Limit Your Choices: Having too many choices can make finding your one best choice extremely difficult. A long list of colleges gives you too many comparisons and decisions to make. Before you begin to compare schools based on the factors we've suggested, cut your list to no more than nine or ten likely choices. (If you don't have at least three colleges to choose from, you probably haven't done enough looking.)
Consult with Guidance Counselors: The counselors at your high school or junior college have reference books and other printed information about colleges and can offer opinions of their own. But don't take their opinions, or anyone else's, as directives that you necessarily should follow. The choice remains yours even though you may seek someone else's views.
Check College Catalogs: Once you have limited your list to at least three but no more than ten schools, look carefully through the official college catalog of each. You can learn a great deal about a school from its catalog, including its requirements for admission; procedure and deadlines for application; general course requirements and available majors; housing and eating plans; fraternities, sororities, and social clubs; typical expenses; where to go for advice and assistance in financial, academic, personal, and career concerns; what constitutes a normal course load, graduation requirements, and other academic regulations; and much other information. In short, a college's catalog presents a comprehensive account of what it would be like to be a student at that school.
Your high school or a nearby college library should have catalogs from colleges around the country in printed versions or on microfiche. (The latter are tiny pictures of each page of a school's catalog printed on a small card. You put these cards in a machine that enlarges the picture so you can read it. The librarian will show you how to do this; it takes only a minute or two to learn.)
Some schools also publish helpful books or pamphlets aimed at depicting the more personal sides of college life. Approaching Stanford is an example of one such book written especially for new or prospective students to help them see what life as a Stanford student might be like. You can find out if similar publications for incoming students exist at the colleges on your list by contacting their Admissions Office.
Talk with Graduates of the School: People who have gone to a college can provide insights about their school that no one else can. Keep in mind, however, that the information you get from former students reflects their opinions about their own experiences, and every person's experience will be somewhat different. Talk with people who were athletes and those who weren't to get the most complete view of the college. Ask about life in general at the school (e.g., Are professors friendly and helpful, or do they tend to keep their distance from students?), but also ask how athletes are viewed and treated.
You needn't feel shy about taking people's time in asking them to tell you about their college. Most people like to talk about themselves and feel good when someone cares enough to ask their opinion.
Make Your Campus Visits Count: On your campus visits, whether they are recruiting trips paid for by the athletic department or are arranged at your own expense, talk to admissions counselors, students, and professors, especially those involved in the major fields you might be considering. Set up appointments with these individuals in advance (maybe ask the recruiter to do this for you), and come prepared to discuss what it would be like to be a student at that school and to be enrolled in a particular major. If you are weak in a basic skill (such as English or math), ask to speak with a professor responsible for freshman courses in the troublesome subject. Find out what the class will require and what you might do to prepare for it; if possible, get a copy of the course syllabus.
Sit in on Some Classes: Ask the recruiter or admissions counselor to arrange for you to attend some classes so you can experience what being a student at that college might be like. In the few minutes before class starts, ask a student if that class is typical of others he or she has taken or how it might be different. After class, ask a student if that class session was typical of the course. Explain that you are in high school (or junior college) thinking about coming to the college and that you want to know about his or her experience there. The students you talk to will have been in your shoes and will have plenty of insights to pass on.
If you have not been recruited, talk to the coach. As obvious as this piece of advice sounds, many athletes shopping for a college neglect to do this. Maybe they don't think the coach has time for them or they don't want to appear to be "buddying-up" to the coach. There are several very good reasons, however, for meeting with a person who might be your coach. First, as an un-recruited athlete seeking to play on the team, you should know what your chances of getting an honest tryout are. Some coaches recruit heavily and don't leave much time for serious consideration of walk-ons; this even happens at colleges that don't offer athletic grants. It's also important to find out what coaches expect of their athletes in terms of time commitment in-season, living and eating arrangements, and commitment to the team out-of-season. You should certainly obtain a sense of whether or not you like the person who, if you choose his or her school, may mold and control your collegiate athletic experience. In the process of measuring your feelings about the coach, you can gather some important practical information, such as what summer training you might do to prepare for the season, what the schedules for practice, contests, and team travel will be like, and whether or not you would need to have a physical exam in advance, if you decide to enroll at the college. These are all straightforward questions that any coach should be happy to answer. Write or call ahead of time, both to introduce yourself and to make sure the coach will be available when you visit the campus. Keep in mind that meeting the coach is not a tryout for the team but merely an information-gathering session to aid you in your decision about attending that coach's college.
SHOULD YOU GO TO A TWO-YEAR COLLEGE?
Two-year colleges, also called community colleges, serve several functions, one of which is to provide students with a stepping-stone to a four-year college and a bachelor's degree. Students eventually bound for senior college may choose a two-year college because: (1) they cannot afford the cost of four years at a senior college; (2) they want to improve their academic records for future admission to their preferred senior college; or (3) they simply want to ease the transition from high school to senior college. In addition, athletes may want to gain more experience or physical growth before they try senior college competition. College recruiters may suggest that you spend a year or two at a two-year college because they are overloaded with talent in your position or event. You will have to decide whether that advice is really for your benefit (to gain maturity) or for theirs (to keep you available until next year).
Senior college coaches often have their own favorite two-year colleges for placing athletes who are "not quite ready." The college they suggest may or may not be the best choice for you. Remember that even though a coach may promise to have a place for you in a year or two and maybe also a scholarship, the promise does not come with a guarantee. Coaches couldn't give you that guarantee even if they wanted to.
Going to a two-year college is a legitimate and often very beneficial step between high school and senior college. Just be certain that this is a step that you want or need to take, not one that serves someone else's needs. And if you attend a two-year college, be sure to speak with an academic counselor early and let him or her know of your intention to go on for a bachelor's degree. Many courses will not be accepted for credit at senior colleges, so it is important that you take only those courses that will transfer into a bachelor's degree program.
Several states have what are called Articulation Agreements between their public two-year colleges and state-supported senior colleges, which designate exactly which courses can be taken to fulfill bachelor's degree requirements. In the course of two years at a two-year college, you probably can fulfill all or most of the General Education course requirements for the bachelor's degree. At that point, you can then begin a major during your first term at the senior college to which you transfer.
We've listed many factors that you might consider in selecting a college. Each person will feel differently about the relative importance of each of these factors. Unfortunately there is no easy formula for making your final decision. You should be sure, however, to carefully consider each of these factors, so that you can determine for yourself which are more important and which are less important. You should then examine your list of prospective colleges and decide on one or two that stand out above the others. Sit back and think about them. If your list of top choices feels right, stay with it; if not, try to determine why. If you seem to be stuck on a particular variable, either give it more weight or eliminate it from your thinking and, again, see how you feel about revising the list.
Selecting the right college is one of the most important decisions of your life and is certainly worth the trouble of considering all these factors. Transferring from one four-year college to another, of course, is an alternative to a bad decision, but it is costly in terms of money, interrupted friendships, wasted time, lost credits or devalued grades, lost playing eligibility, and having to make your place all over again on a new team. Take the trouble to make a good decision, because you will have to live with the consequences.
