What is a balanced list & why does it matter?

As 12th grade students prepare to start the school year, it is time to finalize the list of colleges where a student will apply for admission. This is a good time to remember that the goal is not competing with every applicant out there, but creating great fit options for themselves. As applicant pools grow and acceptance rates shrink, read on for our most important advice to ensure you are creating a balanced college list with the right college options for you –

Here’s what you need to know:

A balanced list has a reasonable number of options.

We encourage every student to create enough college options for themselves to have choices, but not so many that the process of completing applications, managing follow up, and finalizing a decision is absolutely overwhelming. While there can always be exceptions, in our experience somewhere around a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 colleges is a good number for most students.

A balanced list has sufficient options that are likely and possible choices for the individual.

This cannot be overstated. Every student, no matter how high their GPA or test scores, should have a range of colleges that are truly likely and possible fits, including those with acceptance rates at and above 50%. This will help to ensure that a student is in the position of having choices come spring of senior year. The list should have more likely and possible options than reaches. Given the changing admissions landscape, it is more important than ever that a student is invested in colleges in their likely and possible range, engages with these colleges, and puts time and effort into crafting strong applications to these institutions.

A balanced list considers affordability, distance, and other personal factors to create choices.

Balance is also about creating options that will give a student and family choices when decision time comes. If a student is not committing to a binding Early Decision application, then they will be assessing their offers and making a choice in the spring. That’s a long time from the submission deadline in the fall, and even students who are intent on traveling cross country for college should leave a few options in the mix to stay closer to home. Plans and priorities change for a host of reasons, and it’s better to have a couple of options to turn down than to feel like a student doesn’t have a choice. The same approach applies to finances. A balanced list is aware of a family’s financial situation, and includes options for lower cost in-state or regional reciprocity institutions, and targeted colleges where a student may be a good candidate for merit scholarships.

A balanced list centers the factors that matter most to a student’s ability to thrive personally and academically.

I often say to students that a list with both Brown and Princeton is the list of a student who hasn’t done their research or reflection well enough. While these are both great institutions, their only common denominator is prestige. That’s a very poor priority for determining your happiness, wellbeing and growth in college. Instead, a balanced list reflects the key factors that will create the conditions for a student to thrive and grow. This may include size, approach to learning and curriculum, academic majors and programs, the ‘vibe’ or qualities that define the community and social life on campus, among other things. When these criteria are applied across colleges with a range of different acceptance rates, a student has built a list that is not only balanced, but ensures they can be happy calling any of these institutions ‘home’ in the not too distant future.

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