College FitBETA

The College Fit tool and College Help™
are brought to you by Fahey Associates

With College Fit you build a sound college list that reflects your preferences and exam profile. We encourage you to explore various scenarios by changing your criteria and exploring what happens with an increase in your exam score.

How do I use this Tool?

Using the tool is straightforward:

  1. Input your SAT or ACT score, or check the “No Score” box
  2. Weigh all criteria as honestly as possible using the radio buttons
  3. Scroll down to read the results

By default, all criteria are marked N/A, which means that they are not impacting the results. As soon as you mark the importance of a criteria, this will inform the building of your college list. . If you want to see what happens if you remove a criterion, then return and reselect N/A. to the change your mind and consider you want to ignore a criterion, switch its radio button back to N/A.

We recommend that you try several combinations. In a first query, try adding one or two criteria you value most. Then try more complex queries using as many criteria as you want. Compare the variations in the results.

Enjoy!

How to read the results?

Core & Extended Lists

The result is split into two sections:

  • The Core List presents the 10 best-fit colleges
  • The Extended List presents 15 additional colleges for consideration

Colleges Categories

Among these two sections colleges are distributed into 3 categories: Matches (teal/circle), Reaches (orange/diamond), and Safeties (light green/square).

  • Matches: are the best fit; your exam score places you above average
  • Reaches: your criteria match but your exam score is below that of most admits or the school has a very low admit rate
  • Safeties(1): your criteria match and your exam score is in or above the upper quartile

(1) A word about safeties: many colleges measure the strength of your interest and may not admit you even when your exam profile presents you as a top candidate.

Reading the Graph

The vertical Y axis on the graph, represents the Criteria Affinity, and ranks colleges according to your personal criteria. The colleges at the top of the graph are the best aligned with your criteria and preferences. Y axis, Criteria Affinity: vertically the graph ranks colleges against your personal criteria. The colleges at the top of the graph are the best aligned with your criteria and preferences.

The horizontal X axis on the graph, represents each college’s Exam Score Range, we call it the Admission Score Window.

Your performance: the small circle attached to the Admission Score Window represents where you stand against admitted students. In general, the further you are to the right the higher your chances of admission.

College Rank: the number assigned to each college helps you prioritize your college list. The higher the Rank (1 is the highest, 25 is the lowest) the greater the fit. These are colleges worth researching.

You might find colleges with low admit rates in your results. These are colleges that have an admission rate between 10 - 15 % and are considered Reaches for everybody: even though your exam scores are above the college Admission Window, these colleges are still a reach for you because they are highly competitive.

Expectation

This tool offers a general compass to help you define a balanced college list. It can definitely help but offers no guarantee of admission. Cf. our disclaimer.

Why can't I find the college I'm looking for?

A curated list

College Fit is based on the Fahey Associates curated list of 171 top-ranked colleges. This list is by no means exhaustive. There are approximately 3,000 institutions that offer bachelor's degrees in the USA and we encourage you to explore them.

Not yet included

Art Schools and colleges that meet single-gender criteria are not yet represented in the current version but will appear in a future release of the tool.

Super Reaches

Fahey Associates indexes as Super Reaches colleges with very large applicant pools and an admit rate below 10%. The admission rate at individual high schools will often be lower given that elite colleges may only admit 0-3 students from each high school. Keep in mind that the 0-3 students these elite colleges select may be athletic or artistic recruits.

For all these reasons, we recommend that you consider the Super Reach like a “lottery ticket”

MIT
CalTech
Princeton
Harvard
Columbia
Yale
Dartmouth
Brown
Cornell
University of Pennsylvania
Stanford
University of Chicago
Pomona
Duke
Northwestern University
John Hopkins
Vanderbilt
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Georgetown
Tufts
University of North Carolina (very low out-of-state rate)
UT Austin (very low out-of-state rate)
Where is the Data coming from?

the Common Data Set

The admit rates and exam profiles used in this tool come from the Common Data Set. The Common Data Set is a detailed report published by most higher education institutions to provide data on student profiles in the admission process. Generally, colleges refrain from providing the GPA of students given that GPA scales and weighted grading standards differ across high schools.

1

Academic Performance

2

Your Criteria

Diversity

Research Opportunities

Progressive

Liberal Arts Focus

Interdisciplinary

Vocational

Artsy

College Town

Near Metropolis

Near Nature

Student Population
3

Results

Matches
Safeties
Reaches

Extended List

College Level

Disclaimer

Accuracy of Information: College Fit (“the tool”) is a software to help you estimate your chances of fit and does not guarantee admission to any institution. The information provided by College Fit is for general informational purposes only. While Fahey Associates LLC endeavors to keep the information up to date and correct, Fahey Associates LLC offers no guarantee of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability concerning the Common Data Set or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose.

No Endorsement: Fahey Associates LLC does not endorse, recommend or take responsibility for any particular resources, websites, or services referenced through our search results.

External Links: College Fit provides links to other websites that are not under the control of Fahey Associates LLC. Fahey Associates LLC has no control over the nature, content, and availability of those sites. The inclusion of links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Limitation of Liability: In no event, will Fahey Associates LLC be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of College Fit.

Changes and Amendments: Fahey Associates LLC reserves the right to modify this disclaimer from time to time at our sole discretion and without any notice.

Consent: By using College Fit and this website, you hereby consent to our disclaimer and agree to its terms.