8 Questions to Help Narrow Your College List

How many schools are on your first list of potential colleges? Between scholarship applications and ACT/SAT prep, you likely won’t be able to send applications to every single institution that interests you – much less visit them all. Instead, you’ll want to create a shortlist of schools. Follow these tips and ask these questions to narrow down your college list.

How To Reduce Your College List

To find the best schools for you and narrow down your list, dig deeper into each college that interests you. Go beyond skimming the school’s website.

Consider what’s important to you, including what you need out of a college versus what you would prefer but could do without. What are you looking for from the campus culture, majors, minors, and location? Does the cost of attendance (COA) affect your options?

Next, spend time looking into every aspect of the college, from the location to the minors to the extra services, such as career services. How do the school’s facts stack up against your wants and needs?

Questions To Ask to Narrow Down Your College List

To help you get started with narrowing down your college list, we’ve put a list of questions to ask about each school you’re interested in. Answering these with your school list in front of you makes it easier to compare your options. Track the answers in a college comparison spreadsheet or a notebook so you can refer to them later.

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1. Does the School Have My Major?

When considering a school, whether it has your major should be your first point of research. If you’re not quite sure what you’d like to study just yet, does the college have the programs that interest you?

Go beyond answering “Does the school have my major?” with a “yes” or “no” response. List the colleges in order of the program’s reputation. Some schools might be highly ranked while others are lacking resources needed for a competitive program.

You might also want to look into whether the college has support for interdisciplinary studies if you’re interested in more than one area of study. Some schools have guidelines in place for mixing and matching majors or creating your own, while others are more rigid.

Cross off any schools on your list that don’t offer your intended major or at least one of your potential areas of study.

2. Can I Afford to Attend?

Tuition is only part of the picture when it comes to affording college. You’ll want to look into the “cost of attendance,” or COA, which is the total college costs of attending a school, from tuition to transportation and room and board to books.

If you’re experiencing a bit of sticker shock when looking at the COA, you’re not alone. But there’s a bright side: students rarely pay this large number. Between federal grant programs and institutional scholarships, attending your dream school can be much more affordable than you realize. Instead of paying the “sticker price,” you’ll pay the “net price,” which is the total COA minus any scholarships or grants you received.

However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the COA altogether. Instead, you’ll want to compare the total costs and endowment programs. Some schools simply have more money to hand out (endowment) than others. Using a net price calculator can help you determine how much aid, both merit- and need-based, you might receive before you even apply.

Once you’ve used this calculator, are there any colleges that are simply out of reach for you, even if you took out student loans? If so, you’ll likely want to remove them from your list.

3. Does the College Have the Extracurriculars I Want?

College is more than just academics – the extracurricular activities matter, too. If you love athletics, whether on a club- or varsity-level, you’ll want to attend a school that offers your sport. You might even want to attend a school with a unique sport, such as paintball.

But don’t stop at athletics. What interests you? There are likely clubs for it! Many have organizations for music, dance, debating, and much more. Larger colleges will have more options to choose from due to their diversity, but even smaller schools can have a wide variety. In addition, if you’re thinking about studying abroad, what does the college’s program look like? Does it have countries and partnerships you’re interested in?

If you have an extracurricular you can’t live without, you won’t want to apply to a college that doesn’t offer it. However, if a school meets all of your other wants and needs, you might still want to apply – many schools allow students to create brand new clubs. Reach out to the college’s Student Affairs (or similar) department ahead of time to learn more about this process.

4. Is the College In My Desired Location?

Do you want to attend college locally, in-state, in your current region, or across the country? Going to school locally means you could live at home, saving on room and board. Choosing an institution in-state or in your region could also result in in-state tuition costs, saving you thousands in tuition in the long run.

However, going across the country for your education could result in some unique opportunities for broadening your horizons and learning better independence.

If you’re not interested in a particular part of the country at all, you definitely won’t want a school from it on your list!

5. What Kind of Area Do I Prefer?

Students also have different experiences in rural, suburban, and urban settings. A rural college is away from the big cities and offers more opportunities for outdoor activities, from mountain biking to skiing. But you’re going to be limited in your options – you won’t have a lot of restaurants to choose from and transportation in and out of the area could be difficult to come by.

Studying in a big city means more off-campus museums, zoos, events, and social activities, as well as more chances for work and internships. However, living in an urban setting is going to be much more expensive and can be a bit too loud and busy for some.

Suburban schools can offer the best of both worlds, especially since they’re usually not too far from the city and outdoor hotspots.

If you know you’d like a rural area and don’t like the bustle of a big city, you can cross off any urban colleges on your list (and vice versa if you prefer the city).

6. What Size School Fits Me?

Colleges and universities range in size from a few hundred students to over 100,000. Smaller schools tend to have intimate class sizes, low student-to-faculty ratios, and smaller campuses that are easier to navigate. Larger colleges usually have more lecture hall-style courses with dozens of students, a bigger campus, and more extracurricular options. Of course, there are exceptions to both, and your chosen major could impact your class sizes.

If you love anonymity in the classroom or want a large campus to explore, a larger college or university might be the better fit. If you do better in an intimate setting where the professor knows your name, a smaller school could help you thrive.

Only shortlist colleges that you’ll feel comfortable attending. If you’re not sure about what size college is right for you, plan some trips to campuses.

7. What Are My Chances of Acceptance?

A low acceptance rate doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply to a school. However, you don’t want to have a list of only highly selective colleges.

Instead, college-bound students should have a well-rounded list of safety, match, and reach schools. Safety means you’re almost guaranteed to be accepted, and you’re likely to be accepted to match schools. Reach schools either have low acceptance rates or your GPA and ACT/SAT scores lower your chances of receiving an acceptance letter.

Research the colleges’ acceptance rates, average ACT/SAT scores and GPAs of accepted students. How do you stack up? College Raptor’s College Match can help you see your acceptance chances to any particular school. If you find too many safety or reach schools on your list, you’ll want to remove a few.

8. How Does This College Compare to Others On Other Factors?

Of course, it isn’t only about the academics and extracurriculars when it comes to college choices. There are plenty of other factors that come into play that could influence your decision.

If your college list is still long after answering the previous six questions, review each school’s career services, campus resources, housing options, and statistics, such as graduation rate, job after graduation rate, and first year retention rate.

For example, if a school has a lower first year retention rate and it’s not one of your top schools, it deserves a deeper dive. Why does it have that lower number of students staying on after they complete the first year? The answer could influence your decision to attend.

Figuring out how to narrow down your college list may seem overwhelming at first, especially as there are so many great options. As you go through the schools you’ve selected, keep asking yourself questions.

College Raptor’s College Match helps you identify the best schools for your needs and helps you narrow down your list! Find out how it works here.

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