Finding Your Fit: Your Roadmap for Researching Colleges

But don’t let the anxiety get to you. By breaking down the research process into concrete steps, you’ll be able to narrow in on a list of colleges that can fit your family’s needs—and your budget. 

When should my student start researching colleges and universities? 

It’s tempting to say it’s never really too early to begin thinking about researching colleges, but freshman year is a good time. But even if your student is closer to graduation, you can employ these tips. Here are four ways parents can help: 

• Develop your student’s focus. Keep your student engaged in their high school experience: building good study habits, immersing themselves in learning, and exploring extracurriculars. Support them in getting good grades and learning what most interests them in and outside the classroom.

• Talk to your student about your own experience. Talk to the student in your life about where you went to college and how you chose it. Consider sharing how you researched your options and where you learned. Encourage them to ask other adults in their life, like coaches and teachers, about their own experiences. Share what you would have done differently or what you’d recommend they do. 

• Tap into your network. Ask friends whose children are in college or recently went through the college search to talk to your student about their experiences. Let them connect with a peer (or a slightly older one) who can share the good, bad, and everything in between from their experience. 

• Connect with your high school counselors. High school counselors have years of experience guiding students like yours through this process to help understand what to do. Reach out and ask them questions, and encourage your student to do the same.

What should I ask my student about their college preferences? 

Help your student reflect on what they want by asking them the following questions: 

• • Academics: 
    • What subjects do you like best in school? 
    • What kind of career do you think you’d like to pursue?
    • What majors do you think would support your career goals? 
  • Learning environment: 
    • Do you like to learn in small groups or in larger ones? 
    • What size school do you think you’d like best? A large, public university? A school that specializes in STEM? A small, private, liberal arts school? 
    • Do you think you want to go to school in a bigger city, a smaller city, a suburban area, or a more rural campus? 

• Campus life: 

• • Do you want to live on or off campus? 
  • Would it be a dealbreaker if a school required you to live on campus in a dorm? 
  • How important is it to play sports or participate in extracurriculars in college? 
  • How far from home would you like to be? Do you want to stay close to home or explore a new region? 

Encourage your student to reflect and think about these answers, then start creating a list of priorities together. While you’ll be involved, give your student some space. This is a big decision, and it needs to be driven by them. 

Should I let cost affect my child’s college research? 

Paying for college causes a lot of undue stress on families, but it’s not as straightforward of a reflection question as some of the others. Do your research and keep track of how much schools on your student’s list cost, while knowing that there are options beyond what’s on the university’s tuition schedule.

Be clear with your student about what your family can afford, research college scholarships and academic funding together, and know that there are resources and experts who can help you navigate college affordability.

Where can I find colleges that fit our criteria? 

Take the answers to the reflection questions and start your actual research. There are many free tools and resources that can help you begin to build a list to look into more.

• • The Common App: More than 1,100 colleges and universities in the U.S. leverage the Common App to streamline the application process. Use its Explore feature to filter schools and find out more.
  • College Board: Big Future, a website from the College Board, has a searchable database with more than 4,000 schools, which you can filter by majors, location, size, type, and more. They also have a short College Match quiz, which can take your student’s feedback and turn it into a recommended list. 
  • Appily: This free resource helps students research colleges, explore majors, find scholarships, take virtual tours and more. 
  • College Navigator: The National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator is an interactive tool that helps you search for colleges and refine the list by what matters most to you and your family.
  • College Scorecard: Compare colleges based on factors like size, acceptance rate, average annual cost, type of school, environment, average test score, and more with this tool from the U.S. Department of Education

What comes next in the college research process?

As you continue to research schools and refine your list and priorities, there are three solid actions you and your student can take. 

• Demonstrate your interest. Go to college fairs, sign up for visits from admission representatives at your student’s school, visit the school’s websites and sign up to receive information online and in the mail. Follow them on social media to be up to date on the latest information. 

• Visit campuses. One surefire way to determine if a college is a good fit for your student is to visit in person. Many schools have ongoing, open campus tours—check their website and sign up. Bring your questions and dig into what’s important to your student and your family.

• Understand the Safety-Reach-Match approach. As you get closer to applications, start to sort the schools on your student’s list into three categories: Safety, Match, and Reach. Safety schools are those your student has a high chance of acceptance; Match are those that your student has a strong but not guaranteed shot at; Reach are schools that have a higher degree of difficulty for your student’s acceptance. As you conduct research, sort the schools into these categories to create a balanced list of options. 

Ready for the next step on your college journey? 

You now have a roadmap to make the seemingly daunting college research process easier: 

1. Start early and consult peers, friends, other trusted adults, and your school’s counselors. 
2. Encourage your student to reflect on their academic interests, preferred learning environment, and what they want from student life. 
3. Understand the role cost plays in your student’s choices without letting it limit their exploration. 
4. Use free resources to research colleges and universities based on your student’s criteria. 
5. Connect directly with colleges, schedule a visit, and begin sorting your list into Safety, Match, and Reach options. 

By taking this deliberate approach, you’ll be able to build your student’s confidence in their future—and get them excited about their future. 

Sources: Appily, Big Future, Citizen’s Bank, College Fair Guide, Common App, the National Center for Education Statistics, University of Illinois’ Admissions Office, and the U.S. Department of Education