Discover your ideal college: to find the right college out of some 4,000 choices, you need to look far and wide at all your options—and inside yourself

It's every parent's mantra: Turn that thing off and do your homework. Playing video games won't get you into college. Mostly it's true. But not for Farid Mokraoui. When he was in high school, thinking about becoming a doctor, he played endless games of Zelda: Link to the Past on his X-Box. The more he played, the less he wanted to be a doctor. And the better he got at playing other people's video games, the more he thought about designing games of his own.

Now he's a senior at the Art Institute of Phoenix, about to receive his bachelor's degree in electronic game design. His parents won't be able to brag about their son the doctor, but they're delighted that he found the right college to prepare him for a career in one of the country's most rapidly growing fields.

"After taking a lot of science courses in high school," recalls Moukraoui, a native of Danville, Illinois, "I realized I didn't really like science that much. But I did like art, and I loved playing video games. So when I took a summer program at the Art Institute, it just seemed like the right place for me. I love working with teams of students to create a product. This was a good college choice for me. I really love what I do."

When it comes to choosing a college, it's all about you--finding the school that fits who you are and what you want to do with the next four years and beyond.

"It's so important that you look at what your personal priorities are," says Kelly Tanabe, coauthor of How to Get into Any College (Supercollege, 2004). "Develop your own personal college rankings and don't just rely on what the magazines or your parents or your friends say. Take a good hard look at yourself."

Your priorities might include a leafy--green campus with professors who work closely with students--or a fast-paced urban setting with a constantly changing sea of Faces and a wide range of activities. Bur whatever your priorities are, they're the starting point for finding exactly the right college for you.

To define your priorities, answer the following questions and take our "U First Quiz" on page 12.

WHAT AM I REALLY INTERESTED IN?

Jamie Heisler, 21, a junior at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri, has never known the meaning of the phrase "stage fright." She's been singing, dancing, and acting since she was only four years old--her mom always says that she could sing an entire song before she could even talk. Her goal? To head to New York to be a star on Broadway. So when she looked at colleges, her preference was a school with a strong theater major. "There are lots of schools with good theater departments," says Heisler, "and stone of them, like NYU, are very prestigious. But the important thing to me was to get stage experience right off the bat." So she researched schools near and far from her home in Portland, Oregon, and even attended the International Thespian Festival, a conference for aspiring actors held every year in Lincoln, Nebraska. She finally chose William Woods, where she landed the lead role in a play her very first semester on campus.

"Your major is a primary factor in choosing a college," says Carol Descak, director of admissions at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia. So do your homework. "Talk to faculty, current students, and alumni. Ask what makes the program at one college different from or better than the same program at another school. Ask about special opportunities for research, field placement, internships, and mentoring programs. And be sure to observe the facilities-are the labs, art studios, and so on fully equipped? What is the state of the technology and how is it integrated into the curriculum?"

Be sure to think about extracurricular activities, too--college life is about more than just hitting the books. Evan Coughenour, 21, from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, was involved in lots of activities when he was in high school, from track and lacrosse to the jazz combo. That was a major consideration when he chose to attend Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he's a member of the Whiffenpoofs, an acapella singing group.

HOW SMART AM I?

Last year, almost 15,000 students paid $70 for the privilege of getting rejected by Princeton University. Don't throw your money away. Be realistic about your academic abilities and look for a school that matches them. Before you invest time and money in an application, find out the average GPA and test scores of the freshman class, and the percentage of applicants who are accepted. Apply to the schools in the range that best fits your own academic profile.

"Given the increase in the number of students applying to four-year schools," says Keith Gramling, director of admissions at l,oyola University in New Orleans, "many universities haven't increased the size of their freshman class [and they have grown even more selective]. A review of a university's academic profile can tell you if you are a likely fit for that community."

HOW INDEPENDENT AM I?

Some students thrive in an environment that leaves them to fend for themselves, while others are more comfortable with some hand-holding, at least during the first year. "If you're not sure which category you fit into," says Kelly Tanabe, "look at your high school experience. Do you take the initiative to deal with teachers and administrators, or do you rely on your room and dad?" Then talk to students about the campus style--which may range from laissez-faire to nurturing--and see if it's a match.

"We go to great efforts to provide a personal touch for students," says Sara Axelson, associate vice president for enrollment management at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. "Even though we have about 12,000 students on campus, we do everything we can to help students connect with faculty and one another."

And while every college will provide students with guidance, many schools stress more self-reliance by offering opportunities to design their own individualized programs.

Ask yourself, too, how independent you are from your family and friends. Are you itching to get out of your hometown? Before you pack your bags and cross 10 state lines, think carefully about how far you're willing to stray from family and how visits back home will affect your finances.

Keep in mind that applying to a school in a distant location may actually increase your chances of acceptance. "Geographic diversity is a prized commodity for a college community," says Michael Maxey, dean of admissions and financial aid at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, "so a student coming from an underrepresented area presents an enriching experience for others. That would be a positive consideration in the admission process."

Karen Wynholds, 18, ventured all the way across the country, from Cupertino, California, to Adelphi University in Garden City, a few miles east of Manhattan. "I grew up in California," she explains, "and I started to realize there's more out there. I saw college as the perfect opportunity to move. I figured I might as well try something completely different."

Beatrice Yung, 21, of Flushing, New York, on the other hand, stayed a bit closer to home. 'Tin very close to my family," she explains, "and I wanted to have the dorm experience but be able to go home on weekends." She's now a senior accounting major at the State University of New York at Binghamton, a three-hour drive from home.

HOW WILL THIS COMPARE TO MY HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE?

Think about what you like--and dislike--about high school. Are you bored in a tiny school filled with kids you've known since kindergarten? Do you love your big, noisy, high-tech suburban high school? Decide what you'd like to replicate about your high school experience--and what you'd like to relegate to the distant past.

"I went to the second-largest high school in the state of Oregon," says Jamie Heisler, "and I knew that when I went to college I wanted something different--I wanted to push myself and grow as a person. I definitely didn't want college to be high school, part two." Instead, she chose a college with only about 600 students, small classes, involved faculty members, and students who go to all the sporting and cultural events.