The College Search Process- 5 Criteria to Search By

The college search can be a long, confusing, and emotionally charged process. There seem to be so many choices and so few ways to make it all manageable. One of the keys to the college search process can be having concrete categories in which to compare schools. If you break the entire college or university into smaller descriptive bits, you might be able to make a better choice. Here are five quick categories to use early in your search when you're faced with a mammoth list of colleges with no way to distinguish between them.

College Category #1- Location

This is the easiest one to compare. Where is the college or university located? Is it close or far from your home? How far away are you willing to move? This can be one of the easiest ways to weed out the undesirable schools from your list.

College Category #2- Admissions

How likely are you to get in? This can be an important criterion when considering schools. The classic rule of thumb is to abide by the "match, reach, safety" categorization tool. Match schools will most likely accept a student of your caliber, a reach school will be a little more of a challenge to get into, and a safety school should be a fallback plan if you don't get into your reach or match schools. If you're a weak student, you shouldn't be applying to Harvard. If you're a strong student, don't apply to a low-caliber state school for academic reasons.

College Category #3- Financial Aid

Make sure you figure out how much you can afford to pay or borrow for school when you start the college search process. Can you afford to attend your dream school? Can you get financial aid there? What are the chances that you'll receive a scholarship that doesn't have to be repaid? These are all important things to consider when choosing a school.

College Category #4- Campus Life

Is the school full of party animals or more serious students? Is there a nearby metropolitan area or community to go and hang out in? Do you care about any of these criteria? When looking at a college, make sure to figure out how many clubs and activities the school offers, the ratio of Greek life to other students, and the surrounding area. A campus tour can be very valuable in this part of the search.

College Category #5- Class Sizes

Do you want to have one-on-one attention from your professor, or are you content with sitting in the back of a huge lecture class? Try to figure out how large your classes will be once you get to the university or college. Don't just trust the student to faculty ratio-go online to the school's Registrar's Office to find out how large the classes really are. Are you comfortable with the levels that you find?

These are obviously very basic guidelines to go by, but grouping schools into levels based on these categories can be beneficial in early parts of your college search. You can use a guidebook like the one that the Princeton Review publishes yearly to start getting some of this information. Make sure to check out my other article about using college guidebooks efficiently. Do the research, gather your information, and don't let the college search overwhelm you. Good luck!