by Preston - There are tons of colleges out there. How can you possibly figure out which one is the perfect fit?

Let’s be honest, finding the right colleges is one of the most exciting, but difficult parts of college baseball recruiting. In fact, this is true for any sport. How do you decide where you want to spend what many people describe as "the best years of your life?"

Not so long ago, I was trying to navigate the baseball recruitment process. It took a lot, but I firmly believe that in the end, I found the one college that was the best school for me.

Let me tell you how I got there.

First, I sat down and wrote out my priorities. I knew from the outset that academics were what mattered most to me. But my college experience wouldn’t be complete without the chance to play baseball. By the same token, I wanted to explore other opportunities in college.

So that was my challenge: find a top academic school with a very good baseball team that would still give me the opportunity to try other things.

I started by looking at Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Each of these schools had great academics, but as I looked more closely, I realized that playing baseball would be a stretch. Being honest with myself was essential. I knew I could play in college, but probably not at the highest level. I was not exactly baseball scholarship material. (This advice goes for softball scholarships, too.

So I started to look elsewhere, specifically to a number of Division III teams that played very good baseball and wouldn’t require a year-round commitment. Division III sounded like a great fit.

My list ballooned to about 20 colleges, including MIT, the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and Emory. It was a fairly large list, so I dug a little deeper.

I considered the type of social environment I wanted to be in (studious, laid back, and diverse); what I wanted to study (economics); and where I wanted to live (in a big city.)

As I reevaluated each school, it became clear that the University of Chicago was the one for me. Between its notoriously tough academics, quirky academic environment, solid baseball team, legendary economics department, and location, it was the perfect fit.