College Search
Ready to explore colleges in person or online? See the College Fairs & Virtual Visits page for ideas on how to find them.
Creating Your College List
Building a college list takes time and research. Some students only apply to a couple universities, but some students may want to build a broader list. Experts recommend making sure you have campuses in three different categories when applying to increase your chances of having multiple choices after admission decisions: Reach/Highly Selective, Target/Match, and Likely/Safety. How many you have in each category may vary on your goals, preferences, and academic profile, but one thing experts agree on is to NOT have all your schools in the Reach/Highly Selective category.
Building a college list is subjective. Consulting rankings and using categories can be helpful, but the most important thing is that you are happy with each college you add to your list.
Templates for building your college list:
CollegExpress Template (Click "file" and "make a copy" to use this template.)
US News Template (download in the article)
Reach or Highly Selective
Your academic profile is below the average profile of attendees of these universities and/or these schools have low acceptance rates that make it difficult to predict acceptance.
RECOMMENDED:
1-3 COLLEGES IN THIS CATEGORY
Example schools in this category: Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Princeton, San Diego State, Cal Poly
Match or Target
Your academic profile falls within the range of the average student in the most recent class admitted.
RECOMMENDED:
2-3 COLLEGES IN THIS CATEGORY
Example schools in this category: This will depend on your academic profile, but will include many CSUs and UCs (except those noted in the highly selective that have lower admit rates). This may also include many out-of-state and private schools.
Likely or "Safety"
Your academic profile exceeds the average profile of students in the most recent class admitted and/or these schools have high acceptance rates.
RECOMMENDED:
1-3 COLLEGES IN THIS CATEGORY
Example schools in this category: This will depend on your academic profile, but may include many CSUs and UCs that have higher acceptance rates. This may also include many out-of-state and private schools.
Community colleges, like the SRJC, would also be considered "Likely" because they are open admission.
College Search Tools
Ready to get started on your list? Here is a helpful blog post by The College Essay Guy: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-college
RCHS students have access to Naviance's college search tools through their Rapid Identity accounts. In Naviance, Students can look up college profiles and use the SuperMatch tool to find schools.
Collegexpress has many helpful college lists to get your started on your search. They have recommended schools based on sports, location, majors, interests, and more.
Niche is an online college search tool that includes student reviews and ratings of the campuses based on those renews. This can add information to your college search that might not be offered through typical rankings or college profiles.
Niche also has a new feature which allows students to get direct admission without an application. Learn more here: https://www.niche.com/about/direct-admissions/
You might also be interested in...
CTCL is a consortium of 45 universities, including both private and state institutions, that seek to offer more personalized, student-centered experiences. This consortium was founded based on the book by the same name. This book is a great resource, but the consortium also has their own search tool that can help you find schools by major, location, and more!
The Campus Pride Index is a searchable database offered by Campus Pride, a leading national nonprofit organization focused on fostering safer learning environments for LGBTQ+ students.
The Campus Pride Index allows students to search for colleges based on location and type of school. Each result includes a rating of up to five stars, based on how inclusive and welcoming the school is for LGBTQ+ students.
Test Optional Schools
Many universities use standardized tests, like ACT and SAT, as part of their admission process. But did you know there are over a 1000 schools in the U.S. that either don't use them or make them optional?
FairTest maintains a list of "institutions that are "test optional," "test flexible" or otherwise de-emphasize the use of standardized tests."
Late Deadline Colleges
Each year a number of 4-year universities still have spots left after most other deadlines. Want to apply late or expand your option in the spring of senior year? Check out this list of ideas?
Finding Great Colleges
This video resource can help you as you begin your college search. Two respected experts share tips in this webinar.
