A college search spreadsheet can become really helpful when reuniting your college info and deciding what to do next. The college process can be stressful, and every tool that makes it easier is welcome, especially when applying to multiple colleges.

A college spreadsheet is a document that helps the student and sometimes their parents to keep track of the schools and universities they are looking for. It also tells what each one has to offer, and, most importantly, gives the tools necessary for the students to achieve their goals. 

It’s basically a college or school list that reunites data about each institution and uses it to compare them. This tool was made not just to organize it but also to help with the final choice of which institution to pursue.

So, when deciding what college approval to pursue, the spreadsheet comes in handy because it’ll show the best option for you based on your needs, goals, and capabilities. This will cause you to be able to see more clearly what topics to focus on and where to begin with.

Another point to consider is which data are relevant for your research. You can begin with a common data set, but the ideal way of doing this is by adapting it to your personal necessities to have a research result that matches your expectations.

College search spreadsheets can be fully personalized in order to attend to each one’s necessities, so the main questions may vary between one template and another. But some suggestions are essential to everyone’s college list, like the graduation rate, the financial aid info, and many other things.

These Are the Basic Ones You Should Have On Your Spreadsheet: 

• Average Test Scores
• Cost of Attendance
• Acceptance Rate
• Graduation Rate

Average Test Scores

Source: Prep Expert

When making your college search spreadsheet, it is very important to keep track of the average score of its tests, since they give you a really good idea of how hard it is to pass on the tests you may do and also tells a lot about the difficulty of the college admissions process. Searching for this information is quite easy and can be quickly found on the college website or even on a quick search on Google.

Another reason why the average test score is important is that sometimes it is a direct reflection of the school’s learning quality. The better-ranked universities tend to have a higher average score than the bottom ones so keep that in mind.

Cost of Attendance

Another thing to keep a look at while making the college search is the cost of its attendance. From the application process to life in dorms, in most universities, everything has a cost, so it’s important to know this and see which institutions fit your budget.

Source: Educational Data Initiative

This is a really important step in reuniting the admission and application info. It can be the factor of a decision between two or even more options. You probably won’t get anything for free while in college unless you get a scholarship, of course. Thus, pay attention to the price of services and be aware of how much money you can spend on college and what financial aid you might need.

Acceptance Rate

Another topic that is extremely important when making your college search spreadsheet. Like the average test score, the acceptance rate can tell a lot about the college you’re considering signing up for. Being the complete opposite of the first topic, the lower the acceptance rate, the more prestigious the school is considered.

That means that if you want to get accepted to a really well-graded college, the chances of the acceptance rate being really low are pretty big.

Graduation Rate

When making your college search spreadsheet, make sure to include the graduation rate. This is a very important thing to remember when filling out the sheet since higher graduation rates mean that not just the students are committed to their studies but it also means that the teachers are highly dedicated to teaching and helping their students, resulting in a better quality of university life.

This means that you’ll have guaranteed support on your journey through college, and these factors may have a huge impact on keeping the student interested. Having a higher rank on the graduation rank directly means better relationships in school, no matter if they are with your teacher, your school counselor, or even your classmates.

Besides the Basic Questions, Here Are Some More Advanced Ones That You Can Look Up For:

• Size of College Endowment
• Study Abroad Programs
• CSS Profile Form Requirement
• Percentage of Students Graduating With Debt
• Quality of Food
• Housing Requirements

Although this may look difficult at first glance, it is actually pretty easy. You also have two options when making the college list.

You can create your own college search spreadsheet manually, personalizing it however you want and with many columns as you want. Or you can choose one between thousands of templates available online and edit it based on your needs.

Creating a Manual College List

When making a college list, the main tool that comes to people's mind is Microsoft Excel, and it is in fact one of the best options available. Excel is versatile, simple to use, and has all the tools you need.

There are lots of tutorials available for free online that teach you how to create your own college search list. One example is the Chris Menard tutorial on YouTube, which teaches you how to create your school sheet in under 6 minutes.

Of course, you’ll need Excel. If you don’t have it yet, don’t worry. You can easily buy a Microsoft Office activation key on RoyalCDKeys, for example, saving a lot of money instead of buying it directly from the Microsoft website.

Using a Template From the Internet

Another free resource to make your spreadsheets is just searching for a template. There are tons of examples available online for free, and you can save them as a document on your google drive so it will be available on all your devices.

You can search on the website you prefer and have lots of Excel templates available totally for free, like the one available at CollegeXpress, with more than 20 categories that go from location to campus size. Be aware that some of these might not be editable, so be sure they’ll fit your necessities. 

Some examples of websites where you can find those templates are CollegeXpress and SpreadSheet.com.

Now that you know everything you need about your college search, it’s time to practice by doing every comparison you might need to make your decision.

Hope you found what you were looking for in the search for the perfect university for you, and good luck with your studies. Now that you know the basics, it’ll be easier to do any college search you might need in the future.