Document Your Research

Take notes on information gleaned from guidebooks, websites, videos, and college-mailed materials. The more fully you research your colleges now, the better off you will be when it’s time to narrow your list and start the application process.

Click here for a Research Data Sheet you can use to record information about a college. On the back of the research sheet, you can add information you receive from other sources, such as your high school counselor, college admissions officers, interviewers, tour guides, parents, friends, and teachers.

If you are interested in a particular school, request information from the college's website right away so you will be in the potential applicant database. You will receive printed materials and notice of regional or school presentations.You can download this Information Request Tracking Form to keep a record of your information requests.

How Many Schools?

At the end of your research phase, you will probably emerge with a sizeable list of schools you’d be happy to attend and that are a good fit for your skills and interests. But by the beginning of your senior year, you need to make some choices. There’s no magic number of applications. Some students apply to as few as three or four colleges, others tackle many more. A double digit-number means you probably are deferring important choices until spring, which may not be the best time to make a quick decision. Whatever the number, the final list should represent a range of likelihood of admission, from schools where you have a very high probability of being accepted to those where your chances are much less certain.  Click for a more detailed look at how to assess your chances of admission.

 

 

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