Choosing a College

Choosing a college can feel like trying to select the perfect ice cream flavor from an endless array of options. Research universities and liberal arts colleges are just two of those flavors, each with its own unique ingredients and experiences. In this article, we'll delve into the world of liberal arts colleges and explore why they might be the perfect choice for some high school students.

By Carolyn, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor Welcome to the first real, concrete step you will take toward deciding which college you will call home for the next few years of your life! The process of building your college application list should begin in the fall or spring of your junior year, though you may have begun visiting schools, attending events, and reflecting on your preferences before then. Your goal is to have a strong list of schools you plan to apply to by early fall of your senior year, ideally before the school year begins.

By Chris, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor The cost of attending a four-year college continues to grow and is already one of the largest investments a family can make, with many private colleges and universities charging upwards of $70,000 a year in tuition, room, and board.  Given the scale of that investment and the potential stakes of a poor choice, many students and parents focus on post-college prospects for employment and want their investment to pay off in the form of solid, and hopefully lucrative, career options. For some students, this means trying to decide what careers they are interested in while still in high school and engaging in a college search they believe will propel them to success in that field.

  When it comes to compiling your list of colleges to apply to, fit is the most important decision factor. There are thousands of colleges in the United States, including many schools with programs tailored to students with neurodiversity and/or learning differences — though these programs often cost an additional fee. To pinpoint the choices that best align with your student’s unique learning and developmental needs, research is crucial.

Mathematics is one of the most useful skills to gain in high school and college, as it helps open the door for many lucrative and fulfilling careers. As a math student and a professor, I've seen a lot of students go on to do great things with their math degrees. Math majors can get hired as actuaries, statisticians, financial planners, cryptographers, and accountants straight out of college.

There are so many factors to consider when choosing a college. Students are thinking about everything from, “does this school offer the major I want to pursue?” to “will there be pick-up games of ultimate Frisbee on the quad?

By Chris, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor and Former Associate Dean of Admission at Wesleyan University So, you’re a high-level athlete who wants to compete collegiately. You’ve committed time, effort, and energy to being the best athlete you can be, competing for your high school team, your club team, working on speed and agility, lifting weights, and developing your skill set. You’ve made an investment in something you love and want to continue at a high level, and it’s time to leverage that in the college search.

By Tasha, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor and Former Admissions Officer at the University of Southern California Have you dreamt of an intimate and intellectually rigorous college experience, one where you engage in deep classroom discussions around a single table with your professor and classmates? Seminar style classrooms, like the one described above, is the bread and butter of liberal arts colleges. The liberal arts model is all about small class size, critical thinking, inspiring classroom discussion, interdisciplinary learning and intellectual curiosity.

I’ve always been fond of the small but mighty group of institutions called liberal arts colleges. Maybe it’s because I began my admissions career at a liberal arts college. It might also be because, as numerous highly selective universities share that their number of applications increase by tens of thousands (and in some cases, eclipse 100,000!

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 15 years thinking about the answer to one (admittedly nerdy, very college counselor-y) question: if I could go to college all over again, which school would I choose? A decade and a half ago, I attended a medium-sized research institution in a major city in the southern U.S.

By Scott, IvyWise Master College Counselor The college application process is potentially the most stressful time of a student's high school career. However, chances are they're stressing about things either out of their control, or fixating on one of the many myths surrounding the college admissions process. As a counselor, part of my job is to help alleviate some of this stress and help my students channel their energy into parts of the process that they can control.

“I got a B in AP Calculus,” a student recently said to me. “I guess I won’t have a shot at my dream schools, since I know colleges automatically reject students who don’t have straight A’s.” This is a conversation I often have with students this time of year.

One of the most critical components of the college admissions process is a balanced college list, and it’s even more important when applying as a transfer student. The transfer admissions process can be even more selective than the regular undergraduate admissions process, so students need to prioritize a transfer college list with a healthy mix of target, reach, and likely schools. When building a balanced transfer college list, students need to keep a number of things in mind including why they want to transfer, what they’re looking for at their new school, and more.

Now that the admission committees have given you their decisions, the power is back in your hands. It is time for you to decide where to enroll. For some, this choice is easy.

By Kimberly, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor The decision as to where and how a student continues their post-secondary education is not one to be made lightly and requires a lot of self-reflection and consideration. At IvyWise, we recommend that students spend significant time learning as much as they can about their college options. While the best source of information is to visit campus to see the institution in action, this is not always possible due to time, cost, transportation, or other factors.

By an IvyWise Law School Admissions Counselor There are nearly 200 American Bar Association-approved law schools in the United States. With so many options, it can be difficult to determine which law schools you should apply to. When you research potential law schools, look at their admitted student profile, such as the average GPA and LSAT score, to better understand what schools will be likelies, targets, and reaches on your list.

When it comes to researching colleges, there is certainly not a lack of information available — so much so that it can be overwhelming to figure out which data points are most useful. Numerous ranked lists are published annually, there are websites that provide students’ reviews of colleges, and then there’s my personal favorite, the thick, desktop Bound-For-College Guidebook. If anything, with so much information available, one might even experience analysis paralysis while sifting through all the data points and statistics.

One of the most important aspects of the college admissions process is identifying the schools that are good academic and social fits for you. To ensure that you are applying to a balanced list of reach, target, and likely schools where you will be happy and successful, extensively research each school before adding it to your list. In addition to helping you narrow down your choices now, down the road this research will also enable you to personalize your applications and communicate to an admissions committee why you want to attend that school.

It's Graduation Day. Seniors are walking down aisles with eager smiles. Amid the excitement, relief, and pride, however, some parents are worried about their pending financial future.

It was a successful college application season for IvyWise’s senior class of 2017, with early numbers showing 91% of IvyWise students gaining acceptance to one or more of their top three choice colleges. With the help of our team of expert counselors, our seniors were able to secure acceptances to some of the most selective colleges in the US. The schools to which IvyWise students gained admission included all eight Ivy League universities, Stanford University, MIT, the University of Chicago, Duke University, and UCLA, just to name a few.

Legacy Admissions: Does Legacy Status Improve Your Chances in College Admissions? There are many nuances to the college admissions process, and one of the aspects that can be hard for students to navigate is whether or not applying to their parents’ alma mater will impact their chances of admission. Legacy status in college admissions can be a confusing avenue to travel, but there can be some benefits – and drawbacks – to applying to college as a legacy.