Check Out This New Tool For Your College List!I

Are you creating your college list and stuck? Don’t worry, you are not alone... And now there is a new tool that may help!

BUT FIRST -

Make sure you read our guide to
narrowing your college list. This will go over the importance of a balanced college list, where and how to start, places to research (we recommend Fiske, the College Board, and Niche), and more.

But there is now another VERY cool tool to add to your college search list…let me introduce
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Peer Institutions Diagram. NOTE: You will have to make a completely free account to access this.

When reporting data to the US Department of Education, colleges choose their ‘peer institutions’ which are other colleges that they feel are similar to themselves. The Chronicle of Higher Education compiled all this data to create the Peer Institutions Diagram…and now you can use this to aid you when creating your own college list.

How does the diagram work?

It's super simple! Just put in the institution you want to research (for example if you are interested in Duke University, you would type Duke into the search bar, remember abbreviations don’t work) and click between

'who this college chose' and 'who chose this college'. The larger the bubble, the more similar the school is considered to be.

How can you use this?

Let's say you did a tour and LOVED Duke University. Now you can see other colleges that may be similar in terms of both academics and culture that might not have been on your radar.

While this tool is not all encompassing, it is a great resource to help you explore more colleges while building a balanced college list.

Best of luck!
Melina Kazanas

P.S. - Have a high-performing high schooler w/ a 3.7 GPA or higher? We'll help get them into at least one of their top 5 dream colleges...and if we don't get them into at least one of their top 5 dream colleges, you don't pay us a penny.  Seriously!  You can learn more about our world renowned all-inclusive, start-to-finish college coaching here and to see if your family qualifies for an introductory call.

P.P.S - Our most common question is "When should we start?!"  The answer is, if you truly care about giving your high schooler the best chance of college planning success, you should start NOW. 9th grade is not too early to start! 10th grade is certainly not too early to start! And 11th grade is far, far too late! (supporting data here to show just how much of an advantage you give your child by starting the process early).

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