Considerations in selecting a college were studied with a random sample of 768 freshmen admitted to the University of California (UC), Davis, in fall 1984. Major findings are: freshmen admitted to UC Davis had considerable breadth of knowledge about many other colleges and academic programs; over 80 percent applied to colleges besides UC Davis; most students who applied elsewhere were accepted by at least one college besides UC Davis; location and academic quality factors were the main reasons matriculants chose to attend UC Davis; compared to matriculants, students who chose not to come to UC Davis applied to more colleges, to a wider variety of colleges, and to more out-of-state colleges than did matriculants; no one college campus stood well above the others in terms of attracting nonmatriculants; nonmatriculants most often chose to attend California private colleges or out-of-state colleges; and the top three colleges chosen by nonmatriculants were California State University, San Luis Obispo, Stanford University, and the University of Santa Clara. Distinctions between matriculants and nonmatriculants by fields of study are also noted for: (1) engineering majors and (2) students in the Colleges of Letters and Science and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. (SW)