Wes: Despite what the self-help book market tells us, there are precious few formulas for success in life. But when it comes to college selection, I’ve been experimenting with one that works amazingly well. As we’ve discussed and often debated in this column, college choices are frequently made on too much emotion and not enough reason. My approach — which uses a simple but elegant Excel spreadsheet — lets you quantify both your feelings and your thoughts about different colleges into a useable framework. The results may surprise you.

photo by: Nick Krug

Double Take columnists Gabe Magee and Dr. Wes Crenshaw

We’re coming up on the May 1 deadline for undecided seniors (including Gabe), so it will take some last-minute spreadsheet magic to get your data into the table. But for juniors about to embark on college decision-making, there’s plenty of time to begin refining your decision using this formula. Here’s how:

1. Force yourself to learn just enough of Microsoft Excel to set up a simple spreadsheet or skip ahead to my last paragraph for a free gift.

2. Enter into column A, row by row, everything you think is important about college. You might include academics (imagine that), quality of dorm life, size, cost, distance from home, and so on

3. In Column B, enter a numerical weight between 1 and 10 for each of the items in Column A. So, if having a great sports team is really important to you, enter a weight of 9 or 10. If you don’t care that much about how big the campus is or how large your classes, weight those items a 1 or 2.

4. In Column C, rate “College 1” on each of characteristics in Column A.

5. In Column D plug in this formula: =B3*C3. That’s going to multiple your rating on that item by your weighting. Then pull that cell down so each line works the same way.

6. Do the same thing for Columns E and F, G and H, I and J, and so on to infinity–though hopefully you don’t have that many colleges to choose from.

7. Total columns D, F, H, J, etc. and you’ll see how your schools stack up on a list of characteristics you chose and rated.

And guess what? If this sounds too confusing or difficult to figure out, I’ll make it easy for you. Send an email to ask@dr-wes.com with the subject line “College Spreadsheet” and I will send you back your very own template. All I ask is that you shoot me some feedback down the road on how well it worked for you and if you don’t mind, I’d enjoy seeing the data you keyed in.

Gabe: There’s a very abstract element to what college you want to go to. You can compile all the ratings and figures you want, but in the end where you go is more about how the place makes you feel rather than what boxes it ticks off. An excel spreadsheet can be a good start, but truly getting a sense for a college requires you to figure out how you fit in there.

Two Wednesdays ago Dr. Wes and I did a radio show about making college decisions. I stressed that rising juniors should be visiting campuses in order to get a better idea of what it’s actually like to live there. Learn the layout of the campus. It’s more important than you think. Imagine going somewhere you’ve been excited about your entire final year and ending up hating the logistics of getting around. I eliminated some colleges this way when I toured last summer.

Even if those who’ve been admitted should tour or re-tour the campus to be sure their family’s hard-earned dollars are going to be spent on a place they love. I confessed on the air that I was having trouble deciding between two colleges. Two weeks later, I still am, which is why I’m going back to both campuses next week. I’ll be looking for the little things that cannot be found in a brochure — what the housing is really like, what’s in the surrounding town, what the (gasp) party scene is like.

Maybe all of this can be distilled down into a set of numbers, but even in this age of technology, I am still of the mind that the best decisions come from the gut — even when those gut feelings are really just a bunch of hormones.

— Wes Crenshaw, Ph.D., ABPP, is author of “I Always Want to Be Where I’m Not: Successful Living with ADD & ADHD.” Learn about his writing and practice at dr-wes.com. Gabe Magee is a Bishop Seabury Academy senior. Send your confidential 200-word question to ask@dr-wes.com. Double Take opinions and advice are not a substitute for psychological services.