Confused about choosing a college? Kentucky Living's comprehensive "College Guide" provides the essential tools for students and their families-advice from parents, students, and college advisors, a Web resource listing, and a guide to Kentucky colleges

Fifty percent of all college freshmen drop out, flunk out, or transfer after one year in college.
Behind that sobering statistic lies the most important, yet frequently neglected, part of the college application process-selecting the right school. Test scores, essays, and financial aid are as important as ever. But as crucial as they are, they may not be the key to a successful college experience. Instead, it is the proper match between college and student that often spells success or failure, according to those who know-college admissions counselors, parents, and students.
This guide is designed to help prospective college students and their families begin the process of making that match. Thanks to the Internet, there is a wealth of information available to help you succeed in the process, and we've included a list of Web sites that are particularly useful. You'll also find a list of Kentucky colleges and schools and some essential information about each, including phone numbers for the admissions offices.
But if you choose to use only two pieces of advice from this article, they should be these: start early, and focus on your individual needs and desires.

High school preparation
According to the admissions counselors, starting early means high school freshmen should be thinking about their aptitudes and possible career choices, and then begin narrowing those choices as sophomores. As juniors, students should start making a list of schools they are interested in and take the ACT and/or SAT for the first time.
During high school, course selection is also crucial. Take the approved Kentucky precollege curriculum. Fit in as much math and science as possible, as well as courses that require writing. Most importantly, challenge yourself. The difficulty of your courses will matter, particularly if you are thinking about a private college.

What colleges look for
"Schools, public and private, place heavy weight on the student's grade point average (GPA)," says Sarah Coen, director of admissions for Transylvania University, a private, nationally known college in Lexington. "When we receive an application, we make a recalculation of the student's high school GPA. We base the score on college prep courses, taking out the grades for physical education, art, etc. We want to see a demanding curriculum because the difficulty of the curriculum is an important indicator of success. It has been shown repeatedly that a student's GPA is a better predictor of success than their test scores."

Let the search begin
The application process then begins in earnest in the summer between the junior and senior years. Start gathering information, forms, and materials during this time; as a senior, you can concentrate on taking the ACT and/or SAT a second time, writing essays, completing financial aid information and applications, and most of all, visiting the schools you are interested in.

A match made in person
The visit is perhaps one of the last things a prospective student will do when considering a school, but we begin here because those in the know say this is the single biggest factor in making a good choice. If ideal romantic matches are made in heaven, college matches are made during an on-site visit.
"At Transylvania we have a lot of overnight visitors," Coen says. "Current students will tell you that is the most important thing in choosing the right school. If they don't visit, they can't get a flavor for what campus life is like. This is especially true now that students get so much information off the Web. It is a great place to start, but not enough information to base a decision on that will determine where you spend the next four years of your life."
Paul Radke, director of school relations at Murray State University (MSU) in western Kentucky, agrees.
"Many students don't search out colleges that are right for them," Radke says. "They look at schools based on where their friends are applying, schools that have a good basketball team, or party schools, and so forth. They listen to other people instead of doing research-sitting down and spending time to determine what they want in their college education and then explore colleges with those characteristics."

Radke's basic list of items to consider:

• Your goals
• Your academic interests
• Size of the college
• Distance from home
• Cost
• Campus life, particularly the extracurricular
  activities available
• College's affiliations, if any
• College's national ranking
• College's retention and graduation rates

"Find colleges that fit your profile and then do some homework, some research," he says. "Go to their Web sites, request information, and look them up in college guidebooks. Then visit, visit, visit. You can read four-color brochures and listen to guys like me who are paid for telling you about the school, but that's not what counts. You wouldn't buy a car without test-driving it, but you would be surprised how many students come to a school without ever setting foot on campus. It's why 50 percent leave or flunk out."

Homework still counts
That's not likely to happen to Trish Ruckriegel, a senior at Butler Traditional High School in Louisville. Trish and her father, Tony, have devised a system to ensure that she winds up at the right school to help her fulfill her dream of being a pharmacist.
Father and daughter have divided up duties. Trish is responsible for writing the required essays and keeping up with her current studies, part-time job, and extracurricular activities. Tony, meanwhile, has developed a spreadsheet to keep up with his job as head of research. He tracks all the items needed for applications and financial aid information. He also researches scholarship possibilities, a full-time job in itself.
Their goal is for Trish to have at least three options. Ideally, she will go to her ultimate choice, regardless of cost or admissions standards. If that doesn't work out, she will have a more realistic choice but one that clearly meets her educational goals and objectives. And if that doesn't work, choice three will still be a good fit for her.
"This process takes a lot of time," Tony admits, adding that he believes parents must play an active role. "Even the best of high school seniors can't go through all this on their own. There is a lot to pursue here."
Ruckriegel highly recommends a publication from the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority called Getting In. The father/daughter team also has a host of other suggestions, most of them echoed by the admissions counselors. Here are a few of them:

• Check your high school transcript to make sure you have the proper credits.
• Take both the ACT and the SAT. Each test is different, and depending on the student's strengths and weaknesses, you may score better on one than the other.
• Take the entrance tests more than once.
• Take leadership roles in high school. Although not a prerequisite, most forms ask for such information and give it weight.
• Use the local library. The Internet includes lot of information but, particularly when it comes to scholarships, there are many helpful books.
• Develop priorities, and take an organized approach. A spreadsheet helps you keep track of what needs to be done and when. Otherwise, you may miss opportunities just by missing deadlines.
• Keep a file of essays you write during high school. Some colleges don't require a specific topic, and this could keep you from having to write yet another essay.
• Keep copies of everything you submit.
• Be careful of online mail solicitations that offer to pursue scholarships for you. They can't guarantee results.

Back in Lexington, Coen points out that this is a learning process for everyone, particularly if the student is a first-generation college student-often the case in Kentucky since only 20 percent of Kentuckians have a college education.
"This is one of the biggest financial investments parents make in their son or daughter," Coen notes. "It is worth the investment of time to make the right choice."

Kentucky Living College WEB Guide

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