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FOREWORD

There are more than 2,200 four-year colleges in the United States, and trying to figure out which ones are likely to be good matches for you can seem like a daunting task. It’s easy to sympathize with the applicant to Haverford College some years ago, who was particularly stressed out at the end of his on-campus interview. On his way back to the waiting room he had to pass through several doors, but his emotional state was such that he failed to notice where he was and opened one more door—which took him into a closet. He was so embarrassed that he remained in the closet for several minutes before reappearing to face a room full of staring faces.

It doesn’t have to be that way. As author of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and numerous other books on college admissions, I’ve had the pleasure of working with thousands of college-bound high school students and their parents both in person and through my writing. People are not born brain-wired knowing how to navigate the byzantine admissions process that American colleges and universities have, in their wisdom, imposed on their aspiring students, so a bit of anxiety—or at least mild bewilderment—is probably a sign that you are in touch with reality.

Not surprisingly, the most common question that I have gotten over the years from students staring at all those options is: “Where do I start?” The implicit subtext is: “How do I begin to make sense of the process?” My usual (and admittedly self-serving) suggestion is to thumb through the 300+ narrative descriptions in the Fiske Guide and find one or two schools that seem like a good match. Then look at the schools with which these schools have substantial overlapping applicant pools and maybe look at overlaps of the overlaps. This process should produce a list of 15 or 20 target schools to get you off and running.

Once you have identified some target schools, the challenge is to figure out how to deal with all the elements that go into the application process: campus visits, test-taking, financial aid forms, letters of reference, and so forth. That, of course, is where The College Bound Organizer comes to your rescue in at least two ways. First, it gives you a “one-stop shopping” way to keep track of the hundreds of details that go into applying to multiple colleges. No more ruffling through piles of papers to figure out when—or even whether!—you have scheduled an appointment with the admissions folks at Old Siwash. Second, it represents a checklist—with deadlines—that lays out the various steps that you need to be taking. With The College Bound Organizer at your side, you can rest assured that you will not wake up on December 31 and suddenly realize that you forgot to ask your English teacher for a recommendation that is due two days later.

Applying to college should be a positive experience. Colleges are interesting places, with lots of bright people doing innovative things, and the application process is really the beginning of your college education. It’s the time when you begin to think seriously about your goals and academic interests. The mechanics of the process are important and need to be taken seriously. But it’s also important to keep your mind on the big picture: which colleges are best suited to help you to grow academically, socially, spiritually, and in every other way? Using The College Bound Organizer is one way to help you stay focused on what is really important.

Edward B. Fiske

Author of Fiske Guide to Colleges