How to Research a University: A Comprehensive Guide

Identifying the right university is a critical step in the college admissions process. This article provides a structured approach to researching universities, ensuring you find a good academic and social fit. Thorough research will help you personalize your applications and demonstrate to the admissions committee why you want to attend their school.

Introduction

The college search process can feel overwhelming, but with a strategic approach, you can find the ideal institution for your academic, personal, and career goals. Begin by reflecting on what you want from your college experience, considering factors like location, size, cost, academic programs, social scene, and academic climate.

Defining Your Priorities

The first step in researching universities involves thinking about what you want out of your college experience. Consider these essential qualities that differentiate colleges from one another:

Location: Proximity and Environment

Do you want to be far away or close to home? Attending an in-state school can mean a lower tuition price, but it may stunt your college experience if you continue to rely on your family and old friends. You should also consider whether you're interested in a rural, urban, or small town college environment.

Consider the kind of setting you want to live in as well as proximity to your own home. An urban setting will offer more opportunities for part-time jobs and off-campus life, but it can also be more expensive. A rural setting will make your college feel a little insulated; it will essentially be the life source of all you do, see, and experience. If you want to save on college costs, it may be best to find a college that you can commute to, rather than one that requires you to live in the dorms or off-campus in an apartment. If you decide on a college experience that is farther away, you need to decide if you want the ability to come home when you want or need to.

Size: Small College vs. Large University

Large and small colleges often have very different vibes. You're more likely to get personalized attention at small colleges, but they might have fewer resources and less diversity amongst students.

There are benefits to both small colleges and large universities. Small colleges have smaller class sizes and easier access to professors, support, and extracurricular activities. Large universities may have more academic offerings and resources, but many classes will be lecture-based, with students having access to a Teaching Assistant (TA) rather than the professor. Many colleges offer a middle ground in this category. You may begin your college experience in large, lecture-based classes, but as you narrow your academic interest, the classes get smaller and you’ll find professors who are more accessible.

Academics: Programs, Reputation, and Environment

You're going to college primarily to learn stuff, so academics should be up there on your priority list. Just how serious of an academic environment are you looking for? Do you want a school that focuses on undergraduate teaching or research? What types of programs interest you? Selectivity and reputation also come into play here. Based on your test scores and GPA, you can predict your admissions chances at different schools. It's advantageous for you to attend the most competitive school possible based on your stats.

Different colleges offer different educational experiences. A public university typically receives funding from the state and is larger. Private colleges vary in size but typically have smaller class sizes. Community colleges are smaller institutions that offer certifications and associate degrees.

If you know what you want to study, make sure to visit that department’s web page and read about the courses offered and the professors who teach those classes. Many students change majors at least once during college, so it’s important to get a sense of the overall academic environment and curriculum requirements at each school.

Cost and Financial Aid

Tuition prices are something you should think about in your college search, but don't let a high price prevent you from applying if you really love a school. Right now, you should just work on determining whether cost is an issue for you. If so, focus your search on schools that offer generous financial aid and merit scholarships.

Students should consider financial affordability in the college search process. For those reasons, students should research how much a college will actually cost. This means utilizing tools, like a Net Price Calculator, to see how much a college costs after financial aid and scholarships are considered. A Net Price Calculator may reveal surprising costs. For instance, a private college could become just as affordable as a public university after inputting figures. Private colleges have larger endowments; and sometimes, their scholarships and financial aid packages make the institution just as affordable as a public school. A Net Price Calculator may also show you that you need to be creative when paying for school.

Social Environment and Campus Life

This is a vague term, but you should have some idea of what type of social environment you're looking for in college. Do you want to be at a party school? Or are you more of a library-all-day-every-day type? Are you at all interested in Greek life? Do you want to be able to go out to bars and clubs? Is it important to you to have a really nice dorm? Do you want to be able to live off campus at some point? Schools may offer more or less variety in housing, so this is definitely worth considering. Are you looking for a school with lots of dining options? This is important to consider especially if you have special dietary preferences or requirements. Think of any extracurricular activities you want to pursue in college. If these are priorities for you, you should ensure that any schools that you're considering have the appropriate resources. If you're hoping to play a sport in college for fun, you should make sure that anywhere you apply will give you that opportunity. Are you planning to work out in college? If this is a priority for you, look for schools that have high-quality athletic facilities and give students full gym access.

College is an academic but also a social experience. Is a meal plan required? Is there Greek life on campus? How is housing assigned? Research the campus culture at colleges that interest you. Interestingly, social media is a great way to learn more about the clubs, activities, and feel of a campus. Oftentimes, discussion boards are anonymous, giving students the space and freedom to tell the unfiltered truth about their experience.

Majors Offered: Does the School Have Your Program?

While location and school size are important, academic offerings should be your top priority. If you’re undecided on a major, which is very normal for high school students, you can still research colleges that have at least multiple fields that are interesting to you. Ultimately, you can choose a college with a wide range of majors, like a liberal arts school.

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Gathering Information

There’s no shortage of statistics about colleges. Admissions rates can help you determine whether a school is a reach, target, or likely, but these numbers are often irrelevant in determining whether a college is a good fit for YOU.

Key Statistics to Consider

Retention Rates: How many students return for their sophomore year?
Diversity: What other nationalities and cultures are represented on campus? What percentage of the student body is international? What is the male to female ratio on campus?
Housing: How many students live on-campus versus those who live off-campus? Are students required to live on-campus for a specific number of years or are they allowed to move off-campus at any point? Is on-campus housing provided for all four years of study? Are special housing accommodations available (i.e.
Career development: What career services are available? How many students have internships during their time in college? How many students find a job within six months of graduation?
School size and location: Will a smaller or larger school better suit your needs? Would you prefer to be in a bustling city, a small town, or somewhere in between?

Online Resources

One option that you might consider initially is College Navigator. You can specify location, size, major program, public or private, tuition, test scores, and more in your search. This tool will give you all the statistics on different schools and help you locate options that seem like the right fit. As you investigate the results of your search, add schools to your "favorites" and compare them side by side to see how they differ.

Another site to investigate is Cappex. Cappex is a college matchmaking site where you can fill out a profile and get matched up with schools that align with your preferences. The site provides suggestions for schools that you might like after you complete your profile. If you find schools that you like, you can add them to your running list and compare them against each other. The "fit meter" that you'll see on every school's page on Cappex. There are also a number of other sites you can use at this stage.

Assessing Your Admission Chances

Once you've figured out what you want from a college and have gotten some solid suggestions from search sites, you should step back and take an objective look at your results. Though the sites I mentioned above may give you statistics for a school's average test scores and GPA, it's difficult to understand your chances of admission just by looking at statistics. I would recommend that you Google "(name of school) PrepScholar admissions requirements" to access our database pages about each school.

In general, if your chances are below 30 percent the school qualifies as a reach school. A school with an admissions rate that's below 15 percent is a reach school for all students regardless of scores and GPA. If all or most of the schools you're interested in are reach schools, it's time to adjust some of your criteria to allow for other options. This is also a good time to check ranking lists like US News and Forbes to see whether the colleges that interest you have decent reputations. However, be careful when considering these rankings! Rankings are a tool to be used after you've already picked out schools based on other factors. If you're trying to decide between two schools and the lower ranked school is a much better fit for you, then you should still apply to that one. Rankings are more of a tie-breaker to be used when all other measurements are equal.

International Students: Additional Considerations

Remember that the educational system in your destination country might be quite different from that of your home country.

Here are some questions to keep in mind, although it is definitely not an exhaustive list:

How will attending a university outside of my home country equip me with experiences and a skillset that I cannot obtain if I stay back home?
Where do I see myself in 5 years? In 10 years? If I want to stay abroad, will I be supported to get a job as an international student after graduating with my undergraduate degree?
What support does the university provide to international students?
What is the length of the degree?
How much is the total cost of attendance, including tuition, cost of living, and personal expenses?
Do I need to declare my major when applying? Or can I declare it after a year or two at the university? How much flexibility does the program provide? Are most classes chosen for me or do I get to decide (is there a core curriculum, distribution requirements, or an open-choice model)? Will I be taking classes exclusively in my major or will I have the option to take other classes (and if so, for what period of time)? Ultimately, will these models suit my long term goals?
What is the language or languages of instruction? Can I create different, but effective, options for myself if I study in a language other than English?
What are the application deadlines?
What is the school calendar like: does the first semester start in September or January?
Do you meet the enrollment requirements?

Check out the carefully written country-by-country overviews, how to search for universities, insider tips, academic calendars, application procedures, deadlines, application fees, admission requirements, tuition and fees, housing options, and visa and permit information.

In addition, most countries have a “Study in X” page, dedicated to promoting their study options for international students.

Accreditation

Make sure that the university you are interested in is accredited Would you want to pay for schooling at a “fake university”? There are so many horror stories from all corners of the world.

Be sure that the degree you are interested in at the university you are researching will grant you a diploma (not a certificate) that is recognized by the country’s Ministry of Education. When in doubt, ask the university directly.

The Importance of Research Universities

America’s research universities remain the envy of the rest of the world, and they continue to attract the globe’s best and brightest students and researchers by the tens of thousands every year. What distinguishes research universities from other types of higher education institutions is the enormous quantity of groundbreaking research that takes place every day on our member campuses. An additional benefit of research universities is the integration of research and teaching. This provides students - including undergraduates - access to world-class experts in the disciplines and fields of study they want to pursue. They have opportunities to work in labs led by top scientists and even to conduct their own independent research.

Research universities are educating the workforce of the future. AAU member universities are among the world’s leaders not only in conducting groundbreaking AI research, but also in teaching undergraduates about AI and AI-related skills that will benefit them in their future workplaces.

Research universities provide an additional - and critical - public service: by serving as forums for free speech and fostering respectful, although sometimes difficult, dialogues. Research universities draw their students and faculty from a wide array of backgrounds and perspectives; they offer both the community spaces and the expertise necessary to bring these diverse individuals together for respectful and informed conversations. America’s leading research universities are living, breathing, diverse communities where world-changing research, transformative learning, and democracy-fostering conversations take place every day.

Campus Visits: Experiencing the University Firsthand

Of course, one of the best ways to research a school is to experience it firsthand through a campus visit. Nothing is more critical to the research process than a campus visit. During a campus visit, it’s important to take a tour, sit in a class, meet with current students, and spend time in conversation with an admissions officer. Many colleges even offer students the chance to spend the night in a dorm to get the whole experience. Through a campus visit, you can see and feel what it would be like to attend school there. Remember to consider what is most important to you: academic fields of interest, affordability, and your ability to see yourself there.

When you visit a college, be sure you’re getting a campus tour from a current student, sitting in on classes, and/or having lunch with students. These current students give unfiltered responses in real conversation, face-to-face, that will answer your biggest, burning questions.

Financial Considerations

Scholarships and grants are free money distributed by a college or the government that does not need to be paid back. To qualify for these scholarships and grants, students typically need to apply for admission and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Work-study is a form of financial aid for qualifying students. If you qualify for work-study, you can get a job on campus that will provide paychecks that can go toward your tuition or student expenses. These jobs offer flexible schedules around your classes and extracurricular activities. Many students opt to work a part-time job off campus to help pay for their education. Now, there are companies that offer tuition reimbursement, meaning students can get money toward their tuition from their employer and receive a paycheck for the work they do. Finally, student loans can help students bridge the gap between what they can pay and what a college costs after they’ve exhausted all the above options.

Balancing Your College List

After consulting these resources, you'll end up with a better sense of the quality of your preliminary list of schools. Now that you've gathered all of this information, it's time to tweak your list of schools so that it has a nice balance of different options. As I mentioned in the previous section, it's important to have reach schools, but they should only make up about a third of your list. You can use the same process as above to look up potential likely and safety schools and check your admissions chances. Safety schools are schools where you have at least an 80 percent chance of admission. Likely schools are schools where you have a 30 to 80 percent chance of admission. These can be further divided into "possible" and "probable" options.

Most students end up applying to around 5-8 colleges in total. Start out with three schools in the reach category, three in the likely category (two probable and one possible), and three in the safety category. Then, if you find that you're overwhelmed by the application fees or the supplementary essays, you can always cut out 2-3 schools. You should also do some research to check whether the schools on your list use the Common Application or if they require you to fill out separate applications. This can have a big impact on the time you spend on the process.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

While researching, keep in mind that all sources or materials could be flawed in some way. You should not trust any single reference to guide you in your research. Instead, familiarize yourself with as many sources as possible to gain an objective and broad understanding of the data and choices facing you.

It should be noted here that limiting your research to discussion board posts is no way to make an accurate decision. During the college research process, it’s important that you be thorough. Rushing through your research or only using one resource to find the right school for you could lead to a variety of outcomes: a college experience that you’re unhappy with, having to transfer colleges, or dropping out of school altogether. While researching colleges, don’t make choices based solely on rankings or discussion boards. Do your due diligence on the affordability of each school; use calculators and have conversations with financial aid officers.

The Long View: Career Outcomes

Obviously, it’s important to have a great college experience, but the goal of attending college is to land a great job in your field of interest. With that, you need to take the long view of college. When comparing colleges, you need to look at graduation rates as well as graduates who enter the job market within six months after graduation. During your campus tour and admissions interview, ask about the Career Center resources, internship opportunities, and alumni network and companies that frequently graduates of the school. While your job prospects may not be a priority as a high school student, they will be in four to five years. Make sure you’ve found a college that can support you through that process, too.

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