College Selection Tool: An Example Walkthrough

Level 5 - Ivy League

Welcome back!

Today, we are going to continue the discussion around the college selection process with an example to help tie everything we have written today.

We will use a real student, Adam, who is a sophomore in high school. He is beginning the process of selecting colleges. Here are some key pieces of information:

• Adam is from Massachusetts. He is the oldest of two boys, with his younger brother being 5 years younger than him. 

• Adam has been a fairly strong student, with a 3.8 GPA unweighted. 

• His interests have been in building roads and highways, leading him toward a career in civil engineering

• He has taken the SAT, and scored a 690 on the math section and a 650 on the reading section. 

• Adam’s family has a household income of $250,000. While they can provide some financial support for college, they recognize that they will also need to balance that with their ability to support Adam’s younger brother. 

• Adam would prefer to not go to college in his home state, but would like to be within a quick train ride home.

What we will do is break down how Adam approaches his college selection process using the tool we have previously discussed. For the sake of this post, we will assume he has no inherent competitive advantages or disadvantages that would sway the admissions process and therefore will not sway the selection process (e.g., Adam is not a legacy at any of the schools selected). 

Step 1: Academic Focus