It is college admissions season. On campuses around the country, staff members are reading application essays, perusing letters of recommendation, charting SAT scores, checking alumni records, looking at coaches’ wish lists and balancing the incoming class with males, females, northeasterners, southwesterners, volleyball spikers and trombone players. In the end, using best judgments and past predictors, looking at current trends and financial aid packages, letters to high school seniors will be prepared for mailing that say yes, no, or maybe.

Colleges do their very best to sort the thousands of applications received with a set of what I describe as semi-scientific guidelines: all things being equal (and no two applicants are ever equal), the student with the strongest grades, higher test scores, better references, rarer skill set, and better vocabulary will get in. But life is never so simple. There are always exceptions, always a few who do not easily fit into the grid, people who appear too good to pass up and whose files are soon marked “in” rather than “out.” A good jump shot never hurts.

High school advisers try their best to match students to colleges where they believe they’ll have the best chance of doing well. “Apply to six,” says the counselor, “four where you’re likely to be accepted, one that is a “reach” and one that is a “sure thing.” The data for the recommendations come, by and large, from previous experience — from who got in last year and the year before that, and the year before that. Using what I again describe as semi-scientific guidelines, college counselors steer their advisees into paths likely to reach successful outcomes. After all, if they failed repeatedly, year in and year out, they’d be looking for a new job.

Guidebooks, like the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report, give the public a quasi-neutral appraisal of America’s colleges and universities, by setting up a set of criteria and then using a rating system that often seems more appropriate for Zagat’s restaurant guide than for college admission. “Best Party School,” “Best Marching Band,” and “Closest to a Mall” (the last one is not really a category, though it sounds like it could be very, very soon if the populist trends continue). And, for the third time, I will say that using semi-scientific guidelines, parents and applicants are given another tool to help make choices.

Lastly, and certainly most importantly, come the students themselves. They are the most critical factor in the admissions process. They are the ones who will say, “Here’s where I want to go” or “No way am I going there.” And how do they go about making a decision? First, they ask themselves, where did their best friend from last year go to school? That question is always high on the list, providing, of course, that the friend loves the school. And they always do. Second, what was the weather like on the day the student visited the campus? Rained at Princeton but was sunny at Dartmouth — then check “yes” for Hanover, N.H.! Who gave the campus tour? A funny, non-stop talker who can walk backwards AND chew gum at the same time? Or, let me here pose a question: What do the following campuses have in common: MIT, Wayne State, Pace University, Northwestern, USC, and Johns Hopkins? The answer is a sports link — but not an NCAA connection. They are each located in a city that is home to an American League major league baseball team. Yes, I really do know someone whose son applied only to schools in cities with a major league team.

High school seniors use anything but semi-scientific guidelines to select colleges they wish to attend. And they rarely use academic guidelines. One is more likely to hear a senior say, “Campus X has no classes on Friday” than “Campus X has the best undergraduate chemistry department in the country.”

My own children, who grew up on college campuses, had a slightly laid-back approach to the admissions process (I’m stressing the slightly because there was a fair amount of household tension in the air at the time). They made their lists, sent in their applications, took their best shot aiming for the stars, and waited. Once admitted (and each had more than one choice, I’m proud to say), they arranged to go visit. When their friends learned that our sons were not going on the traditional high-school parade of campuses before applying to college, they asked, “Why not?” My oldest put it simply, “Why fall in love before you know if it’s an option? I don’t want to start off my freshman year thinking that this is not the school where I really hoped to be.”

Finally, The Wall Street Journal reported this week on three Web sites that match applicants and colleges by comparing their wish lists — a dating service for higher education. And I quote:

“Create a profile on Cappex (www.cappex.com), a free Web-based ‘matchmaking’ service that pairs students with colleges looking for specific types of candidates. Cappex also helps facilitate introductions between colleges and students by forwarding student profiles to admissions offices. Hone in on schools using factors such as cost and location at College MatchMaker, an online service from the College Board (http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/adv_typeofschool.jsp). Or generate a list of your child’s personal top schools using the ranking feature on Admish, an online college admissions community (www.admish.com/?q=the_best_college_for_me) with personal ranking criteria students choose from a master list.“

But the heart is a lonely hunter.