Must choose, with more than three thousand colleges and universities, any student who takes the time to explore intelligently their educational opportunities (and adheres to application deadlines and financial aid) have access to at least three, four institutions where it is very likely to be happy and successful. Students and parents are thus not understand the process of a college application experience fear when they think there is no “right” school, if you keep expectations reasonable, this is a little planning and take advantage of the many information resources available.
It is important to realize that only about five percent of the colleges and universities in the United States deny admission to more than fifty percent of their applicants.
Therefore, unless you plan to apply to those highly selective institutions, the odds of your gaining admission to the colleges to which you do apply are probably very strongly in your favor. And, if your grades and SAT or ACT scores are high enough so that applying to the most selective colleges is a reasonable and realistic option for you, you can almost be assured of admission to any number of excellent but slightly less competitive institutions.
The extent to which a college can afford to be selective is a function of its perceived quality and/or popularity. Thus, while it is true that the colleges and universities with the highest academic profiles tend to be the most selective, many fine institutions do not enjoy the luxury of receiving applications from a significantly greater number of students than they are able to admit, and are therefore only moderately or even minimally selective.
Keeping in mind what we have just discussed, you are now ready to begin your college search.
Your first and most important step to identify at least a half dozen institutions which offer the academic programs and co-curricular activities of interest to you, provide a campus environment in which you will feel comfortable, and are likely to offer you admission. Begin by meeting with your school counselor to:
1.solicit his or her college recommendations.
2.discuss the courses you plan to take in future years.
3.sign up for the SAT and ACT.
4.learn which college representatives will be visiting your school.
5.find out about upcoming college fairs in your area.
Don’t forget that the web is a great source of information. Do a few searches for terms like colleges”, “college scholarships”, “financial aid” and “college admissions” to identify some good online resources.