If you just read this blog post, you might be ready to address the question of where you should go to college. But before you can do that, you need to do a hefty amount of research to learn more about what’s out there. When working with TKG clients, most of them don’t know exactly how to research schools. And even when they love certain schools, they’re unfamiliar with key details that will hugely impact their time there. Doing computer research is one of the best ways to decide if you should tour a school and apply to a school. It will also help you categorize it as either a safety, target, or reach school. Keep reading for our steps on how to research colleges:
Go to the homepage of the school that you want to learn more about. We’ll be using Hamilton as an example for this blog post. Poke around the website and read through everything that you’re interested in.
Go to the facts and figures page of the website. You can usually find it under the “about” tab. Read more about the location of the school and size of the campus. For admissions, look into the acceptance rate and study the admitted students profile. This is where you’ll find information about the kinds of students who got in last year and you can use that information to learn more about the kinds of students who being admitted. Read about the SAT and ACT range, where the students are from, and their GPA. This information will come in handy later.
Click on the admissions tab. From this section of the website, you’ll read through the application requirements. You’ll get a heads up if the school doesn’t use the common app, and you’ll gain a better understanding of the supplemental application requirements. Write down the deadlines, early application options, and read through any additional resources that the school thinks you should know.
Do standardized test policy research.
Next, look into academics. You should look through all of the majors that you’re interested in, the classes that you might want to take, and the kinds of research that the professors are doing. Literally map out what your education might look like!
While you looking at academics, look for special opportunities like grants, concentrations, and minors that you like.
One of the last that you should look at is student life. It’s also sometimes called campus life. It’s a crucial component when it comes to how much you’ll actually enjoy any given college. Academics are key, but you won’t be spending all of your time inside of the classroom. We suggest reading about things like where freshmen live, dorm life, student groups and organizations, dining halls, and what to do on campus. Find a few clubs that you might want to join. This is one of the harder aspects of college to research because not everything can be included on the website, so make a list of questions that you have and do some internet sleuthing. Check Instagram, turn to google, and see if you can get in touch with current students.
It’s impossible to learn everything about a school directly from their website, but it’s a good first step to familiarize yourself with their offerings. Keep academics at the forefront, look for virtual tours, and never underestimate the value of a good old-fashioned Google search!
Contact us here if you need help with the college process.