How to Populate Your College Dashboard

The “Dashboard” is at the start of the Common Application, which is accepted by more than 1,000 colleges throughout the U.S.  High school students list the colleges they wish to apply to, and then answer the questions and write the essays required by each of these schools.

But how should students go about choosing the colleges to list on their dashboard?  One way is to utilize College Board’s “Big Future” search tool.  It’s a database with information on more than 4,000 two and four year colleges in the U.S.  As students identify the specific criteria that are important to them, such as preferred major, geographic location, school size, availability of on-campus housing, etc., the list of appropriate colleges starts to shrink.

 

For example, if a student clicks on “Type” and chooses “4 year college,” the options narrow down to 2,425 schools.  By clicking “Location” and filling in the desire to be withing 200 miles of the zip code 08502, for example, the list further narrows down to 401 options.  Identifying a desired major in Business and Management reduces the list to 290 options. Choosing a “most selective” or very selective” option leaves only 13 colleges. Without leaving their computer, students can vastly narrow down the list of colleges worthy of further investigation.

A similar search tool, College Compass, is offered by U.S. News and World Report.

 

The goal, for college bound students, should be to identify about eight to twelve colleges that meet the criteria most important to them and offer a strong program in their intended college major. These are the colleges that should populate their “Dashboard.”

 

Often students include a dream school, which may be a “reach” or “stretch” due to competitiveness of the admission process.  Colleges should also be included on the dashboard that are “target” schools, where one’s SAT scores and GPA fall in the range of accepted students. Lastly, students should include a few “safety” schools, where they fully expect to be accepted – hopefully with scholarship offers!

 

Students seeking an affordable college experience typically include one or more in-state colleges on their dashboard.  Rutgers University, with three campuses in New Jersey, and The College of New Jersey, are popular options with tuition and fees for the current year around $18,000 (not including room and board).

Choosing the select, few colleges, to which a student will seek admission is one of the most important aspects of the college application process.

Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT^® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362.