Mindset & Approach

 

Your approach and preparatory process is essential to having a focused and directed college search.

The National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) is an organization of more than 28,000 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students as they make choices about pursuing postsecondary education.  They publish a high-level outline of that approach in their national published brochure collegebreakdown

Other Resources:
Finding the Perfect College
How to Choose a College:  A Step-by-Step Guide
How to Decide Where to Attend College
How to Choose a College Major

College Search Engines & Forums

 

College Board | BigFuture (account required)
The same company that produces the SAT, PSAT, and AP testing has created a free resource to assist in the college search process that supports building your college list, options to pay for college, and career exploration.  Click HERE to explore the site – it will ask you to create an account.

CollegeSimply
This engine allows you to enter your GPA, SAT, and ACT scores and, based on those, give you recommendations on schools you can get into when you apply.  They also categorize schools by state, application deadlines, the most selective, and the least selective, so you can make choices that suit you.  Aside from academics, you can also see the Racial Demographics and Diversity for that particular school.

Niche
Niche’s college rankings are based on the state, major, and campus life.  The rankings that have to do with campus life are given by students attending the school, which helps to gain insight from real students, like you, about their experiences on campus and which college community may be best for you to attend.

collegeconfidential
College Confidential is a forum where people discuss how to select, apply for, get admitted to, and pay for colleges. Most of the discussion on the forum centers on a tiny minority of universities - generally the very top ones in the country. There are subforums on selecting colleges, writing application essays, taking SATs and AP tests, and all kinds of other steps on the way of getting into college.

College Scorecard
This website is run by the U.S. Department of Education.  They have a very simple interface that allows you to enter your zip code or the state wherein you want to attend school.  You can then enter desired major and tuition range information to generate a list of colleges you should apply to, including how much you can expect to make for the type of degree you entered.
SchoolinkLinks
SchooLinks offers Scattergrams for you to see the profile (GPA/Test Score) of Parkway West students who have applied to each institution and whether they were admitted or denied.  This is a great way to see if you might be a competitive applicant!

 

Campus Visits

Visiting the campuses of the colleges you are considering is an essential step in the process of ranking and prioritizing your final college list.  Below are a series of documents intended to help prep and organize your visits. 
Campus Visit Checklist
College Search Worksheet
Get the Most Out of a Campus Visit
How to Research Colleges Without Visiting a Campus

ACCESS Offices (Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support)

 

To explore what learning supports/academic adjustments may be available, search for "Access Office" or "Disability Office" on the campus website. You will typically work with an advisor to review your high school IEP/504 Plan to determine what support would be most appropriate on their campus.  A great resource for families is NCCSD, which is the National Center for College Students with Disabilities.  Think College is a resource to find post-secondary options for students with intellectual disabilities.  Although colleges are not required by law to follow these high school plans, some colleges are more equipped and intentionally prepared to do so.  Below is a list of colleges/webpages that highlight such programs:

Southern Illinois U - Edwardsville
UMSL – SUCCEED Program