When universities choose candidates for a new batch, or when companies choose their new employees to hire, they start by defining the criteria that the need in the new hires up front, and only then undertake the process of tests and interviews to identify who meets that.

The criteria comes first and then the tests.

But, in several aspects of our lives, we reverse the order. 

We first start to evaluate our options and then discover the criteria along the way, like when evaluating which job offer to take up or which place to live in. 

For all the choices we make, starting with the criteria leads to better decisions.