The College Search Checklist: Keeping Your Priorities in Focus
- Pam Fischer
- Aug 4, 2023
- 1 min read
This is a supplemental post to give context to the categories included in my College Tracker Spreadsheet.
Size.
When my students were sophomores in high school, our school took them on a tour of a large state university and a small private college to get them thinking about which one appeals to them more.
A smaller college is going to have smaller class sizes right off the bat in your freshman year, while a larger college will probably have some large lecture hall sized classes in their freshman year of college. If you test out of some preliminary classes because of your AP and/or IB scores, you may enroll in some upper level classes more probably populated with upperclassmen; those classes will be smaller. If you enroll in the honors college on your large campus, those classes will be smaller, too.
In a smaller school, the adults on campus will give you more personal attention during your undergraduate career.
I attended Indiana University and sometimes envied my friends at Notre Dame who had easier access to their professors and their advisors than I initially did.
In time, I thrived on my larger campus and leaned into the opportunities that were offered to me. But that initial transition from high school to college was hard for me—I felt anonymous in that first semester at IU.
For me, going Greek and pledging my sorority helped me make my large and imposing campus seem small.
If you DO go to a larger university, go with an intention to make it small by coming up with a game plan of rushing, getting involved in student government, joining an intramural team, something.
Academic Environment.
Research your access to research, internships, and work experiences. Does the school which houses your major have a robust career placement center?
Do they have a strong study abroad program? Are there opportunities for academic challenges like an honors college? Do they have a health center staffed by counselors who can advise you psychologically? Life happens. You might lose a loved one or deal with a career-ending injury in your sport. Do they have the staff to provide help?
Academic offerings.
Is this a liberal arts college? Are you interested in a well-rounded education or a more streamlined degree that will prepare you for your career when you graduate in 4 years? Do you want to go to a school that doesn’t have grades but just narrative feedback? Do you want to go to a more progressive school where you design your own major?
Cost/Availability of Financial Aid.
By the final third of my career, I knew which colleges in the Midwest were generous with financial compensation and which were stingy. This is useful information—you don’t want to waste time and energy appealing to a college for more money when your high school counselor knows they aren’t going to give you another penny. This will also help you determine who you may want to go early decision with. If you are accepted, you are bound contractually; I only know of a single student of the thousands I have taught and or advised who got out of an early decision school because of money.
Her school increased their tuition by such a massive amount that her father hired a lawyer and met with them to get out of the contract.
If you go Early Decision, you are saying you will be willing to pay full tuition if they decide not to give you any financial assistance.
Take this very seriously.
Religion.
Religion.
This is a very personal decision.
If a religious school is important to you, you will prioritize that. If you simply want to make sure that your religious practices are honored either on your campus or by a neighboring church, mosque, or synagogue, do your homework.
Ethnicity.
Some of my students have attended HBCUs and found it to be a positive life-altering experience.
Some of my graduates have had painful experiences on predominantly white campuses where they felt unseen and/or racially marginalized.
This is another personal aspect of the college application process.
Do your homework.
Seek out graduates from your high school attending a school you are considering and ask them how the school handles diversity. Seek out online forums on the topic.
Co-Education or Single Sex Colleges.
My best friend from elementary school was the valedictorian of her class at all-girls St. Mary’s College near South Bend, Indiana: she loved her school. Another close friend opted to go to Wabash College in Indiana.
Does this appeal to you?
Again, do your homework.
Student Body.
It’s difficult to capture the essence of a given student body as it will surely be composed of a diverse group of human beings, but this has been a critical criteria for a number of my students in the past.
Student Life.
How important is it to you to be involved in Greek life/ Intramurals? Going to big athletic events of a highly-ranked sport? The beauty of your campus? Safety? Food? LBGTQ activities?
Activities.
Are there opportunities to serve your broader community? How is the theater/musical program there? What activities might give you an opportunity to lead?
Location.
And yes, this includes proximity to home. I loved my parents very much, but my father was driving me nuts my senior year of high school. For that reason, I refused to apply to Notre Dame that was less than ten minutes from my house. Indiana University was a four-hour drive from my home—far enough that my parents couldn’t just pop up unannounced. And so I picked IU.
You may want to be far from home or geographically far apart from siblings to establish your own identity.
You may want to attend a college in a part of the country intertwined with studying marine biology.
Weather may be a factor. I have had a couple of former students give me a hard time for NOT adequately explaining the lake effect in South Bend if they went to Notre Dame. Hahahaha. I seriously doubt they would have declined acceptance to Notre Dame merely because the winters there are a little more intense than they are in Indy, but for some people, that can be the factor that excludes a school from consideration.
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