- Searching for colleges is a process that requires time and dedication.
- Resources like College Match can help students find the colleges and universities that meet their unique needs and wants in a school.
- Students thinking about attending college should consider location, size of the school, majors, career options, and more.
With nearly 6,000 community colleges, colleges, and universities across the U.S., it can be a bit overwhelming to determine how to find the right one for you. You’re likely wondering “How can I search for colleges?” in this massive pool of options.
If you’re not sure where to start on your search for your dream college, this guide can help. With 9 steps, you can get on track to determine what you’re looking for in a school, which schools fit those needs and wants, and how the college can help you for your goals after graduation.
Why Is It Important to Search For Colleges?
It can be easy to say “Oh I’ll just go there” when it comes time to go to college, but this is where you’re going to be spending the next 2 to 4 years of your life. And your decisions now could impact the rest of your life, beyond just your career options. Finding a college that actually fits you is essential.
The college experience isn’t just about the schoolwork. Focusing only on the strength of a college’s program is a recipe for disaster. You might quickly find you’re unhappy with other aspects of the school, and this burnout can absolutely affect your grades.
By taking the time now to identify the right colleges and universities for your needs and wants, you can avoid a lot of headaches. You may also avoid having to transfer schools if you discover you truly dislike your choice once you arrive on campus.
How to Search for Colleges: 9 Important Tips
1. Choosing Community College vs 4 Year
Before anything else, you’ll have to decide the type of college you want to attend. Do you want to save money and earn an associate’s degree first? Do you want to go straight into a 4-year college and get the full campus experience? This decision is completely up to you, but it will impact all of your options going forward.
2. Think About Your Desired Major
Some students head into college not knowing what they want to major in, and that’s okay. If you’re heading to community college first, you won’t have to make the choice anytime soon. But for those who do know exactly what they want to study or have a rough idea, this is a good starting point. You don’t want to look into a college that doesn’t even offer your desired major.
And while a school may offer your desired program, is it a good program? Will it cover the topics you need to succeed in your future career? Not all colleges and universities are the same and majors can vary quite a bit in quality.
So students, in their search for colleges, should consider the best schools in the country for that program. Our Major Search tool allows you to investigate thousands of areas of study and see exactly what you can expect in the courses, career options available to you after graduation, and the top colleges and universities for that program.
If you’re on the fence about choosing a major, it is an entirely different subject and deserves its own attention. Thinking about your strengths, weaknesses, passions, interests, dislikes, and more, though, can get you on the right track.
3. What About Your Career?
You won’t have to think about getting a career in your major for a bit, but it doesn’t hurt to think about it now in relation to your college. Understanding what you want to do after graduation can help you look at schools from a networking standpoint, too. Does one college have a history of putting out more professionals in your field than others? It’s worth a look at.
Before deciding on a career, though, you need to determine if it’s a good fit for you. Our Career Finder lets you explore different professions, their projected job growth, median salaries, and more.
4. Think About What Else You Want in a College
You should never go to a college that doesn’t offer your major and you should never go to a college that has your major but misses everything else you want out of a school. You’ll be spending the next 2 to 4 years here and you’ll be doing more than studying. It’s important to find a college or university you’re happy with.
So now it’s time to think about what makes you comfortable, happy, and satisfied. What would your ideal college look like? Here are some example questions to get you started. Try answering them and if a college doesn’t have a majority of what you’re looking for, you know you can cross them off your list.
- A large or small college campus?
- Large or small class sizes?
- Competitive or more relaxed atmosphere?
- What do you want in housing? Will you consider off-campus?
- Do you want a religious college?
- Does the college have recreation options and facilities that are important to you such as gyms, 24-hour study spaces, an expansive library, counseling, health center, etc?
- How important are sports to you?
- Do you want to live in the city, a more rural area, or somewhere in the middle?
- Are there any extracurriculars, activities, or clubs that are must-have for you?
- Is it important to go to a college that has traditions?
- Do you want to go to a college far away from home, close to home, or somewhere in between?
- What kind of weather do you love? Which kind can you not tolerate?
You likely will have your own questions to add to this list, but it’s important to get to the bottom of what is important to you. Brand new gym facilities may be a must-have for your college experience, but your best friend who prefers the library may not care that much. It’s all about finding the college for you.
With the answers to these questions in hand, the next steps will be much easier.
5. Consider Cost and Financial Aid
The high cost of college should come as no surprise, but you want to look beyond the sticker price of schools. Did you know that very few students actually pay that full cost? Between scholarships, school financial aid packages, state and federal grants, and more, there are plenty of ways to cut the cost down to a more manageable number. Some students may even get a full ride!
Understanding the difference between sticker price and net price is crucial to making the right moves here. Even just a single grant could make a college that was wildly out of reach affordable.
And, did you know that public colleges tend to have smaller tuition costs compared to private schools? This is because they receive funding from the state and government. But, on the other hand, private schools tend to have larger endowment programs and more to give their students in the way of financial aid packages.
Although you won’t know your true cost of attending a college until you receive an acceptance letter, that doesn’t mean you should completely ignore this number during your search for a college. It’s something to keep on the back burner and use as part of a full equation. For example, you don’t want to apply to 5 colleges that all have costs that are out of your reach. But applying to a few and comparing financial aid offer letters when you receive them can help. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you receive!
A great way to find scholarships that will save you money on the college experience is our Scholarship Search tool. You can input your information and discover awards you fit the criteria for. We make it easy to apply, too!
6. Match With Colleges and Universities
Now that you have a solid idea of what you want in a college and what you should be looking for, it’s time to actually search for the colleges. But how? How can you possibly sift through nearly 6,000 schools?
Thankfully, you don’t have to search school by school or simply go to the big names you’ve heard of. Resources like College Match do the legwork for you. By inputting your information, including wants, needs, achievements, goals, desired major, and more, College Raptor’s College Match will return with a list of schools that meet your criteria.
Don’t see the school you dreamed of attending on your list? Don’t worry. You can search for that college and see why it didn’t match with you. You might discover that your ACT score is well below what the college tends to accept. This helps you develop a strategy (improve your ACT score) so you can match with that school.
Using College Match, you can create a solid list of safety, match, and reach colleges that fit what you’re looking for in a school.
7. Go to College Fairs
Another way to connect with colleges, especially in person, and continue your search is to attend college fairs. These events will have plenty of schools from your local area and from all over the country. You can ask representatives questions, collect brochures from colleges that interest you, and discover universities you never even heard of!
8. Visit College Campuses
Once you have a solid list of colleges that interest you, your search for your dream school will take you to the campuses themselves. College tours are a great way to get introduced to a campus. You’ll be able to explore the grounds, the local city, dorm rooms, dining halls, classrooms, the library, facilities, and more.
If a college is far away and you can’t afford (or don’t have the time) to travel out there, many schools have uploaded virtual tours for prospective students. You can also decide to visit only after you’ve been accepted to the college.
9. Make a Chart
By this point, between college fairs, College Match, and your own research, you should have a list of schools that interest you. To find the ones you should apply to, make a chart. List out every single college in one column. In the top row, list out everything that is important to you, such as a strong major program, quality gym, excellent library, club you want to join, etc.
Then go through the chart and either check off where each school excels or give them a rating between 1-10 based on your research. You might find that while a school really interested you and was a good match on paper, really isn’t the one for you when you break it down.
Using this resource can help you determine if you need to go back and discover more colleges that match you or if you have a solid list and can start applying to them.
Tips for Starting Your College Search
There are no right or wrong answers to the steps above. You could find that what interests you in college is wildly different from what you imagined once you start your search. Everyone has their strengths, weaknesses, skill sets, aspirations, and ambitions. Taking those into account will make your search easier.
Here are some other tips to help you find success and your dream college:
- Remember that no one college will match every single one of your wants and needs
- Take your parents’ advice into account, but know that the end decision is yours
- Meet with your guidance counselor to discuss your college plans; they may have suggestions
- Start as early as possible
- Talk to other college students to get their perspectives on the college experience as a whole and their choice of school
Now that you’ve got an idea how to search for colleges, use college search tools like College Raptor to see what your options are. Visit colleges’ “prospective students” pages to see what they have to say to students like you. Once you’ve got your list narrowed down, consider a college tour to get a feel for the campus.
