Find a College – Page 2 – Do It Yourself College Rankings

Cheapest Out-of-State Colleges in 34 States

06/01/202310/18/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

Money sticking out of a pocket representing colleges with cheapest out-of-state colleges

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(The Cheapest Out-of-State Colleges List has been updated for the latest data available in September of 2022.) Back when I was a freshman attending a rather large state university in Austin, Texas, I ran into quite a few students (relatively speaking) from the state of New York. They told me that they were attending college in Texas because our out-of-state tuition was cheaper than their in-state tuition. I only saw them that one year because the following year, the legislature raised out-of-state tuition and Texas was no longer as appealing to New Yorkers as it once was.

15 Things Parents of High School Freshmen Must Know NOW About Preparing for College!

11/29/202209/27/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

Mother and son representing what high school freshman need to know about paying for college

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As the parents of college freshmen drove home from dropping their kids off at college, many had to be thinking about how they’ll do things differently next time knowing what they know now. Many were probably wishing, “if only someone had told me four years ago when we first started thinking about preparing for college that…, things would have been so much easier.” It’s a common dilemma in life, you don’t know what you don’t know. So I’ve created the following list of things that parents of high school freshmen need to know about preparing for college and how financial aid works. Let me know if you have anything to add.

7 Key Signs of a Good College

06/01/202308/30/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

students looking at a computer explanation of what makes a good college

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There are over 1,600 four-year colleges in the United States. How do you begin to choose the good colleges you should apply to? To a certain extent, the definition of “good” will vary from student to student. However, there are seven things a college should have for it to be a good college for a student to consider.

Find Colleges with the Most Merit Scholarships in 4 Easy Steps

08/09/202208/09/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

person on stepping stones representing easy steps to finding colleges with the most merit scholarhsips

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(For those looking for colleges with the most merit scholarships, I’m updating this post. Because I’ve updated the spreadsheet several times since I wrote this post, some of the numbers in the text won’t match the results in the graphics. You can see a video demonstration at the end of the post.)

If you’re looking for colleges that provide the most merit scholarships, start with the information the schools report to the Department of Education. This information states how much money institutions distribute in grants and scholarships and the number of students who receive it. In just four easy steps you can use this data to find colleges most likely to provide generous merit scholarships. These are schools that students with high Expected Family Contributions (EFC) should target for non-need based aid. This is in no way a guarantee. Rather, consider this a way to improve your chances for merit scholarships given the available information. The idea is to use this list as a basis to create the final list of colleges to apply to.

7 Ways to Make a Perfect College List by Doing What College Admissions Committees Do

08/02/202208/02/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

Student with notebooks thinking about perfect college lists

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With all the pressure on high school students to create a perfect college list, they really aren’t given the opportunity to develop the skills to do so. It’s the sort of situation that most students will do only once. How often can you “practice” deciding which colleges to apply to? It’s not the same as practicing taking the ACT or SAT. How do you learn to create a list of colleges to apply to?

The 10 Worst Colleges 2022

06/01/202307/19/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

A university campus in autumn with vibrant red and orange trees lining a pathway leading to modern academic buildings, noted in some of the worst college rankings.

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Listing the 10 Worst Colleges is a public service I’m providing as an inoculation against the annual fall media college ranking mania. It is a reminder that rankings are flawed and have their limitations. While they can provide useful information, too few people bother to look beyond the ranking order to evaluate the data used in creating the rankings.

To get an idea of what I’m talking about, let’s take a look at the following list of the 10 worst colleges (yes, there are more than 10 because of ties):

Why Your Best College Financial Aid Will Probably Come From a School No One Has Ever Heard Of

07/12/202207/12/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

Boy scratching his ear because he never heard of the college offering the best college financial aid

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Your best college financial aid will likely come from the college you attend. This means students need to rethink their college search based on size. Size is probably one of the first limitations students use when searching for colleges, often based on little to no real experience or evidence. And if you’re interested in getting the best college financial aid possible, this is a big mistake.

Beware of Best Colleges Lists

06/21/202206/21/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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Recently I was profiling Saint Michael’s College in Vermont and learned about their Ski and Ride program for students. They offer various discounted passes to the Sugarbush ski resort along with a free weekend shuttle. I thought it was a pretty appealing program and did a quick web search for other colleges for skiers. I found several sites claiming their lists had some version of the best schools for skiers. They ranged in length from 10 to 30 schools. Saint Michael’s didn’t show up on a single list. Why not?

6 Tips for Making a Better College List

06/14/202206/14/2022 by Michelle Kretzschmar

A person's hand is tapping on the screen of a tablet device, meticulously creating a college list.

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If you want to make a better college list, don’t limit your potential list of colleges to just schools you have heard of. There are over 1,600 four-year US colleges-there is no reason to start off with a short list of five institutions. Having a larger list of colleges opens up opportunities you haven’t even considered at prices you didn’t think possible.