Five Steps to a Great College List

With the New Year comes a new batch of students. Accordingly, each counselor must begin again at that most basic of steps, helping young people develop a college list.

Certainly, the levels of “help” required can vary from student to student and, quite frankly, from community to community. But, over the last four years I have noticed that this step in the application process has become a bit more complicated.

In fact, I now go into each application cycle assuming that every student (and parent) will need much guidance as they work to develop a thorough and complete list of colleges that will receive applications.

In my opinion, two factors have really complicated this process.

First, university marketing machines have made students cognizant of far more universities. But knowing that Vanderbilt is a famous university in Tennessee with Division I sports and a vibrant Greek scene, and understanding that admission offers from Vandy are quite hard to come by, are really two different things.

Second, university marketing programs do a great job of encouraging students to apply. Unfortunately they all too often do a poor job of giving students a realistic assessment of admission odds; nor are they particularly clear about program offerings. Moreover, the common application makes the process relatively painless.

The net result is that left to their own devices, student and parents will put together college lists that can be far too long, fail to reflect academic or financial reality, and hinder the process. Let’s face it, with more than 4,000 colleges in the USA alone, choosing the college where a student would like to spend four years of their life after high school can be a daunting task.

But there are steps a guidance counselor can take to simplify the process, and to turn it into an enjoyable and satisfying experience.

Step One: Develop Clear Rules and Expectations

Before even starting to meet with juniors and beginning work on each student’s college list, counselors must set clear expectations. For my part, I have three rules:

• Numeric honesty: The college application process is brutally honest. The sooner students understand that basic fact, the better. Therefore, when meeting with a student to start developing a college list, make certain that you have an up-to-date transcript in front of you. Do not let the student waste your time with proclamations on what they will achieve in the future and how strong their grades will be “next semester.” The fact of the matter is, by winter of junior year academic trends are clear to all. In short, work off the grades you have, not the promises of a brighter future.

• 2-3-2: Simple really, for every two “reach schools” I want to see three “possible” and two “safety” (or star) schools on the list. I am a stickler for “list balance.” It prevents spring heartbreak, and forces students to research and reflect as they put together their list.

• Finish it up! Set a clear timeline for students to follow. There is so much to the application process—letters of recommendation, personal statements, and supplement questions. Give the students time to research colleges and develop a list, but eventually you must develop a system that encourages students to move on and not get “stuck” on developing a college list. As for me, I want a preliminary list turned in by May of junior year and a final list in my hands by the 1st of November.

Step Two: Students Must Self-Audit

In order to effectively guide students as they put together a college list, counselors must gain personal information about academic interests, personal interests, and values. Therefore, I encourage counselors to develop some sort of questionnaire that will serve as a “self-audit” —with questions that encourage students to reflect before developing their list. In my office, completion of the “self-audit” is the ticket needed to make an appointment and begin discussing colleges.

Sample questions I use on my list include:

• What do I really enjoy doing?

• What do I do other than go to class?

• How much time do I now spend on studying in the evenings?

• Given the opportunity, what careers might I consider? (Give three possibilities.) Why would I consider these careers?

• In which subject areas do I excel?

• How will my family finance my education? What is our budget? What will I contribute?

• Am I ready to go to college? If not, why, and what should I do before I go?

Step Three: Include the Parents

Any counselor who does not include the parents in this step of the process is asking for trouble down the road. In my opinion parents should be required to sign off on their child’s college list on two occasions.

First, in May of the student’s junior year I request that students submit a “Preliminary College List” that follows the 2-3-2 format outlined above. Parents must sign off on this list. More importantly, if I see problems—like a student with a moderate academic record categorizing Brown as a “likely” and Boston College as a “safety” school—well, I know that it is a good time for a meeting.

Next, seniors are asked to turn in a “Final College List” each fall. Once again, parents are required to sign off on the list. If there is still disagreement over the number of schools on the list or the prevalence of “reach schools,” the counselor has enough information to play a proactive role in developing a more balanced and realistic list.

Moreover, it is always good to have a signed document coupled with a trail of “warning emails” in the event the student is not admitted to any of the universities on the list.

Step Four: Develop a Robust Set of Resources

Certainly it is great to have some books available for students. The Fiske Guide, The Princeton Review, College Confidential, all represent great resources. Moreover, I have worked to share with you outstanding on-line resources that can help, including links to Colleges That Change Lives, ecampus tours, and collegeweeklive.com.

But, too many counselors ignore the all-important resources that can be found at their school; namely, the teachers and administrators working on your campus. At the start of each year I make a point of gathering information on the new staff as well as updating my information on returning faculty members.

Finally, each spring I organize two presentations, with faculty serving as guest speakers. One presentation focuses on the liberal arts option, with graduates of Amherst, Hamilton, Santa Clara, and Haverford discussing their undergraduate experience.

The next has a more technical bent, with WPI, RIT, Cal Tech and MIT graduates sharing their impressions of what it takes to thrive in a more focused educational environment.

Overall, whether your school is in Tashkent or Santiago, there is no reason a counselor should not survey the local community and bring in a robust set of speakers prepared to offer a realistic and more human picture of the undergraduate experience at a variety of universities.

Step Five: Know Your Safety Schools

One of a counselor’s easiest jobs is to become an expert on the “high-flying” universities, those with names like Penn, Stanford, or Princeton. But, I honestly feel a counselor earns their pay when they are able to help students create a wonderful and exciting list of “safety schools.”

While the names can vary each year, I have a few favorites, schools that are excited to admit international students of varying academic backgrounds while also providing an outstanding undergraduate experience. Here are some of my favorites:

• Whittier College (California)

• University of Redlands (California)

• Marymount Manhattan College (New York)

• College of Charleston (South Carolina)

• Eckerd College (Florida)

• Ohio Wesleyan (Ohio)

• Sacred Heart University (Connecticut)

Overall, the process of developing a college list is ongoing and can begin as early as sophomore year. More importantly, it should be one of the most enjoyable aspects of the entire process, involving parents, teachers, alumni, and friends. I wish you all the best of luck with your new charges!

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COLLEGE COUNSELING WITH MARTIN WALSH