One School Two School Red School Blue School.. soooooo many schools! As the school year begins, it is a reminder that it is time to think about the thousands of colleges and universities around the country and around the world, and finding the right fit for you.

• Where should I apply?
• How many should I apply to?
• What should I look for?
• Where do I start?

Way back when, I remember visiting my first college the day before classes began my freshman year of high school. A little crazy, over-prepared, way too early, however you might describe it… I was just always planning ahead. I was lucky enough to have the resources and supportive parents needed to visit all the schools on my list. And where did I get my list? Well, one summer day, I journeyed over to my local Barnes & Nobles with pen and notebook in hand and grabbed Princeton Review’s Complete Book of Colleges and settled down at a picnic table in the children’s section. I didn’t know if I wanted to go to a private school or a public school or if I wanted a student body of 50,000 or 500. So I started with what I did know.

What I knew I wanted:

• business major, (but maybe an economics, psychology or theater major too)
• semester in Washington D.C.
• study abroad options
• competitive school (where the average student had a GPA and SAT scores similar to mine).
• Within four hours from home (My older sister had attended a university in Pittsburgh, PA and after driving her out there to move her in and out, and occasionally a trip to fix her computer, my parents said, “No More!”)

So with all that- I got to work.

I went school by school, looking at each biography of the schools in my limited area and recorded all the ones that had what I wanted and also things that I thought were interesting. Then I journeyed on to their websites to research more about the schools.

• What were the pictures of campus like?
• What activities do the students participate in?
• What about the town it was in… was there anything to do out there, or too much to do out there?
• Was it a safe campus? (since my mom wanted to know)

I knocked more schools off my list here and there, and of course when I took the SATs, I modified the list again based on my score and where I was more likely to get in. I soon realized that I wasn’t ready for a city and that I didn’t want to move to an area any colder or with anymore snow than I already lived with. After visiting dozens of schools, I narrowed my search eliminating huge schools and very small schools, and selected my top four (back then, students did not apply to as many colleges as they do today). I had many friends who reversed my process a bit by applying to more schools and then visiting only the schools they were accepted into and could afford.

Nowadays, systems like Naviance and websites like Collegeboard.com do much of the work for you. Instead of reading page by page through hundreds of bios, you can log on to the website and create a search with all the aspects of a school you are interested in. Always check with your guidance office to see what suggestions they may have and what resources are available – maybe there is a college you like coming to visit your school. But after the computer does the work and creates your list, it is important to do more research to get a feel for that school. Find a school that has many possibilities for you. Select a school that not only has a major of your choice, but also other majors that are appealing, just in case you change your mind down the road. I wanted to spend a semester in Washington D.C. because I had a great time at a conference there when I was in high school. When I got to college I realized I wasn’t as interested in government and politics as I thought. I always thought I would study abroad, but I found out I could do a domestic exchange program instead. So I studied in Hawaii, and within 48 hours of arriving on Oahu, I was tumbling off a surfboard while attempting to ride the waves. So keep your options open.

There are plenty of fish in the sea – I mean schools in the world. And I do not think there is only one right school for each student. But I do think there is a wrong school for a student – specifically one that does not offer the opportunities that he/she is looking for. So make your list, research the schools, visit all you can, and find a group of schools that you like and that fit you.