Your final college list is one of the most important aspects of your college application. It holds all the colleges that you could potentially go to. With that said it is vital for you to have a well-balanced list. By that, I mean having schools in three particular categories. Reach, Target, and Safety schools.
Reach Schools: Colleges should be placed in this category if your grades and test scores are below the average or the middle 50% for that college. Reach schools should make up between 20 to 30 percent of your list.
Target/Match Schools: Colleges should be placed in this category if your grades are similar to the average or the middle 50% for that college. Target schools should make up 40 to 60 percent of your list.
Safety/Likely Schools: Colleges should be placed in this category if your grades are above average or middle 50% for that college. Safety schools should make up 20 to 30 percent of your list.
Now that you know how to categorize your schools. It’s important to maintain that balance as mentioned above in order to have a larger variety of opportunities when applying. However, getting to know the college can get confusing. Google can help with this task, but here are some resources that can help you in your college list-building process.
Big Future:Big Future is where one can look up a college and learn about deadlines, majors and learning environment, campus life statistics, applying, and the cost of the school.
Full Need Met Colleges:This website provides a list of colleges that are full need. Meaning they meet 100% of demonstrated financial need.
Campus Pride Index:Campus pride index provides information about colleges with LGBTQ- friendly campuses.
Social Mobility Index:Social mobility index provides data on colleges that show how students do after college. For example, the average salary for someone who went to Harvard.
You can also attend college fairs:NACAC College Fair , NYSACAC College Fair , SUNY College Fair
Information Sessions and Fly-ins: Diversity Fly-ins
If you want to set out your options and organize your list accordingly, feel free to use this spread sheet