Let The Research Begin

In the first part of this series, I explored the Art of College List Building, which includes introspective assessment of students’ wants, desires, and preferences. This represents the more subjective side of identifying a good college match and devising a list of schools to apply to.

On the other hand, there are also a host of objective factors – the hard data and systematic analysis – involved in college list building. Unlike the natural sciences, there are no precise formulas to follow, but it does make sense to look at the numbers:

Prestige/Rankings

How does one know how prestigious a college is? Well, there’s some debate mixed in with a hint of controversy here. Most people turn directly to the yearly college rankings: U.S. News and World Reports, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and the list goes on. And yet, many academics, admissions staff, and college counselors posit that the rankings are misleading, at best, and a bunch of malarkey, at worst.

Common knowledge states that the college sitting at the #1 spot must provide a “better,” more quality education than, let’s say, a #20 college. But is this true? A better education for who? The rankings cannot take into account a complexity of student-focused characteristics, learning preferences, and other variables. In fact, a quick look-see underneath the hood of the methodology used to rank America’s best colleges reveals lots of flaws.

If rankings are your sole measure of “best fit,” you’re missing out the big picture. Take these numbers with a grain of salt.

GPA, Class Rank, & SAT/ACT Scores

Quick research reveals the average GPA, class rankings, and SAT/ACT scores for the most recently admitted Freshman class at most colleges. This data is often used a proxy formula to “rate” chances of gaining admission, but the truth is, these numbers are only a piece of pie when it comes to determining admissions decisions.

Still, it is good practice to compare your students’ data with these bits of published data. You make educated decisions about whether a particular college may be very likely, possible, or unlikely to admit a student according to his current academic profile.

Selectivity

How selective is a college regarding admissions decisions? You can gauge this factor by examining published acceptance rates. Many highly selective colleges have acceptance rates in the low single digits; they get flooded with thousands of applications and only accept a small sliver for admission. Other colleges admit more than 50% of those that apply. And then there are those in the middle.

Many “elite” colleges fall into the highly selective category. Not so coincidentally, these schools usually appear at the top of most rankings systems. Selectivity acts as a weighted factor to determine ranking (to maintain high rank, encourage more applications and reject more students).

Creating an effective college list is a balancing act of adequate representation of schools with varying levels of selectivity.

Financial Considerations

Parents, now is the time to get real about college costs and what is in the realm of possibility. Much like the TLC network reality show, “Say Yes To The Dress,” where women search endlessly for the perfect wedding gown, save yourself some heartache by eliminating those that you are certain are well out of the affordability range. Don’t even “try” them on. Serious conversations need to be had, including:

• Is there money is set aside for college? How much?
• What is the likelihood that the student may obtain grants or scholarships?
• How much loan debt is the student willing to assume?

Rather than assuming that a particular college is financially out of reach, do diligent research and run the numbers. You may have to dig to find it, but by federal law, colleges and universities must have a net price calculator available on their website. Net price calculators allow you to enter your financial information and return an estimate of the dollar amount that students like them paid to attend the institution in the prior year – after grants and scholarships are taken into account.

Your mileage may vary with this technique; some calculators ask more detailed questions, and thus may be more accurate, than others. Whatever dollar amount you are given, always keep in mind that these preliminary figures are estimates. True costs remain unknown until an official financial aid award letter is received.

All in All

This is a non-exhaustive list of considerations to keep in mind, which is partly what makes creating a college list such a huge undertaking. This is a process that I prefer to start with clients during junior year of high school. For most students, there are many “best matches” to be found, where their wants, needs, and preferences will be met holistically. Ideally, the student will apply to a short, well-formulated, and balanced list of colleges, and as the result of a bit of foresight and planning, will have multiple acceptances to choose from.