The most important step
Selecting a college is a major decision. Start your research as soon as possible. The first place to start is your high school counseling office. They typically offer an office full of information on schools. Plus, colleges often have evening hours once a week to look at catalogs, ask questions, and do research. If they don’t have evening hours, they will hold periodic college fairs to promote their programs and campus.

Use as many of these resource as you can to put together a list of schools you’d like to attend. It a good idea to have more than one school in mind.

Making your list of schools
Here is a checklist to for your family to use when considering colleges:

• Does the college offer a program in the field your senior wants to major?
• Is the college in your budget?
• Does the college offer scholarships?
• If the college is not in your state, does the state it is in offer tuition reciprocity?\
• Climate?
• Location?
• Access to airports?
• Distance from home?
• Need for transportation? Will your senior need a car or use the bus?
• Living alternatives? On campus or off?
• Size of student body?
• Credentials?
• Is job search assistance provided?
• Does the college have a student work program?
• Are their student positions available in the cafeteria or library?
• Does the community offer a wide range of opportunities for work?
• Does the college have sports teams that your senior may want to participate on?
• Are there student organizations of interest to your sneior on campus?
• Are there sororities and fraternities on campus?
• Are any high school classmates going there too?
• Are there any special interest programs that cater to your child’s needs?

How do your choices measure up?
School rankings and curriculum comparisons are a great way to see how your choices measure up to other college and universities. For current rankings and comparisons, check out the library periodical index.

Several major magazines include special college issues, including US News and World Report, which publishes an annual college guide. Don’t get hung up just on the college rankings – there are many factors that need to be considered in selecting a college that is right for your senior.

The Princeton Review helps students, parents, and educators deal responsibly with the increasingly competitive and complex process of admissions to college and graduate school as well as the growing pressures of accountability.

www.collegeboard.com is a wonderful place to research your list. This site provides a customized comparison tool that charts out the colleges of your choice. The chart includes application test requirements (SAT, ACT, etc.) and composite scores representing the middle 50% of first-year students’ scores, and costs.

After you’ve checked out the formal resources, try some informal research. Talk to students on-line and get their reactions and viewpoint of the college they attend. Check out the college Web sites for chat groups.