Every year, during the first two quarters of the school year, TCS seniors begin the ardous process of researching a variety of colleges to decide which ones to apply to.

During these few months, students gather information and opinions from a variety of sources, from college websites,newsletters,parents, to college counselors and even their peers in order to make one of the most important decisions of their lives: Which college to go to.

“Both my mom and my dad have helped me in finding colleges that fit me and that of course we can afford so it’s really a process I’ve done with them. I [also] worked really closely with Dina, I sat down with her, [and] we had a meeting.” Felipe Franco, TCS senior, said.

Many students rely on the mentorship and guidance of the adults around them who have more experience and expertise to help them research and choose colleges, particularly adults such as their parents who know both them and the family’s financial position well and will be able to help them choose a college appropriate for them. At the same time, other students prefer to do most of the research and decision making themsemselves.

“Each college’s website was extremely helpful, seeing their different programs, classes, clubs, etc, really helps me contextualize myself as to what each college offers.” Santiago Castaño, TCS senior, said. Castaño later added “No, not at all” when asked if any members of the school staff influenced his college choices.

With many colleges in the United States costing upwards of 40 thousand dollars per year, another important consideration for many students is the cost of attending a college and if their family can afford to take on the financial burden of subsidizing their children’s tuition.

“[Cost] was one of my most important considerations because in the United States colleges in general education is very expensive so that’s possibly one of my most critical considerations,” Franco said.

In addition to guidance from the adults around them and independent research, many students also heavily rely on college ranking websites such as US News or Niche, which use a variety of metrics ranging from acceptance rate to research papers published with the purpose of ranking the colleges that they consider the best, both in general and for specific majors, programs, and a variety of other metrics such as campus life and student satisfaction.

“When we have the numbers and all other important parts of the application, we look at the best programs. Students and their families often only look at a school’s name or ‘ranking.’’” Dina Reichiani, TCS’ college counselor, said.

Managing all of this, from which way to research colleges, to how much weight the opinions of everyone around them, to rankings, to curriculums and programs is overwhelming to many students.

“It’s hard being bombarded with emails and choices and essays you have to fill out. It’s just too much stuff to do while also doing school work,” Castaño said.

Overall, TCS seniors are making a big effort and drawing upon a large variety of resources to research about different colleges and help them decide which ones to apply to taking into account a large variety of factors into account, ranging from cost to program strength and rankings.

“Taking everything into consideration, you want to apply to colleges that are really good but you also need to be realistic about what colleges you can get into and what can you afford,” Franco said.