How Many Colleges Should I Apply To

Juniors: Do You Have Your Preliminary List of Colleges?

 

You should be actively working on your preliminary list of colleges -- the fifteen to twenty schools that have caught your eye as you have begun your research. Remember the goal is to create a list of schools that will provide you with good choices in your senior year. Each college should be a "first choice" -- campuses with compelling reasons for you to attend. Your list should not consist entirely of highly selective schools or only those colleges with names most familiar to you. There are more than 2,600 four-year colleges and universities, after all. While whittling that number down into the fifteen or twenty that work for you sounds like a big task, it's actually not that hard once you have given some thought to what you want and what the colleges offer. And it can be a lot of fun.

For more information on creating a preliminary list of colleges including tips on research and achieving a list that balances admissibility and cost, see Chapter 8, "Creating an Initial List of Colleges," in College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step