Choosing the right college is hard, even if you’re only looking at schools in the U.S. It isn’t even realistic to go through 4,000 colleges and universities, so where do you begin? Many students end up at a college and then regret going there, while others go to a college they didn’t expect much from, and then end up loving their entire college experience. How do you find that perfect school for you? Follow the next five steps. 

1. Define your goals

2. Look for excellence

3. Dig into research

4. Visit the schools

5. List up final selection

Step 1. Define your goals

Ask yourself why you want to go to college. Are you going to learn? What subject? (it’s ok to be undecided!) Do you want to have a specific job later? Do you want to make something? You can find the answer to these questions by participating in a broad range of activities. There are competitions in a broad spectrum of topics that are offered at local, regional, and national levels to give you access to different approaches and formats of the competitive process. Do something that seems fun to you. This information will be invaluable later when you’re choosing a major as you’ll be able to say that certain topics interest you more than others with certainty based on first-hand experience. 

Step 2. Look for excellence

Find schools that do the thing you like really well. Did you realize that you really like to talk, read, discuss, and think about environmental sciences? Great. Find online rankings from reputable sources, like US News and World Report, to see which schools offer programs in this field. Look at why the schools are ranked as highly as they are and what alumni say about the experience. Next, get really specific. Afterall, you may be spending the next chunk of your life here. 

Step 3. Dig into research

Look for publications from the school on topics you find interesting. Top schools will lead the research; but new topics will have few experts, and leading schools will vary due to the number of available experts in a field. Nanotech and biochemistry need access to certain things that require high cost structures. Not all schools offer these types of programs at the same level, so do some digging. Did you find some reading that you liked? Now you can stop here, but you can go from passive research to active information gathering. 

The next step is to contact a professor. How horrifying! But it shows initiative. Try requesting materials as a beginner. If you introduce yourself and mention that you have an interest in the field the professor is working on, along with a few questions from their latest publication, you’ll find that many professors will respond with thoroughly helpful answers. Some will provide links as well as entire articles (even those normally behind paywalls). You’ll find many will be happy to help a future professional in their field. This process takes some time, so start early. If you feel that writing a professor is slightly intimidating, check out our sample templates and use them to make one that is perfect for you. 

Step 4. Visit the schools 

Narrow down the schools that are doing the things you want to be a part of and visit the schools that are most appealing first online and in-person later. You can also attend school fairs if you want to explore many different options. When on campus, if it doesn’t cause sudden anxiety, you can even talk to students at the school and ask if you can bother them with a few questions. You’ll find current students will provide incredibly granular information that you won’t find online. We’ve had many students change their minds because of a great interaction they had on campus.

Step 5. List up final selection

If you’ve followed through the steps above, by now, you should have a pretty good sense of which schools you like. They are your target schools. Move on to preparing your application package. Map out the schools you want to apply to, work out the cost, and discuss this plan with your parents or a mentor. 

Remember, most important to a successful application is planning in advance. Continue to follow us for more advice on activities, scholarships, essays, and more.