Sevens Steps to Putting Together a Great College List

Last June, I wrote a blog entitled, "NOW Is the Time for Rising Seniors to Find and Choose Colleges They're Going to Love." While June is fine, right now is an even better time for juniors to organize a college list. If you come up with a list in February, followed by some careful research, you and your family can take advantage of Spring Break and early summer to visit colleges that are good matches for you.

Most students have no idea about how to develop a college list, let alone one that really fits them academically and personally, so here are seven steps to follow that will help you know exactly what to do.

Seven Steps To Putting Together A Great College List

1. Figure out what you want in a college. One way of doing that is to fill out the College Selection Questionnaire, available at no charge on my website.

To help you do that, go to my website for the Private and Public Colleges List which offers a) college SAT/ACT Test Scores of last year's successful applicants, b) number of students, c) college acceptance rates and d) whether a school accepts the Common Application.

SAMPLE COLLEGE LISTS
So that you have a sense about what some college lists looks like, here are three examples. After each college name is the 25th-75th percentile test score range of previously successful students for both SAT (the Critical Reading and Math combined scores) and composite ACT scores.

Tom (Learning disabled student from Texas)
• SAT I combined score of 950 (Critical Reading and Math) • GPA of 2.8 • No AP courses • Active in sports.

COLLEGE LIST
REACHES
Texas Christian University, TX
(SAT 1110-1300/ ACT 24-29)
Birmingham-Southern College, AL
(SAT 1070-1300/ ACT 23-29)

GOOD CHANCES
University of Arizona, AZ
(SAT 970-1220/ ACT 20-27)
University of Texas, Tyler, TX
(SAT 960-1160/ ACT 20-25)
Northern Arizona University, AZ
(SAT 950-1180/ ACT 20-26)

PRETTY SURE THINGS
Midwestern State University, TX
(SAT 930-1135/ ACT 19-15)
University of Northern Colorado, CO
(SAT 910-1140/ACT 19-25)

Tom decided to attend the University of Arizona and make use of their renowned SALT learning services program.

Jasmine (Student from Washington, DC)
• SAT I combined score of 1200 • GPA of 3.5 • 3 AP courses • Very active as a dancer.

COLLEGE LIST
REACHES
Connecticut College, CN
(SAT 1250-1410/ ACT 28-32)
University of Maryland, MD
(SAT 1190-1400/ ACT 26-31)

GOOD CHANCES
Skidmore College, NY
(SAT 1150-1350/ACT 25-30)
Fordham University, NY
(SAT 1150-1340/ ACT 25-30)
University of Connecticut, Hartt School, CN
(SAT 1130-1310/ ACT 25-29)

PRETTY SURE THINGS
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
(SAT 1050-1280/ ACT 22-29)
Howard University, DC
(SAT 970-1160/ ACT 20-25)
Goucher College, MD
(Test optional)

Jasmine took a look at all the wonderful dance programs at the above schools and decided to attend Skidmore College where she received a very nice scholarship.

Dakota (Student from California)
• SAT I combined score of 1480 • GPA of 4.2 • 5 AP classes • Editor of school newspaper • Interested in Writing/Journalism.

COLLEGE LIST
SUPER-REACHES
Princeton University, NJ
(SAT 1410-1590/ ACT 31-35)
Stanford University, CA
(SAT 1360-1550/ ACT 31-34)

REACHES
Duke University, NC
(SAT 1350-1530/ ACT 30-34)
Emory University, GA
(SAT 1280-1470/ ACT 29-33)
Oberlin College, OH
(SAT 1280-1460/ ACT 29-33)

GOOD CHANCES
University of Michigan, MI
(SAT 1260-1430/ ACT 28-32)
UC Berkeley, CA
(SAT 1250-1490/ ACT 28-33)
Kenyon College, OH
(SAT 1250-1430/ ACT 28-32)

PRETTY SURE THINGS
Lewis & Clark College, OR
(SAT 1190-1380/ ACT 26-31)
UC Santa Cruz, CA
(SAT 1020-1270/ ACT 22-28)

Dakota decided to attend Oberlin College after checking out the various creative writing programs at the schools.

The SAT/ACT scores above and acceptance rates are taken from the US News & World Report and College Navigator.