We have been stressing the importance of creating your college target list. It is the first step in preparing for the college recruiting process. We recently went over how you can create your target college list and how to rank the schools that you add to your list.

Below is a breakdown of some important decision factors for you to consider when you are creating your college target list.

Important Factors to Consider:

Athletics:

• How large is the roster?
• Which division do they compete in (NCAA DI, DII, DIII, etc.)?
• Are there athletic scholarships available? If so, how many?

Click Here to view the scholarships available for your sport in each division

Academics:

• What is the academic reputation of the school? Is it competitive or relaxed?
• What are the entrance requirements – SAT scores, AP courses, GPA minimum?
• Does the school offer the major or program you’d like to pursue?

If you’re unsure about your future, does the school offer plenty of options?

Cost:

• How much is your family willing to pay for college?
• Are you relying on athletic scholarships or financial aid?
• Will you be paying out-of-state or in-state tuition?

Location/Size:

• How far away from home do you want to be?
• Do you prefer a big city or a small town?
• Do you prefer a large, fast paced environment or small, more personalized attention?

Small: less than 2,000 students

Medium: between 2,000 and 10,000 students

Large: more than 10,000 students

As you can see, there are several very important factors to consider when developing your college target list. It is essential for you review and discuss which factors are the most important for you and your family.

Tell us which decision factor(s) are the most important to you and how they have helped shape your college target list. Leave us a comment in the comments section below.

As you continue through the decision making process, chances are you are overwhelmed by a never-ending list of colleges. There is a lot of stress that comes along with trying to figure out the ONE school that is right for you.

College isn’t just a 4 year decision… It’s a choice that will impact the rest of your life!

In order to help ease your anxiety, we’ve created a simple guide to help you narrow your search, create your target list, and pinpoint that perfect school.

Step 1: Create a list of target colleges

We recommend creating a list of target colleges and putting them into 3 different groups:

Group #1: Reach schools

These schools would have a very high ranking in almost all of the decision making factors that are part of your college decision (see below)

We recommend 10 – 15 schools in this group.

Group #2: Target schools

These schools would have a strong ranking in almost all of the decision making factors that are part of your college decision (see below)

We recommend 10 – 20 schools in this group.

Group #3: Back up schools

These schools would have an average to good ranking in most of the decision making factors that are part of your college decision (see below)

We recommend 10 – 15 schools in this group.

Step 2: Ranking target colleges

Create a list of all of your key decision making factors and give 1 to 5 points for each decision factor (5 being an extremely important decision factor).

Potential decision factors include:

• Academics (Majors offered, career development, alumni)

• Athletics (level of competition, W/L record, tradition)

• Social environment

• Size of school

• Public vs. Private

• Cost

• Coaching Staff

• Location

• Intuition (gut feeling, emotional connection)

We recommend doing this on a spreadsheet and then ranking the potential colleges you are interested in by using this system to create an overall point total for each school.

Once you have created and prioritized your college target list, you will be much more organized and can start setting up your game plan. Remember, it is very important to examine many different factors when setting up your target list.

Be sure to include your family in the decision making process, as this is a huge decision that will impact you and your family for the rest of your life…

How’s your college target list coming along so far?

Be sure to share your story in our comments section below.