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Stick to the Game Plan
For most high school juniors, the college application process seems like a daunting task. How do you begin to narrow the choices from among the thousands of colleges and focus on what is right for you? In March and April, as seniors receive their long-awaited envelopes thick with admission letters or the dreaded thin envelope with a letter of denial, juniors experience for the first time the rollercoaster of emotions connected with the rite of passage called "getting into college."
Seniors may give the impression at this time that they have always known what they wanted and had things under control. Chances are that at this time last year, much like you, they felt a bit dazed and confused about what steps to take first to single out college possibilities. It is important to remember that the college application process is just that - a process. It needs to evolve over time, for most of you sometime between the winter of junior year and the spring of the senior year. The process works best when you understand what colleges are looking for in their applicants and what qualifications you bring to the application.
Different colleges have different personalities just like the students who apply. Your job is to get to know those personalities so that you can make a right match between you and several colleges that will make up your individual list. It is important to remember that getting into college is as much about what you are looking for in a college as it is about what colleges are looking for in their applicants. To make this match between you and colleges, begin by considering the following characteristics.
LOCATION
How far away from home is it realistically and financially possible for you to travel? Airfare is expensive and adds considerably to the annual cost of college. Have you had experience living away from home at sleep-away camp or in a boarding or summer program? If you feel homesick, will you want to be able to get home for a weekend of home-cooked meals and family? How accessible is public transportation between the colleges you are considering and your home?
Do you prefer the cultural and social stimulation of a city to the pines and mountains of a rural setting? Some colleges, such as Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., N.Y. University in Manhattan, or the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, are in cities. It is easy to walk to a movie or order a tuna sandwich at 11 p.m. as you study for exams. Others, like Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, or Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., are some distance from a major city. One choice is not better than another, but one may be more right for you.
Would you like to experience a different region of the country for four years? If so, it is important that you visit there before committing to enrollment. Styles and cultural attitudes, from liberal to conservative, differ considerably from region to region. Make sure you are comfortable with the prevailing attitudes and values.
Do you prefer a warm to a cold climate? Do you see yourself on the golf course in North Carolina in March rather than on the ski slopes in New Hampshire? Are your moods or your health affected by climate? Do not underestimate the importance of location, environment, and climate on your overall happiness, well being, and success.
SIZE
Do you learn more effectively in small classes, where students interact with teachers, than in large lecture halls? At many large universities, freshmen are taught by teaching assistants who are graduate students at that university. It is they who will work more personally with you and get to know you, not the professor.
Do the subjects which most interest you call for the resources of a large university with a bigger menu of course offerings? Do you need an observatory, a sophisticated filmmaking resource, a dance studio, a ceramics lab, or a department of Chinese studies?
Do you seek the broader cultural, racial, or socio-economic diversity usually associated with larger, sometimes more urban settings?
ACADEMIC RIGOR AND ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Usually, the more selective an institution, the more rigorous and demanding its courses. Check out median SAT I and II scores of admitted applicants, percent of admitted students who were in the top ten percent of their high school graduating class and the number of graduates who continue in higher education after college. How hard do you want to work? Do you respond productively to pressure? Be honest about how competitive you are.
Some institutions pride themselves on an intellectual atmosphere, for example the University of Chicago, Illinois, and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland are the opposite of "party schools." Some schools require you to take courses across different disciplines. These are called distribution requirements, or core courses. Some schools encourage academic exploration among courses of your choice by eliminating number grades.
Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville, New York uses professors' comments instead of grades. Intensity is defined by how deeply students immerse themselves in individual learning with regularly scheduled one-on one sessions with each of their professors, rather than by the emphasis placed on A's.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Some colleges have their roots in a religious affiliation. This may manifest itself in required attendance at weekly service or in required religion courses. Is that okay with you?
Some institutions, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., or Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., are known for the strength of their courses in engineering or computer science. Others, such as Hamilton College in Amherst, Mass., are known for their excellence in the arts and humanities. Still others, such as Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa., or Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., are known for excellence in business.
There are also technical art colleges and music conservatories, such as the San Francisco Institute of the Arts, or Oberlin Conservative in Oberlin, Oh. Just make sure that if you have a special interest or focus, the colleges you are looking at can satisfy that interest.
Some institutions are known for their strong athletic teams. If you have developed an athletic ability to a high level, it may help you to be accepted at these schools. Be sure to note if they are Division I, II, or III to determine if you are qualified to play on their teams. Some students do not want to play on a major team but want their college to have strong teams to cheer on as enthusiastic supporters.
Special talents of any kind, from tuba playing to acting, singing, debating, or cheerleading, are of interest to colleges. Check into the opportunities at each college you are considering. Speak to admission counselors and coaches and heads of departments about your talent.
COST AND FINANCIAL AID
Colleges can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars a year to around thirty thousand a year. Some have more scholarship and grant money available than others. Some are "need blind," that is, financial aid is not a factor in your being admitted.
Have a frank talk with your parents about how much or how little aid you will need. State universities, such as the University of Delaware in Newark, Del., and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., have honors programs for top students and cost less than most private colleges, even if you are from out of state.
Now that you have thought about what you are looking for in a college, and what some of them are looking for in their applicants, you need to match your needs to theirs. There are several resources to help you. Public library reference rooms, guidance offices, and bookstores stock a wide variety of college catalogues, indexes, and guidebooks. The indexes are filled with data and usually organized alphabetically, as well as by state or academic disciplines. Some well-known indexes are Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, Peterson's Guide, and Princeton Review's Big Book of Colleges.
Software programs allow you to conduct initial searches by entering your criteria and will then produce a list of considerations. Most colleges also have their own websites. One-stop college admissions shop sites are also offered on the Internet, such as College Board Online, the Princeton Review, and Collegenet.
Be sure to talk with guidance or college counselors, friends in college, your parents, and the representatives who visit high schools in the fall and spring and attend college fairs offered regionally.
Once you have narrowed your initial search to 10 or 12 possibilities, read about them in the more detailed guidebooks such as the Fiske Guide to Colleges, the Yale Insider's Guide, or Princeton Review's Best Colleges. These books are given a more subjective point of view than do most indexes, with opinions gathered from students and faculty. They describe everything from the quality of food and social life to the strongest departments on campus.
You are now ready to plan some college campus visits. A visit is your most reliable guide to help you assess how you will feel on a campus, and whether or not the other students look like people you would be comfortable with. Trust your instincts as you walk around, and listen carefully to what tourguides say and what they do not! A helpful planning guide is Visiting College Campuses, by Spenser and Maleson, published by the Princeton Review. Juniors should call ahead to the admissions office and sign up for a scheduled campus tour and group information session. It may be best to save the personal interview for later, when you are more sure of what you want and have junior year grades and test scores in hand. Most college campuses close down in early May and come to life again in mid-August. It is important to see them with students in residence if possible. You can have an interview with a local alumnus in the fall of senior year if you cannot get back to campus. It is more important to be prepared for the interview than just to get it over with.
If you have a friend in college, plan an overnight visit to see what college life is like outside of class as well as in class. You will get a truer flavor this way. Ask yourself if you can envision spending four years on this campus.
If finances do not allow campus visits, talk extensively to college counselors and admission representatives, view the videos most colleges will send you, read viewbooks and guidebooks, and try to speak with an enrolled student. Most admission offices are happy to connect you to a current student to speak to by phone.
As you begin your search, keep in mind that there is more than one right college for you. Try to select two that are slightly beyond your reach which for one reason or another (i.e. you can play tuba in their orchestra!) might admit you, two that will probably admit you, and one or two that will definitely admit you. Understand what they are looking for in their applications and what you bring to them. Be your own best advocate by planning ahead and presenting yourself thoroughly. You will learn a lot more about yourself in the process and about sound decision making, as well as selecting a college right for you. Article provided by 
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