It's that time of year when seniors make their college bucket lists.

List building is a critical part of the college admissions process, and it's all too easy to make serious academic and financial mistakes. This is especially true if parents allow 17- and 18-year-olds to choose the schools they want to attend. It is not uncommon for teenagers to choose colleges for such dubious reasons as the following:

• I want to go to the same school as my boyfriend/girlfriend or best friend;
• I want to attend a university with a successful football or basketball team;
• I want to go to a big party school;
• I want to stay as close to home as possible or vice versa; and/or
• I want to get into a school that will impress everyone.

With these kinds of desires, it's no wonder that roughly one-third of full-time students who attend a private or public four-year institution end up transferring to another school.

With all that in mind, here are some smart tips for creating lists.

1. Remind children that cost matters

Urge your clients not to let their kids attend a college that can cost anywhere from $150,000 to $400,000! Would parents trust their children to make such a family financial decision for any other big-ticket item?

Parents get off to a bad start by allowing students to choose colleges and universities to visit on fun college tours without knowing what they will cost the family. The worst position parents can take is to tell their child a version of this: Honey, apply to the schools you really want to attend and we'll figure out how to make it happen financially.

A few years ago, I had that scenario happen to me with a family member. I told my relative that his son was not going to get an award leave from New York University, but he let him apply to see what happened. What happened was that the teenager got into NYU and he blamed his father for letting him go and ignored schools that offered scholarships.

2. Do the math before you apply, not after.

Use net price calculators on the schools a child is interested in before you let them apply.

The net price represents what a student will have to pay after deducting scholarships and grants from the school itself, as well as from the federal and state governments. This figure is the true price of a college because it only considers free cash and ignores loans when calculating the cost of a school.

Let's say, for example, that a college costs $80,000 and the student will receive an award of $25,000 from the school and a state grant of $5,000. The net award for this student would be $50,000. If this is not in the family budget, the parents can tell the child that he/she can apply, but if the net price calculator is correct, this college will be off limits.

All schools that participate in the federal financial aid system must include a net price calculator for freshmen on their websites; some even offer a calculator for transfer students.

3. Consider Re-testing

Have a conversation about whether to retake the SAT or ACT. Teens usually take one of the standardized tests in the fall or spring of their freshman year in high school. Students, however, who retake the SAT in the fall of their senior year, on average, improve by 40 points.

While most schools have remained test-optional since the pandemic, the vast majority are happy to accept a student's ACT or SAT score. Better scores can lead to greater chances of acceptance and bigger prize packages.

Families should also ask schools about their SAT and ACT super-scoring policies. Superscores are important when a student takes the SAT or ACT more than once. With super scores, a school will receive the component with the highest scores across multiple tests. For example, let's say a student earned a 600 in math and a 570 in reading on the SAT. In the next session, the student earned 580 in math and 590 in reading. The total score – 1170 – is the same, but with super points, the college will take the higher math and reading scores (600 and 590), bringing the final score to 1190. This may seem small, but super points can bring extra help to a student.

The vast majority of schools super-score a student's SAT scores, but not as many super-score the ACT. If this is important, be sure to ask individual schools about their super scoring policies.

4. It is not where you go; It's what you do

Parents should explain to their children that where they attend college is not as important as the major they choose and what they do at whatever college they attend.

I would encourage families to read a reassuring Stanford research report titled, A “fit” over rankings: Why college commitment matters more than selectivity.

And finally, please read mine July column which discusses the importance of academic discipline selection even within individual colleges and universities.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy, a nationally recognized expert, offers an online course – Savvy College Planning – exclusively for financial advisors. Click here to get Lynn's guide, Finding the Most Generous Colleges.