THE EXPLANATIONS GIVEN BY 8,292 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF THEIR CHOICE OF COLLEGES WAS EXAMINED TO DETERMINE IF THE INFLUENCES OF THESE CHOICES COULD BE ORGANIZED INTO CATEGORIES. USING A THREE POINT SCALE, THE STUDENTS RATED 27 ITEMS ON THE STUDENT PROFILE SECTION OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE TESTING BATTERY. THE ITEMS PERTAINED TO INFLUENCES AND WERE RATED ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE EACH ITEM DETERMINED THE CHOICE. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED WITH PRODUCT MOMENT CORRELATIONS, AND FACTOR ANALYSIS. THE FIRST FOUR PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS FOR EACH SEX WERE ROTATED TO A FINAL SOLUTION BY THE VARIMAX PROCEDURE. THERE IS MUCH SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE STRUCTURE OF INFLUENCES FOR MEN AND WOMEN. THE EVIDENCE IS IMPRESSIVE FOR CONSISTENT ORGANIZATION OF CONSIDERATIONS INFLUENCING COLLEGE CHOICE. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ARE GIVEN FOR THE FOUR VARIMAX FACTORS--INTELLECTUAL EMPHASIS, PRACTICALITY, ADVICE OF OTHERS, AND SOCIAL EMPHASIS. THE RESULTS IMPLY THAT A USEFUL TOOL FOR PRACTICAL AND RESEARCH PURPOSES HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. SINCE THE FOUR MAJOR AREAS OF INFLUENCE ARE CONSISTENT WITH AREAS EMPHASIZED BY INFORMATIONAL PUBLICATIONS, HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND COLLEGE ADMISSIONS OFFICERS MAY USE THE FACTORS AS A FRAMEWORK FOR COUNSELING. FUTURE RESEARCH MAY UTILIZE THE FACTORS--(1) AS CONTROLS TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF COLLEGE ON STUDENTS, (2) TO STUDY THEIR RELATION TO STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS, AND (3) TO CONTRIBUTE TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENTS. (PR)