What to Do When You Don’t Have a First Choice
What to Do When You Don’t Have a First Choice
Social scientists call it decision paralysis, that feeling you have when you walk into a grocery store to find rows upon rows of cereal brands or cans of soup. How do you choose? You can compare across price, tastiness levels, familiarity, nutritional value, branding, and so on. But it’s a lot to ask of a causal shopper, so some people return home without any cereal or soup in hand.As silly as this may sound to some of you, decision paralysis is a real struggle—there are just so many options to pick from that people freeze up!For those of you starting the application process, sorting through thousands of options to find your first choice can feel overwhelming, difficult, and confusing. You might even experience some decision paralysis as you navigate researching colleges while listening to the advice of your parents, high school counselor, and friends.If you are feeling frenzied, take heart! Remember to take things one day at a time and know you will eventually get there. Here are a few thoughts for how to move forward if you don’t have a first choice.
Know that it’s okay to not have a first choice right now.
Figuring out where you want to attend college should be a slow and deliberate process. After all, it’s a major life decision that will shape the way you think, who you spend time with, and how you cultivate your talents.You really only need a first choice school if you plan to apply early decision, which is known to boost admissions chances. If you don’t have a college for which you want to commit early decision, that is perfectly fine. That’s why schools host overnight visits, campus tours, local or virtual information sessions, and admitted student weekends—they know it’s not an easy choice.Don’t be swept up by the crowd and feel obligated to decide right away. If needed, you have all the way until April of your senior spring to make a final commitment.
Consider early action schools.
While early decision is binding, early action allows you the benefit of receiving news early AND choosing to attend another college even if accepted.A range of universities offer early action as an admissions plan, including Stanford, Georgetown, and Northeastern. Note that institutions like Stanford have a single-choice early action policy, meaning you can only apply to that one private school (public universities are exempt) for the early round.Remember that your early action school does not have to be your first choice, or even your second, third, fourth—you get the idea. We find that students who are accepted to an early action school feel relief as they wait for regular decision results, because they are certain of at least a fall back option. However, for highly competitive universities like Stanford or Georgetown, we recommend that you do not submit an early application unless you have time to make it strong. If it would benefit greatly from additional polishing, then waiting to submit in January is likely a better idea.
Figure out your top choices.
There is a difference between your first choice—a college you will absolutely attend over all others if you were admitted—and your top choices. While you do not have to figure out the former until next April, it is important to have a good sense of the latter so you can map out where to apply. Wherever you are in the application process, it is wise to do research and self-reflect deeply on what kind of college experience you seek. Come up with a few criteria to be your north star: size, location, programs offered. Not only will this help you decide which colleges are your favorites, and which rank lower on your list, but you will be better prepared to write “why college” essays later on.
Keep an open mind or shut some doors.
You might find yourself on different ends of the spectrum when it comes to your college list. Some students have too many schools on your list (over 20 is a good rule of thumb) while others have too little (less than five). The sweet spot is between 8 to 12 schools, distributed across reach, target, and safety categories.For students who need to add to their list, remember that where you apply is not necessarily where you will commit. If a school interests you but you feel hesitancy about perhaps its location or academic offerings, add it to your college list anyways. You will have the chance to do a deeper dive into figuring out whether the positives outweigh the negatives after admissions results come in. If you have too many colleges on your list, then attempt to rank them within each of the safety, target, and reach categories. Which are your favorite target schools? Which are you less inclined toward? Consider trimming out those at fall at the bottom of your list. Come senior fall, when your school and activities start up, you will be grateful that you thought carefully about the colleges that most interest you, rather than find yourself in a position where you are writing 20-30 supplemental essays.
Take it one day at a time.
The journey from A to Z, from starting your college applications to choosing your alma mater, is taken one moment at a time. Allow yourself to walk at your pace, and you’ll eventually find the right college home for you. Remember, your process is your own and it will unfold in its own time. However, it’s up to you to do the groundwork. When you don’t have a first choice, you need to work even harder to get to know yourself and your needs more clearly. Ask yourself: what are the conditions that will make me the happiest? What factors matter to me? As you begin to answer these questions, certain schools will naturally emerge to the forefront.
The expert admissions consultants at Wise World Prep have helped hundreds of students maximize their potential of being admitted to their top choice colleges and universities. Over 20 years, we have successfully guided students through each stage of the application process – from choosing competitive high school courses to building an appropriate college list to drafting winning essays to writing persuasive update and appeals letters. We would be happy to answer your questions and partner with you to create a successful admissions roadmap.
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