How To Compare Colleges and Find Your Target Schools

Maybe you’ve just begun thinking about colleges. Or maybe you’ve already put together a list of potential schools that all look good for different reasons! How do you research and compare colleges to find the best fit for you?

Your College Wish List

Finding College Information

These seven sources for information have become the standard for most college-bound students. Here’s how to use them.

1. College admissions websites, brochures, videos, and catalogs

College websites and brochures aren't exactly objective, but you’ll get a good picture of a school’s academic offerings and admissions requirements. Look these materials over, but don’t make any decisions based solely on what you read or see.

2. Current students

No one knows colleges and universities better than the students who currently attend them. Talk to real students when you go on college visits about what they like and don’t like about their schools. It doesn’t get any more direct and honest than this.

3. College guides

Our own Best Colleges and Best Value Colleges are great narrative guides based on real student quotes about their colleges (and you can always look at other guides for good second opinions!).

4. College profiles

There’s a lot of help out there. Our college search helps you compare schools based on criteria like location, size, majors, sports, and test scores requirements. Use our online college profiles to dig into useful information about tuition and financial aid, campus life, the student body, and more.

5. College rankings

Ranking lists provide an excellent starting point for researching different schools and can even introduce you to new ones. Our college ranking lists cover a range of topics that applicants might want to know about—academics, financial aid, campus amenities, the student body's political leanings, race/class interaction, LGBTQ community acceptance, social life, and much more.

6. College forums/discussion boards

Feedback from all kinds of sources is exciting! However, keep in mind that while it may certainly be useful to hear first-hand stories and opinions, any unfiltered sources should usually be approached with a grain (or two) of salt.

7. Your college counselor

Conversations with your college counselor about what’s important to you will help guide your overall college search. When it comes time apply, you’ll review the requirements together and strategize for your best application.

Tips for Making College Comparisons

1. Look back at your wish list. It's probably been growing continuously as you become more and more aware of what is important to you in your college choice.
2. Try structuring your list in the form of a chart. A handy visual aid allows you to quickly see how different schools measure up. Check off colleges when they have characteristics you want.
3. It’s all about you. How much weight you give to a particular campus statistic, facility, or feature depends on your unique goals and interests. Knowing that one college on your radar funds summer internships while another has a nationally-recognized student newspaper could help you decide.
4. See how you stack up. It's also important to look at each college's admissions standards and student body. Compare your GPA, SAT or ACT scores, class rank, and high school courses to see if schools you are considering are a good academic fit. You can find the average academic statistics of the most recent incoming class in our college profiles.

Looking for strategic college advice?

Get one-on-one help from former Ivy League and top tier admission officers. Our College Admission Counselors will help you find, apply, and get accepted to your dream school.

Learn More