A famous quote says ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket ‘ that is why, when it comes to making a list of your prospective college, most students and their parents become frightened and considered.
It should not be a time of making list, but a time to ultimate select schools that are accessible, affordable, and a quality fit for your dream and aspiration.
Looking for an extra basket to put your remaining eggs in does not require an adviser or councilors. It bit self realistic assessment, knowledge, and willingness to push up to see the other side is all that is needed to move out of the frightened and boulder list.
In this article we’ll explain and answer the following questions, how can I identify the best college, how many colleges should I apply to, how you select a safe college, how can I know and considers a probable college, how to see a reach college, how to choose a target college, what common mistake student make. Do I need to narrow down the list?
Table of contents
- How can I identify the best college?
- How many colleges should I apply to?
- How To select a safe college
- How to select a target college
- How can I know and consider a probable college?
- How to know a reach college
- What common mistake do students make when applying to colleges?
- Do I need to narrow down the list of how many colleges to apply to?
- Conclusion
- References
- Recommendation
How can I identify the best college?
Let’s start by robbing you of the idea that there is a precise dream school out there. Your dream won’t “be over” if you don’t get into college A, because, in reality, there are thousands of institutions that have the same core captions as college A.
But this may look like we are trying to wreck your vision of the perfect university, we actually plan this to be highly lovely news.
The fact is that no matter who you are, whether you’re a valedictorian or A/D student, there are at least 30-60 schools out there that would be an excellent fit for you.
Creating an open mind at the beginning of the process is vital. Again students get fixated on a particular school for dumb reasons—like an intense interest in UNC’s powder blue or creating an unhealthy fixation for a specific elite school solely because of its U.S. News ranking.
Didn’t say that outlook attraction means nothing but if you’ll really want to consider factors like vicinity to home, your family’s economic situation, admissions prospects, majors required as well as outcome data like the strength of the school, career aids, alumni network, and school grad/ placement of job.
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How many colleges should I apply to?
The number college you should be one’s choice. In addition, your college list should be between 5-10 schools which includes a healthy mix of target, safety and reach school.
In cases where a student is applying to a volume of highly-competitive colleges, you may need to increase the number to 12.
How To select a safe college
A safe college is where your credentials—your degrees and test scores—are better than those of the average admitted students, and where you are apt to be accepted.
Also, you can make sure that one or two of your safeties are financial safety schools.
A school your parents can comfortable covers 100% of the tuition, plus room, board, and other fees through some variety of savings, a 529 account, or low-interest government loans.
How to select a target college
Two to four of the college on your list should be “target” colleges, institutions at which your academic profile is near to the average admitted student and you really have a better than a 50/50 chance at admission.
How can you analyze this? Simple, the percentage of students accepted looks a lot like you.
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How can I know and consider a probable college?
The “probable” college is one that the student thinks will satisfy desires and ambitions; one they can cheerfully attend, even if it might not be the first choice.
The student who could match the general admission norms in academic and social domains.
Its friendly statute of thumb is to have three to four probable colleges into consideration.
How to know a reach college
Several students select “reach” schools that are better like “snowball’s chance in hell” schools. There’s no disadvantage in an average student submitting an application to Yale—but there is no goal either.
Reach schools aren’t high prospect risks but your time is extremely important to go through the motions of, so, applying to Middlebury with an average.
To say, reach schools are schools your grades and test scores are really lower than those of the average admitted student. Admission isn’t apt, but it is not impossible either.
You keep out hope that your killer theses, suggestion, outstanding talents, or knowledge will win the mind of the admission officer.
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What common mistake do students make when applying to colleges?
A particular, also awful college admissions outcome involves students disorganizing dream colleges as target schools. As in, “if your SATs are satisfactory and your grades took a drop junior year, but you can still have a good shot at Duke.”
Not soberly and accurately evaluating your own possibilities during the list-creation can only lead to wrong results on decision-time.
The aspect of this procedure involves students who auction themselves short in the college application process and only create a college list containing institutions that are academically inadequate to the college in which they would have been admitted, provided their academic ability and capabilities.
In the outcome, the student usually registers at a college that is less selective and one that also has poorer graduation rates, rarer aids, and limited chances for postsecondary and professional accomplishment.
Do I need to narrow down the list of how many colleges to apply to?
When narrowing a prospective college list, students should also think bigger about which schools will truly educate them for future accomplishments.
Also, be able to identify the list prospective safety, target, probable and reach school which includes, desirable, accessible and really affordable.
“One of the most valuable aspects is understanding this idea of fit and discovering an institution where the student is genuinely excited about the town that he, she, or they are going to be surrounded when they have been admitted to the institution.
The student should also dig deeper, research if the college really matches their needs and desires, ideal campus size if they’ll like an urban or suburban environment and the student body.
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Conclusion
The best way to accomplish this is to research and dig dip so that you can narrow down your 1000 potential colleges in the final list of 5-10 schools.
Every student should put their best to power their chance at an acceptance letter from a school that embodies what they value most in the academic sector.