As they round the corner of eleventh grade, juniors are firming up their list of colleges so they can figure out where to visit -- and ultimately -- where to apply.
It is not too early to create a college list.
In fact, I wouldn't wait a minute longer.
To say that the college list is a crucial part of the application process would be an understatement.
Like your American Express card, you can't go anywhere without it! But how do you make a college list? The first thing you need to do is figure out what's important to you.
There are 4,976 colleges in the United States.
How do you know which ones are right for you? You need to establish some criteria.
And here is a list of questions that will help you do that:

• Where do you want to be geographically? East Coast or West? Northern California?
• How big a school are you looking for?
• What are your areas of interest? What might you major in? You'll want to find schools that are good in what you're interested in.
  
• Do you want to be in a school with sororities and fraternities or not?
• What "feel" are you looking for -- liberal, conservative, in-between?
• Are you interested in Study Abroad programs?
• Is diversity important to you?
• Are you interested in internship opportunities?
• Would you like to find schools that don't focus on or even need to see SAT/ACT scores?
• Public or Private?
• Expensive or not?
• How about how much help is available if you have a learning difference and run into trouble?

These are all essential questions to ask as you start making your list.
Used to be I carried a Fiske Guide around with me wherever I went.
No more.
Now I just do what everyone else does: I Google it! Recently, I had a student ask me about the schools that were particularly good in the middle of the country in nanotechnology.
First I had to look up nanotechnology! I have a rough idea what this field entails, but I wanted to make sure my instincts were correct.
Once I knew what I was looking for, I plugged the following into Google: Midwest Schools strong in nanotechnology.
A whole list appeared before my eyes! It's not rocket science! Once you've generated a list, you've got to do some footwork, some research, to see which schools really appeal to you.
And once you've whittled that initial list down, it's a good idea to visit, if you can.
These days I rely pretty heavily on CollegeBoard.
Org.
Click on Big Futures, then College Search and plug in the schools you are considering.
This site lets you compare schools based on various criteria.
You can also look at the Colleges That Change Lives web site.
Or go to Unigo or College Prowler for student reviews and videos.
Or you can just Google: Online guides for choosing colleges! Here's a list of A+ schools for B students: http://colleges.
usnews.
rankingsandreviews.
com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus It's never been easier to generate a college list, at least as a starting point from which to get advice or do more research.
Once you've got that list, of course, the real work begins!