Building a balanced college list

A good college list is balanced. It has a few schools where admission is a stretch, several where your scores fit the usual range, and a few where admission is likely. Each one should also cost a price your family can handle. This guide shows how to build that list.

Reach, target and likely

• Reach: your scores are below the college’s middle range, or it admits fewer than 1 in 5 applicants.
• Target: your scores are in the college’s middle range.
• Likely: your scores are above the middle range, or the college admits most applicants.

These are rough labels from admitted students’ test scores and admission rates. They are not a prediction, and a college can still decide differently. Use the Reach, Target and Likely filter to see them on the search page.

Build the list in four steps

1. Start with a few must-haves. Location, size, major, and the cost your family can pay are the usual ones. Set them with the filters on the search page.
2. Add a range of fits. Include a few reach schools, several targets and some likely schools. There is no fixed count that every family needs.
3. Check the cost of each one. Sort the list by net price for your income band. A likely school with a low net price can be a better choice than a reach school you cannot afford.
4. Look at outcomes. Graduation and retention rates, and earnings and debt, show what happens after students enroll.

Use the tools that keep it organized

• Find my school asks a few questions about you and gives a shortlist to start from. You can change any answer.
• My Schools saves the colleges you choose and keeps notes on each one. Signed in, your list is private to you. Without signing in, it is kept in this browser.
• Compare puts up to four colleges side by side, with cost, outcomes and admission figures in one place.

Common mistakes

• Building a list of only reach schools, or only the ones your friends mention.
• Ignoring the net price and deciding from the sticker price.
• Treating the fit label as final. Admission also depends on your application as a whole, and some colleges consider much more than test scores.
• Forgetting deadlines. Early decision and early action deadlines come earlier than regular ones, and some require a commitment.

Next steps

• Learn how to read the cost in Sticker price vs. net price.
• Plan visits with Visiting colleges and the questions to ask.