School counsellor wants a list of 10 to 12 universities by July. How did you narrow yours?

ochre_tiffin_221324 Jun 2026

The university counsellor at our daughter's school has asked every DP student to come back by the end of July with a list of 10 to 12 universities. She has a mix of places in India and two abroad that her friends talk about, and no real reason for most of them. We have no experience of this. My partner and I both studied in Hyderabad and went wherever our marks allowed. How did your family get from a long wish list to ten or twelve? Did you visit, follow the counsellor's suggestions, or go by course content?

4 comments

citrus_quilt_214424 Jun 2026
a year behind you here, and cbse, so no list yet. my son has already ruled out half the country because of the weather, which i suppose is a criterion
quiet_kettle_142724 Jun 2026
Ten to twelve sounds like a lot unless application costs don't matter to you. I'd ask the counsellor why that number. A friend's daughter applied to five, with a clear reason for each, and was fine. Long lists seem to suit the school's records more than the student.
rose_kettle_758524 Jun 2026
No help on the list, sorry. But 'university consultants' have started calling me about my 13 year old and she hasn't even picked her class 11 subjects 🤷
- silver_sketch_532425 Jun 2026
  Those calls start early and don't stop. We had them all through our daughter's class 11 and 12 and never found out where they got the number. For what it's worth, she has just finished her first year of college and we did it without a consultant. It took more of our evenings, but she knew why she was applying to each place.
apricot_badminton_792524 Jun 2026
One filter I'd suggest: for each university, find out what an ordinary week of first-year teaching looks like in that course. Hours in class, how much is lectures, where students live. Brochures all read the same; the weekly timetable doesn't. Places that can't tell you are easy to cut.
- ochre_tiffin_221326 Jun 2026
  That is a useful filter, and easier for her to research herself than rankings. She has started a sheet with one row per university and a column for first-year hours. Four places already have a question mark in that column.