4 Tips to Building Your College List

4 Tricks to Build Your College List:

There are more than 3,000 colleges in the US alone. The college search can be a little overwhelming and rising seniors (and their parents!) can find it difficult to think beyond big-name schools or the colleges where all your classmates go. Here are 4 creative ideas to think dream outside the box when it comes to the college search:

• Write it Down: Having trouble talking about what you want from your next school home? Write it down instead! An exercise in “free writing” (where you write continuously for a limited amount of time in response to a prompt) forces yourself to identify thoughts, ideas, interests, and feelings you didn’t know you can. Set a timer for 15 minutes and write down everything you can think of in response to the “I imagine college will be…”

• Google Maps. Where’s the best place you’ve ever vacationed? Favorite US city? Where have you always wanted to visit? Make a list of where you’ve visited or have always wanted to visited and start a search like “Nashville colleges or “California schools.” Once you make a list of schools based on location, you can access individual school websites to learn more.

• The Numbers Game: Using SCOIR, Naviance, or College Navigator, search for colleges using many different criteria (location, tuition, size, sports, religious affiliation, majors, and even test scores!)

• Ask Questions: You interact with adults (alumni of schools) all the time. Interview them about their own college experiences. What made them choose their college and what did they like about it? What would they change about the college search process if they could do it again?