How EZ College Finder works

The six parts of the match score

Each part is scored from 0 to 100, then weighted:

1. Academics

   28%

   How your GPA and SAT (or ACT, converted with the official concordance) compare with the middle 50% of students the college admits, with grades and scores weighted equally. Colleges that publish only a weighted GPA average are compared on an estimated unweighted basis, and colleges that ignore test scores (the University of California and Cal State systems) are compared on GPA alone. The fit is best when you sit just above the middle of that range, as a true peer. It drops below it — and also if you are far above it, where classes may feel less challenging.

2. Major

   21%

   Whether the college is strong in your intended field. Program reputations in our data are checked against each college's selectivity and research profile, so a "top program" claim only counts when the college can back it up. Colleges list only their signature programs, so a field that is not listed still gets partial credit where it is commonly taught — less for specialized fields like engineering at small colleges.

3. Admission outlook

   20%

   How realistic admission looks, from the college’s admit rate and where your grades and scores sit in its admitted class. Solid targets and safeties get full marks; long-shot reaches score lower, so a dream school can still make your list without outranking colleges you are likely to get into.

4. Cost

   17%

   Your yearly budget compared with the college's average net price — what aided students actually pay after grants, including housing. The further under budget a college is, the better it scores. Colleges over budget lose points and only fill your list when nothing else fits.

5. Campus

   8%

   The setting (city, suburb, college town, rural) and size you prefer. Location works as a filter: your list stays inside the regions you pick unless they can't supply enough matches.

6. Priority

   6%

   Your top priority — career, research, athletics, diversity, or value — scored from observable signals such as selectivity, research intensity, campus size and setting, and cost.

Breaking a hard preference costs extra: a college over your budget, the wrong size, or a very different setting loses additional points on top of its lower subscore.

Scores are spread out on purpose. Only colleges that fit on nearly every count reach the 90s; most good matches land in the 70s and 80s, so the gaps between colleges mean something. Your five picks are chosen by fit, then shown in match-score order. Small differences below your best match are widened a little so they are easy to see — by at most five points, and the order never changes — and two picks never share the same number.

Reach, target, and safety

We start from the college's admit rate and adjust it by how far your scores sit above or below its admitted middle 50%. Then:

Reach

Admission is unlikely but possible. Every college that admits under 25% of applicants is a reach for everyone, whatever their scores.

Target

Your profile sits comfortably within the range the college admits.

Safety

You clearly exceed the typical admitted student, and the college admits at least half of its applicants. No college under 50% is ever called a safety.

Your top five mixes the three: two reaches, two targets, and a safety for strong students, or one reach, two targets, and two safeties for everyone else. Reaches are only picked when your scores are within realistic range of the admitted class.

How prices are estimated

• US private colleges: the average net price paid by aided students, from federal data. Colleges that meet 100% of demonstrated need are penalized less when they run over budget, because your own price may be lower.
• US public universities: the in-state average net price if you live in that state. If you don't — or you choose not to say where you live — we add the published difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition.
• If you live outside the US: US colleges give international students little aid and no federal or state grants, so we estimate from published tuition plus about $14k a year in living costs. Colleges that meet 100% of need for admitted students keep their aided average.
• Universities abroad: international tuition, since that is what visiting students pay, plus an estimate of local living costs, so they compare fairly with US net prices, which already include housing.

These are estimates. Every US college has a net price calculator on its website — use it before you apply.

Common questions