You have to make the right match.

With matchmaking, “you have more control over where you’ll wind up going to college than you might think,” the Princeton Review tells teens.

Help your teen set up a spreadsheet, on the computer or on paper. On one side, he should list academic and personal information. This includes grades, scores, courses taken and activities.

On the same side, have him list what he’s looking for in a college. He should specify location, size and course offerings. Living arrangements and social life are also important to his choice.

The top of the spreadsheet is for a list of colleges your teen is considering. Now he can research.

First your teen can look at which colleges best offer the things he wants. At the same time, he can find out which ones are most likely to take him. There’s no way to know for sure, of course, but he can get a good idea by comparing his qualifications with those of a typical freshman at each college.

This takes time. But once it’s done, your teen should have a good list of colleges where he has a strong chance of being accepted. Then he can concentrate on applying to colleges with which he matches well.

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