Making your School List

Exercise 1: Identifying your Higher Education Goals

• Why do you want to pursue higher education (education beyond high school or equivalent?

• Why do you want to go to college in the United States? 
  Students will often discuss their interest in the liberal arts educational system, which allows them to explore a wide variety of academic disciplines in their first two years of college before majoring in one subject. You may also be interested in learning from a distinct pedagogical approach, which in the United States contains a mix of Socratic discussion, lecture-based learning, and experiential education. You may also be interested in learning more about American culture or believe in the benefits of an international education.

• What would you like to do professionally? If you do not know, what are some different careers that you could see yourself pursuing? 

• What majors, minors, and other skills will be necessary for you to learn in college to pursue this career?
  

   

  Example: If you are interested in being a medical doctor, you will need to major in a “pre-med” major or concentration, such as Biology or Chemistry. 

• What makes you happy? What hobbies do you enjoy doing now? What extracurriculars do you want to continue doing or try out in college? 
  

   

   

  While this is not a primary criterion for selecting schools, it is helpful to think about what you enjoy doing and what activities you may want to try in college. College is a place to explore and make connections, just as much as it is a place where you will learn. Identifying how you may want to spend your time outside of class will help you choose schools that will not only be good for your academic development but your personal growth.

• What is your ideal class size? Would you prefer to go to a large university or a small college? 

  
  

  Universities by definition, have graduate student programs in addition to undergraduate education. Colleges, on the other hand, do not have graduate student programs. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Universities will often have more course offerings, opportunities to conduct research with professors, and allow undergraduate students to cross-enroll in other schools within the university. Colleges, on the other hand, often offer a personalized and supportive educational experience and most of the teaching done by tenured professors. The size of the student body and teacher-to-student ratios also differ greatly from school to school.

• Geographic Considerations

  
  

  Would you prefer a city in a more remote town or a city? Do you care what state or region you go to school in? Think about factors such as differences in weather and temperature, local culture, and safety. Will you need to be on a campus with certain accessibility features? Do you care about having easy access to public transportation, airports, and your embassy? 

• Financial Aid and Costs
  

   

  Cost of living can vary dramatically across the United States. Schools will often provide students with merit or need-based aid, and they will generally provide international students with opportunities to work on campus. However, international students are not allowed to work off-campus while they are students. As a result, you should keep in mind the cost of living in the cities of schools you are applying to. 

Exercise 2: Identifying your “Must-Haves” and “Would-Likes”

The next step is to identify your criteria for picking schools. These criteria fall into two categories: What must a school have for you to apply to it, and what is something you would like your school to have? To identify your must-haves, look to your answers in the previous questions. Do you have highly specific career aspirations that require you to pursue a certain educational track that can only be found at a couple of schools? Do you need to be close to an airport so that you will be able to fly home easily? What accessibility considerations should you keep in mind when selecting schools to apply to? 

Examples of “would-likes” may include extracurricular aspects of the school that are particularly attractive to you. This may include robust study abroad programs, niche clubs in your area of interest, opportunities to cross-enroll at a variety of academic institutions as an undergrad, or participate in a thriving international student community.

One of my friends chose her college in part because she was a semi-professional opera singer and wanted to attend a school where she could participate in a student-run opera production! Understanding your “would-likes” will help you hone your school list, improve the uniqueness of your application, and may ultimately determine where you enroll.

Now you try! Write out your list of “Must-Haves” and “Would-Likes,” similarly to what is listed below. Aim for at least three in each category. 

Must-Haves:

• I need my future campus and accommodations to be wheelchair accessible.
• My dream is to be an astronomical engineer! So I would like to apply to colleges or universities with a strong engineering program or engineering school. 
• My religious identity is very important to me. I need a school to have a robust Muslim community and offer halal food in campus dining halls. 

Would-Likes:

• I have always dreamed of studying in New York City! But I would be excited to go to school anywhere along the East Coast, preferably a short train ride from Manhattan. 
• I really love spending time outdoors, so having extracurricular opportunities to go hiking/camping on the weekends and easy access to nature is preferable. 
• I want to learn Polish, so I’d prefer to enroll in a school with a good Slavic language program. 

Exercise 3: Build your School List

The next step is for you to begin googling schools that you may be interested in applying to. You can go about this by searching for schools that conform to your criteria in the last exercise. 

Example of what to Google: 

• Colleges and Universities in New York City with Engineering programs
• Best Astronomical Engineering Programs in the United States 
• Best colleges and universities for international students 

Take note of the schools that you see on these lists and take some time to do more research into the specific programmatic offerings and school culture. Once you have done more research into this school and decide you may want to apply, add it to your list. Your initial list can be fairly long, 20-30 schools if you’d like. When putting schools onto your initial list, categorize them into one of three (3) buckets: Reach, Target, or Likely. Each student’s Reach, Target, and Likely categories will look different and depend on their current high school GPA, standardized test scores, and extracurricular/leadership experience. 

• Reach schools are “reaches” or “stretches” because they have average admission scores slightly above a student’s GPA and/or test scores. 
• Target schools should have an average standardized test score and GPAs that roughly match your scores. 
• Likely schools (also called “safeties”) have average GPAs and standardized test scores slightly below your scores. 

Now you try! 

Reach

Target 

Likely 

A couple of notes on this ranking system: Making your list of schools is a bit like the old fable, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Many stellar students want to get into “the best school possible,” meaning the school that is the highest-ranked. However, students and their families should remember that the most important consideration is choosing a program that is best suited to meeting the student’s professional goals and personal fulfillment. We encourage our students to shoot for the stars and apply to their dream school, including schools that are a Reach. Nevertheless, applying to enough Likely schools is imperative, particularly for international students in a competitive admission cycle. You may find that some of your Likely or Safety schools better meet your criteria than your Reach ones! 

Once you have a sufficiently long list, you can begin honing your official School List (aka the schools you plan to apply to). You should aim to have a total of 15 to 20 schools on your list, equivalent to 5 to 7 Reach, Target, and Likely schools each. That may mean you will need to take some schools off your list, or move them to a “Maybe Apply” bucket if you decide to send in more applications later in the cycle. 

Once you have narrowed down your list, run it by your Le Repaire mentor and some trusted adults to see if they have any suggestions. Make sure to balance realism with aspiration in crafting your final school list. Remember that each application will cost you time and money, so you should only apply to schools that you would be happy to go to. 

A good way to narrow your list is to make sure that it meets all of your “Must-Haves” and at least some of your “Would-Likes.” For example, if you really want to go to a large research university in a big city and have easy airport access, you will probably not want to apply to Williams, a rural college in Massachusetts, even though it has a top-ranked liberal arts program.  

Exercise 4: Making an Application Requirements Tracker

1. Navigate to the Google Sheet at this link. It should contain two tabs, a “Application Requirements Tracker” Template and an “Application Status Tracker” Template. The former is designed to help you keep track of the different application options and requirements for each school. The latter is designed to help you keep track of what components of the application you have completed and submitted.   
2. Make a copy of these two templates in your own Google Docs.
3. Add the schools on your final list to the templates, with each school on a different row. List your schools in order of priority, with the schools you are most excited about /are intending to apply EA or ED to towards the top. Follow the example in Row 2 in the “Application Requirements Tracker” tab. 
4. Begin filling out the “Application Requirements Tracker” for every school on your list. You will find the most accurate Application Requirements in the Common App or on the school’s website. Navigate to the “Creating a Common App Account” document to begin adding your schools!