Which Colleges Should You Apply to 🎒

How many (and which) colleges should I apply to?

Welcome back to another week of our newsletter - today we’ll be talking about which colleges (and how many) to apply to! A special note: this is a very subjective topic and should be tailored to your own preferences and concerns - the following should just be some recommendations!

1. First, ask yourself – what do you want to study/get out of college?

   1. Many colleges have speciality programs and/or strengths - for example: Carnegie Mellon University has an especially strong computer science program. Case Western Reserve University is a great place to study medicine - it has a very close proximity to numerous hospitals in the area! University of Wisconsin Madison (UW–Madison is one of the 10 largest research institutions in the country, allocating more than $1 billion annually to groundbreaking inquiry.) UNC Chapel Hill is part of the “Research Triangle”, where high levels of university research go on. In other words, you don’t need to be a Ivy League school to have unique and/or strong programs! All it takes is some research and digging to find unique programs that can fit what you are interested in!
      

Other considerations:

Think about location as well! Is the college close to a city? If so, how do you feel about the city? Would you want to live in suburban areas or rural areas? What kind of opportunities might a city offer you (internships, additional support)? Is this college in a college dense area (ie. Boston or Philadelphia?) – how might that help you? Some college town hotspots - Boston (home to Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, Boston College, Boston University), Washington DC (Georgetown, George Washington University, American University and especially close to government internships/opportunities), New York City (NYU, Fordham University, Columbia University).

A special note of location - proximity to home! Especially for freshmen, many may want to stick close to home (or the exact opposite - move away!). This is something to consider for sure!

• Weather! Weather in Boston is different from that of California and Texas and vice versa. Consider what kind of weather and/or living conditions you’d like to find yourself in.

• Class size. The feel of a class of 1600 vs. 9000 is very different - potentially 5x the friends but also perhaps less undergrad support! These are things to keep in mind.

• Consider - would you want to attend a liberal arts college? Connections to other schools. Much in the similar vein of being connected to other schools physically, being a part of a network of schools may be helpful – consider if you’d like your undergraduate college to also have a business, medical, or law school!

• Princeton University, for example, does not have any of the above - but Harvard does!
  

• Social Scene/sports. You might want to consider other things the schools are known for - social scene, sports - Duke, for example, has a strong basketball culture.

• Connect with alumni/upperclassmen! Don’t know how you feel about a school/day to day life at a certain school? Speak to a RRA mentor and/or upperclassmen friend you may know and ask them about their time on campus and what they did!

How many colleges should I apply to? This question is probably the most subjective, as each student is so unique!

• Apply to a range of schools - you don’t want to solely apply to super exclusive schools, since the more exclusive it gets, the harder it can be to get into that school. My tip is to apply to schools with varying admissions rates and exclusivity that are in proportion to the super exclusive schools. For example, if applying to 4 “top” schools, apply to 4-6 less selective schools that you still believe you’ll love.
  

• Make a college list as you conduct your preliminary research of colleges you are interested in – don’t be afraid to be expansive and put a lot of schools down!
  

• A template I used is from Youtuber Mackenna Turner - it factors in campus size, student body size, majors etc, which it can be found here.
  

• Apply to your state school (and a few others): state schools are a great way to feel a sense of safety in the lottery of college applications. Apply to your local state school and those of nearby states (UConn, Penn State etc., University of Virginia.)
  

Many students may feel pressured to solely focus on the Ivy leagues or other hyper exclusive schools. This is extremely valid – but you don’t need to go to a super exclusive school to have a rewarding college experience. By choosing a range of schools to apply to/consider, you can create a list that you feel confident in. We here at RRA, with student mentors from top schools, are here to help with advice and our experiences! Feel free to reach out :)

Please share this article with a friend and tune in for the next article on AP coursework!