Build Your Spreadsheet

Adding information to a spreadsheet helps you organize, compare, and find data more easily.

In this video, you'll type in a list of colleges, then enter criteria for each school as column headers.

A "header" is text that appears at the top of a spreadsheet to group and identify the information in a column.

Setting up your spreadsheet now will save you time later when you're researching schools.

You'll have places ready to record and eventually compare information.

To begin, add a header to the first column in your spreadsheet by typing in cell A1.

Next, add at least five more headers for the college criteria that are important to you.

This example uses: location, campus quality, distance from home, electrical engineering major, and degree type.

In your spreadsheet, use the criteria that matters most to you.

After you type in at least five criteria that you will use to compare schools, add a method of measurement to each column header.

This could be a city and state, a numbered scale, time in hours and minutes or distance, a "yes/no" option, or some other measurement.

Make your measurements specific and consistent, so you'll be able to compare schools easily.

For example, if you use city and state to track location, but only record a city that can influence your results, and it won't provide an accurate basis for comparison.

For longer or larger sheets, the consistency of terms and measurements affects how well you can filter and sort data to make comparisons.

Once you've added your column headers and measurements, rearrange your criteria in order of importance to you.

To do this, cut and paste entire columns.

This lets you reorganize information without having to type it in again.

Now, freeze the top row to keep your column headers visible while you scroll through your spreadsheet.

Bold your headers.

Finally, under the college header, type the names of at least three colleges you're interested in.

If you're not familiar with any colleges, ask a teacher, family member, or friend to help you.

In the next video, you'll begin searching for specific information about these schools on the internet.

Now it's your turn: add at least five headers to your spreadsheet, add measurements to your headers, arrange your criteria in order of importance to you, freeze and bold your criteria, and enter at least three colleges you're interested in learning more about.