As you think about what criteria matter most to you in your future college, you might find that your idea of college fit feels abstract. Wouldn’t it be great to identify the factors that will help you thrive in college so you can research more efficiently? Creating a college vision board can help you narrow down the most critical factors in your ideal college. For students who enjoy visualizing and the creative process, vision boards can provide a fun way to kick off their college research.

What is a Vision Board?

If you’ve never made (or even heard of) a vision board before, it’s basically a visual representation of what matters most to you or the goals you are striving toward. Many people create a vision board to map out their short or long-term future aspirations and keep it close at hand to remind them of what they are aiming for. 

But vision boards can also help you get more specific about your college criteria. Whether you create a traditional vision board using paper, scissors, and glue or use a digital app, the process helps narrow your focus on the criteria that matter most to you in a college. 

How to Create a Vision Board

Traditional Format:

Gather a poster board and a stack of magazines with images and stories that inspire you. Flip through the magazines, tearing or cutting out photos, words, and phrases that capture what you want from your college experience. You can also find images online and print them.

For example, if it’s important to you that your ideal college is in a city, then you might find a picture of tall buildings or bustling sidewalks. If mountain views and hiking opportunities will help you thrive in college, cut out related images. Think about what you want in a campus political climate, classes, sports, clubs, food, student body, professors, transportation, and more. Add words, phrases, or quotes related to important aspects of a college. Arrange the cutouts on the poster boards in categories, with areas for academics, campus size, clubs, location, weather,  and school culture.

Stand back and review your college vision board. Do the images portray the balance of sports, arts, culture, classes, and campus traditions you want? Does the overall vision board reflect values vital to you, such as global engagement, sustainability, diversity, or service opportunities? Keep going until you’re happy with the images and can see yourself at a college that includes everything represented.

Digital Media Format:

Download a creative app that creates collages or vision boards, like Canva or Shuffles. These let you drag and drop digital images onto a virtual vision board, which you can do on your phone. Search their image libraries or upload your pictures representing campus essentials. Play with arranging and rearranging the photos and text to capture your ideal academic and campus life. Pinterest users might want to create a new board instead of using a different app. Canva users can also record a video of themselves explaining their chosen items and save it to their vision board. This can be helpful to share with parents and a college counselor as you work on building your college list.

Whether you create a low-tech poster board or a digital vision board, this hands-on, creative exercise helps you narrow your college preferences. Let the vision of your perfect-fit college inspire and guide your search process!