List Building 101 - Lose The Dart Board Mentality

When playing a game of darts, most people would like to hit a bullseye. Unfortunately, for many, the board ends up being a mess of darts, landing in all different sections, no rhyme or reason.

Often when I meet students for the first time, I use this dartboard analogy when reviewing their list. Many times, I find either a range of schools, starting with the most competitive Ivy to a school I have never heard, which doesn't offer any of the student's desired majors or a list that includes two or three popular schools and the rationale is, "my (insert here) goes to this school and says it's good".

List building is perhaps the most important part of the college application process and should begin in earnest in junior year. This is a time consuming process; it requires homework, research, and the asking of tough questions. Only after all that is done should a list be generated and even then it should be considered a work in progress until it is time to finalize the applications.

A good amount of my work is spent working with students and parents on their lists, which in the beginning often resemble that ill-fated game of darts. One of the most important ideas I try to impress upon families is that the student's profile should make sense with the schools they are choosing. That is not to discourage out of the box thinking or the introduction of an unknown school that might be a good fit but the list should make sense when looking at a student's profile. The schools should offer a variety of programs that the student is interested in (remembering many students don't go in with declared majors), activities should be varied and diverse, and there should be a consideration to merit scholarships and other aid that is not need-based in case a family does not qualify. It is important to also look at a school's profile for the incoming class. While one or two reach schools can be added to a list if a student is very interested, the majority of the list should be made up of target schools; places where a student have a reasonable chance of being accepted and that offer a variety of challenging classes and options for majors and minors.

When asked to think of schools they might be interested in, students often cite a sibling's experience, a school's social reputation, and name recognition. However, while that criteria might be of some importance, the school has to feel right for the individual. Starting the process early, and with assistance from a college consultant if necessary, can often take a lot of the guesswork out of the process and leave both the student and parents with a list that feels right and hopefully leads to a destination the student can call home for his or her college years.

Let's make sure your child's dartboard has it's fair share of bullseyes when it comes to their list!