Tips for Finding the Best College for Your Needs

1) Register for Collegeboard.com
There are Web sites similar to Collegeboard, but for the most part all of these websites have the same search criteria and have the same information on the same schools. Collegeboard tends to be the most popular, and you will have to register for Collegeboard anyway if you want to take the SATs, so you might as well use it for your college search as well.

2) Run a College Search
These are pretty straight-forward and easy to use. You just enter in your criteria, and the search engine will produce a list of schools that match your criteria. You should start out with the most basic criteria, the stuff you want most in a school, and then narrow it down from there if you need to. Once you have a good sized list, print it out.

3) Research Your Results
Invest in a college guide that features in-depth information about colleges. The Fiske Guide to Colleges is a good book to use. Once you have your list of college search results, use the books to research the schools on your list. For each college, make a list of pros and cons. Make note of which ones you like, which ones don't look that great, as well as whether the school is realistic, a reach, or a safety school.

4) Make Your Own List
Once you've researched your results, make a list of which schools you're interested in. Most college-prep websites like Collegeboard will let you create a list of desired schools.

You should start this process during your sophomore or junior year, before it's time to take the SATs and look at colleges. This way you'll have a sense of what SAT scores you'll need and which schools you'll want to visit.