College Criteria: Know What You’re Actually Looking For

Before building a college list, I ask high school juniors what they want in a college. I often hear some version of:

“I want a good school.”

“I want big sports and school spirit.”

“Not too big.”

“Maybe somewhere warm.”

“I want a good business program.”

All perfectly reasonable answers.

The problem is that they’re not quite enough to build a thoughtful, customized college list.

There are thousands of colleges in the United States, and plenty of them could offer your intended major, have a pretty campus, and look impressive on a sweatshirt. The more important question is:

What kind of college environment will help you be happy, engaged, and successful for four years?

That question takes a little more thought.

What contributes to a great college fit?

We have spent most of our time together thus far talking about you: your strengths, your interests, your values. We’ve focused on how these things lend themselves to various careers and the majors associated with them.

Major matters, of course. If you want to study engineering, nursing, architecture, business, neuroscience, or another specific field, we need to make sure a college offers the academic opportunities you are looking for.

But your major is only one part of your day-to-day college experience.

Think about two students who both want to study psychology.

One might picture herself at a large university, cheering at football games on Saturdays, joining a sorority, taking classes with hundreds of students, and enjoying having a huge number of clubs and courses to choose from.

The other might want professors who know her well, classes with 15 students around a table, a tight-knit campus community, and a quieter social scene.

Same major, but very different college experiences.

That’s why, in preparation for determining what colleges are on your list, I want students to start thinking about what they want their college experience to actually feel like.

Start thinking in categories

When students and I discuss their college criteria, I ask them to consider several different parts of the experience.

1. Academics

Yes, this includes majors. But go a little further.

Do you already know exactly what you want to study, or would you benefit from a college with lots of academic options?

Would you like the ability to double major, explore several interests, participate in research, or create your own course of study?

If you’re considering graduate school, medicine, law, physical therapy, veterinary medicine, or another professional path, are there specific advising or accelerated-program opportunities that might matter?

Don’t worry if you’re undecided. In fact, being undecided makes some of these questions even more important.

2. How you like to learn

We talked about your learning style in Waypoint 1. This category gets overlooked all the time. Your high school academic environment is largely set, but you have control over the kind of academic experience you seek in college.

Think about where you do your best in your high school classes.

Do you like discussions where everyone contributes?

Do you prefer listening to a strong teacher explain something?

Do you enjoy hands-on labs, projects, internships, and learning by doing?

Do you like structure, clear expectations, and detailed instructions? Or do you prefer more independence?

Would you thrive around extremely competitive students, or would you rather be in a more collaborative academic environment?

Think about collaborative vs competitive learning environments, hands-on learning, discussion-based learning, small classes, structured programs, and highly scholarly environments.

There is no “correct” answer here.

The goal is not to choose what sounds most impressive. The goal is to reflect and notice where you tend to do your best work.

3. Campus culture

I like to think of this as “vibe.”

Would you like a campus where everyone seems to know each other?

Or does the idea of being one student among 30,000 sound exciting?

Do you want a highly spirited campus where students wear school colors all week? A creative campus? A politically active one? A religious environment? An outdoorsy one?

Would you describe your ideal college as:

• friendly?

• energetic?

• intellectual?

• diverse?

• traditional?

• collaborative?

• independent?

• social?

• laid-back?

• “work hard, play hard”?

You probably won’t care deeply about every one of these things. That’s the point.

You are trying to figure out which ones matter most.

4. Life outside the classroom

Your time in high school is largely scheduled with school, sports, and activities. But in college, you are in the classroom a lot less, and most students won’t be playing a sport, so you’ll have a lot of free time at first, which can be a big adjustment. Knowing your college offers things that interest you personally outside the classroom to fill that free time helps create a strong fit.

Imagine a random Saturday in October.

What are you doing? Going to a football game? Hiking? Performing in a theater production? Playing intramural soccer? Volunteering? Heading into a nearby city? Hanging around the dorm with friends? Going to a fraternity or sorority event? Leaving campus because everyone else does?

That last one matters more than families sometimes realize.

A college can have wonderful academics but feel completely wrong if the social rhythm doesn’t match the student.

Think about everything from big-time athletics, clubs, community service, and intramurals to study abroad and fitness facilities.

5. Where and how you want to live

Instead of starting with “What state do you want to go to?”, think first about the type of place you want.

Urban? Suburban? College town? Rural? A traditional residential campus where most students stay on weekends? Near enough to come home occasionally? Far enough away that college feels like a completely new experience?

And yes, weather and campus appearance count, but different students have different definitions of a beautiful campus and ideal weather, so consider what that means to you.

6. The support and opportunities you may need

This is one of the least glamorous categories—and one of the most important.

You should think about:

• academic advising

• tutoring and academic support

• access to professors

• career advising

• internships

• research opportunities

• honors programs

• learning-difference support

• pre-health or pre-law advising

• merit scholarships

• financial aid

All of these are possible college criteria because the resources surrounding a student can be just as important as the classes themselves. A school can be a terrific college and still not be the right college for you.

The goal is not to create a giant wish list - it’s to determine your priorities

Most students would happily choose: Great food. Great dorms. Beautiful campus. Strong academics. Fun social life. Small classes. Big-time sports. Amazing internships. Friendly students. Great merit aid. Perfect weather.

But there will be compromise, which becomes easier when students can prioritize what matters most.

Eventually, I’ll ask students to distinguish among three types of criteria:

Must-haves: Things that genuinely need to be present for a college to work for you.

Would-be-nice: Things you would value, but could compromise on.

Not important: Things that may matter to someone else but do not need to drive your search.

And sometimes there is a fourth category:

Absolutely not.

Knowing what you don’t want can be just as useful.

Parents: What’s your role?

Parents, this exercise can be surprisingly revealing. You may discover that the things you assumed mattered to your student actually don’t. And your student may discover that some things they never considered—distance from home, academic support, cost, access to internships, class size—deserve more thought.

The best way to help at this stage is not to say:

“But Northwestern has that.”

“You would love Indiana.”

“I really think you need a smaller school.”

Try asking:

“Why does that matter to you?”

“What would that look like in your everyday life?”

“Would you give up X to get Y?”

Those conversations are much more useful than jumping straight to college names. They will help you clarify things they might not understand and have an open discussion about what fit means to them.

Taking your student on college visits can bring these criteria to life and let them see them firsthand, even if they aren’t colleges that would otherwise be on your student’s list.

Before we formally discuss specific criteria…

You do not need to have everything figured out. For now, simply start noticing. When you hear someone talk about their college, what sounds appealing? When you visit a campus, what gives you energy? What turns you off? Which high school environments bring out your best? What do you imagine doing on a Tuesday afternoon? A Friday night? A Sunday morning?

Your criteria will change as you learn more—and they should.

The goal right now isn't to find your perfect college.

It's to understand what you're looking for well enough that, when we begin building your list, we aren't just searching for good colleges. We're searching for colleges that make sense for you personally.