The Handbook / Chapter 7

The College List

Photo by Torbjørn Helgesen on Unsplash

“You will not get into the college to which you did not apply.”

—Anonymous

Okay, obviously.

But there’s a larger point to be made. One the most important steps in the admissions process— creating a college list— is often the least informed decision a student makes. People choose a restaurant based on more complete information.

The problem? What we think we know.

We form opinions based mostly on what we overhear. We arrive at deeply held views about everything including which colleges are best. We use words like elite and prestigious. Let me take you back to the book I recommended, Thinking Fast and Slow, because it applies here. In it, Daniel Kahneman refers to Availability Bias. This is, his research shows, how our brains trick us into avoiding a complicated selection process by inflating the value of what we already know. We are oblivious to the sleight of head. When confronted, we dig in and defend it. Your particular Dream U may have earned that distinction by accident alone.

Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised considering all the accidents that got us to this point. We’ve come to expect them. We didn’t choose our parents. Nor our siblings. Our neighborhoods, our schools. We did choose our friends but only from the small sample available at one serendipitous time and place. Our earth is a rare, if not singular, cosmic accident which just happens to orbit the sun in the Goldilocks Zone, neither too near nor too distant from the sun.

To what colleges should you apply? Maybe we should let the Ouija board decide.

Or, instead, what if you could know what it is you want and and find out which colleges offer it? Sound like a plan?

Dream schools get all the press but there’s a lesser known category that deserves a lot more respect— right fit colleges (RFC). You wouldn’t think of buying a pair of shoes without first knowing your size. And even after communicating that, you try them on and swap them out when necessary. Don’t you want to know what colleges fit you?

Good. Then let’s start taking your measurements.

For this to work, we will need to keep an open mind, to welcome surprise. The purpose of this exercise is to find places you’ll thrive. Previously unknown colleges may emerge as contenders. Old favorites will still be there providing they survive your scrutiny. With over 4k colleges from which to choose and roughly fifteen ending up on your list, there are somewhere around 7 x 10⁴¹ possible combinations. One of them is yours.

Before we start, and at the risk of contradicting myself, I’d like to invite destiny along for the ride. Reflection is a good thing, yes. The wisdom we gain keeps us moving in the right direction. But at some point we will be guided by an internal compass. Something begins to feel right, particularly after a campus visit. At the right time, we would be wise to heed that advice. Call it enlightened intuition. An educated hunch.

This is one of those rare opportunities to really get your way, no compromise necessary. No haggling with your siblings or parents. You’re free to consult but you’re under no obligation. What you say goes. You say jump, college says how high?

And with every question you have answered, you’re that much clearer, one step nearer the goal. Spreadsheet ready? Here we go.

Home or away?

How far from home would you like to be? You’ve traveled some but most of what you know about the world lies within the 100-mile radius of your mailbox. Do you feel adventurous? Or do you see yourself at a college nearby? For some of us, having our family a short car ride away has its advantages. Does keeping that emotional support close by seem like a wise choice? Your mom’s pies? Dad’s lasagna? A washer and dryer are luxuries you only come to fully appreciate when they’re gone. Making this choice can simplify your search by greatly reducing the options.

There are others for whom four more years of familiar surroundings are simply unthinkable. You drive down Main Street, squeezing the steering wheel too tightly, counting the days until graduation. For your sake, and the safety of local pedestrians, it’s time to move on.

This is the most straightforward choice you’ll face. Let your feelings point the way. If you’re ambivalent, consider a college in a different state. This is your new life. You are the location scout, star, and director.

4-year vs. 2-year

Are you looking for, and can you afford, a 4-year college or is a 2-year community college (CC) more feasible? A choice of a CC is often driven by financial considerations and for some students may be the only viable option. Investigate the CCs in your area and spend some time on campus. Do they offer a 2-year course of study similar to what you might have taken anyway at a 4-year college? For lots of students, transferring to a 4-year college after completing a 2-year CC stint nearly halves the financial burden of an undergraduate education.

The majority of my students choose 4-year colleges and I suspect you may do similarly. The experience will feel short even so.

Urban vs. Rural vs. Suburban

When you close your eyes and picture a college campus, what do you see?

A leafy New England green or a gritty city sidewalk? Fall foliage or neon and skyscrapers? Or something in between?

You may know the answer already. Haven’t you been conjuring this image in your head every night since last year’s college fair? Ever since those mysterious emails started hitting your inbox from colleges INTERESTED IN YOU? Go for it. It’s not a scientific process. Hunches are to be followed.

But be ready for some surprises. I’ve heard complaints from a college freshman at Dartmouth that the quiet made it hard to fall asleep. A student at NYU voiced a similar gripe but about sirens and garbage trucks. Both of them eventually adjusted to their new surroundings, but our preferences will be tested and sooner than you think.

It can be useful to educate yourself about the parts of the country in which your prospective colleges are located. You won’t just be enrolling in a school, remember, but becoming a resident as well. As an independent adult, you probably would like to know how state and local laws may affect you. Some states are becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting policies restricting women’s reproductive health. You certainly don’t want to find out on the first visit to your new pharmacy that your prescription can’t be filled there. You may care passionately about open carry gun laws. Some state legislatures have restricted certain types of campus speech. What’s the legal age for alcohol purchase? Are there laws regulating the right to assemble? LGBTQ? DEI? Voting?

It’s a lot, I know. But it’s far better to do the work in advance. One in eight Florida high school seniors have stated they will not consider an in-state college. Does it make you want to know why? Your search engine can be your research assistant. Where you choose to attend college can have a dramatic effect on your experience.

There is also the relationship between a college and its community. We would all prefer to live where local residents welcome their student population. One of the most positive aspects of going to Harvard was the high concentration of students in the Cambridge|Boston area. The community had to get along with the 300k+ students living among them. By their sheer number, students are the main economic driver and focus of most cultural activities.

I’ve been to Ames, Iowa, home of the Iowa State Cardinals (pop 66k), and it is beautiful and livable. But it couldn’t be more different than the North End of Boston (pop 700k). My point is, you owe it to yourself to get a sense of a place, a lay of the land, to know which one will be preferable. And that goes for whatever cities|towns you plug into the equation. If you find a particular setting to be to your liking, or one that leaves you cold, apply this information going forward. I once had a student whose preliminary college list featured both Hampshire College and NYU. These are both highly reputable institutions and either would be an excellent destination. But they are as diametrically opposed as two colleges, and settings, could be. One person would almost have to be more suited to attend one or the other. To each her own.

After your independent research and before adding any college to your final list, you would be wise to have read 1) the Wikipedia page on the state|city and 2) the college entry in the Fiske Guide.

Intended academic discipline

With a better sense of where, we can turn our attention to what.

You may not be certain of your intended college concentration. Don’t worry, you’re right on schedule. But you probably have an idea, or multiple ones, about where you’d like to focus your learning. Investigating these options will help narrow your search. It may also expose you to new ideas. I’ve known students who began their search as broadly as social science and ultimately studied urban planning. A school’s course curriculum acts as a menu does for a restaurant. Read it and whet your appetite. It is very common for students to change direction early in their college journey. I love hearing stories about accidental encounters with professors that magically transform doctors into poets or the other way around. Sometimes all it takes is accompanying a friend to a lecture and falling in love with the subject matter. The friend drops the course while you go on to make it your life’s work. Passion can be discovered serendipitously. This is the true blessing of a liberal arts education. It’s the best buffet in town.

Will your intention to pursue a particular subject move you toward specific colleges? If it directs your eye and encourages further examination of individual schools and departments you will have expanded your thinking. Dig down into the course catalog. Read the class names. Check out the professors. Google the professors. Read their bios. Google their book titles. Read the synopses. Does anything intrigue you? Take notes. Check out their blogs. Email them with your thoughts and questions. This is progress that will eventually lead you to a clearer idea of whether a school should be included. Receiving a reply from a professor whose class you might someday take can be a pivotal moment in a student’s college search.

Must haves

Your spreadsheet should make room for whatever your particular wants might be. Feel free to create a column for indoor swimming or martial arts. You’re the boss.

The college list is fluid until the application deadlines have passed. If you care to include a new college after a conversation at the December holiday table, no one is going to stop you. Just as often, a college can be sent packing at any time. We committed to an open mind at the beginning and we’re sticking with it.