.).

3.   Research the internet, college guidebooks, and individual schools’ literature to find 12-15 colleges that have what you are looking for.

4.   Once you determine which schools meet your criteria and for which you meet their academic requirements, then apply to five to eight colleges. Visiting colleges during the summer and in your junior and senior years is also a great way to get to know different schools and their offerings and opportunities.

Before you get started, there are some important ground rules:

1.  You have to be excited about the college search process and be a willing participant in that process. It is your college experience!

2.  You’ll want to be ready to honestly look at yourself by assessing your attitudes about academic achievement in school, your interests and accomplishments in and out of school, and your goals and dreams.

3.  You have to put aside any prejudices or preconceptions about individual colleges and be open to learning more about colleges you may know nothing about.

4.  Most of all, you need to be organized, to approach this journey with an open mind, and to fully engage in it.

Here are some questions about colleges to consider:

What are you interested in studying? What might be your academic major? What activities do you want to be involved in outside of the academic arena—athletics, artistic endeavors, community service, student government, college publications?

How independent do you want to be as a college student? Do you want to be in a fraternity or a sorority?

What part of the country appeals to you? What size do you want your college to be? Do you want to be in a bustling city environment or will you be happier on a rural campus? Does a large research state university appeal to you more than a smaller private liberal arts college? If so, why or why not?

And, last, but not least, you must ask questions about finances—tuition, room and board costs, financial aid availability, and scholarship opportunities.

Once you have taken inventory on your answers to these questions, then it’s time to take personal responsibility for researching schools that match your goals. Your parents will support you, and your high school guidance counselor will prove to be a great resource. But you must take ownership of this process. You are in the driver’s seat. Now is the time for you to take the initiative, be persistent, and assume responsibility for this process that will eventually benefit you the most.

To the extent that you do this on a timely basis and make your college search a priority, you will be rewarded with great college choices, and you will end up applying to a number of colleges that “fit” you. Those will be the college admissions offices that will give your application serious consideration, and the colleges that prove to be the “right fit” will be the ones that will most likely invite you to enroll.

That’s your goal! Have fun with your college search.

 

Martha Green Quirk, M.A., has been active in the college admissions field for over 30 years, including many years as dean of admissions at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. In 2008 she founded her own independent educational consulting company, College Admissions Consulting (CAC), in St. Louis, Missouri.

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