College Resource Page (How to begin your college search)
College Applications
Applying Directly to the Institution
On every college's website, you will find a link to apply for that school. Some schools may inform you to complete it through Common App OR the ability to do either OR just through their website. If it is just through their website, they'll ask you to make a profile and to complete the application. Anytime you apply directly to an institution, you'll need to inform counselors and coaches. Not every college application is the same and will ask the same question, but in different ways.
Applying through Common App:
Every Senior should make a Common Application account just to check if the majority of your interested colleges are there. This will save you time by staying organized, keeping up with the college's deadlines, and it connects with your SchooLinks. In addition, some college questions might be difficult, but they have a complete guide that supports students.
College Applications Tips
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Always use your full name, especially if you are completing financial aid so the college does not get confused
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If you are confused on a question, do not guess
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Make sure you are applying for Fall 2025 as a first time student
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Do not lie on your application
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Save your sign-in information
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Check your emails daily
Match and Fit for Colleges:
Types of Colleges and Universities:
Is a college the same thing as a university? What does "liberal arts" mean? Why are some colleges called public and others private? Here are the basics on the types of colleges.
Four-Year and Two-Year Colleges:
Four-year colleges offer four-year programs that lead to a bachelor's degree. These include universities and liberal arts colleges.
Two-year colleges offer programs that last up to two years that lead to a certificate or an associate degree. These include community colleges, vocational-technical colleges and career colleges.
Public and Private Colleges:
Public colleges are funded by local and state governments and usually offer lower tuition rates than private colleges, especially for students who are residents of the state where a college is located.
Examples of public colleges include: University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Indiana University, University of California at Los Angeles, Grand Valley State University, and Colorado State University
Private colleges rely mainly on tuition, fees and private sources of funding. Private donations can sometimes provide generous financial aid packages for students.
Examples of private colleges include: University of Vermont, University of Denver, Lake Forest College, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Notre Dame, University of Chicago, Boston College, and Duke University.
Liberal Arts & Sciences:
A liberal arts and sciences education is broad. You’ll study literature, languages, and the natural and social sciences. There also might be options to study computer science and business, to set up a career internship, and to study abroad for a term. Most are private and offer four-year programs that lead to a bachelor's degree.
Studies have shown that a liberal arts education makes you a careful reasoner and a creative and flexible thinker. You’ll learn to speak and write persuasively and to solve complex problems. All of these are qualities that employers and graduate programs value.
A liberal arts education will help you understand the world around you and develop your interests, talents and values. If you enjoy a variety of subjects and think you could succeed in a number of areas, then you probably should consider the liberal arts and sciences.
Examples of liberal arts and sciences colleges include: Lake Forest College, Beloit College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Grinnell College, Lawrence University, Kalamazoo College, Macalester College, Knox College, Oberlin College, Trinity College, Augustana College, DePauw University, and Valparaiso University.
Universities:
Universities often are larger and offer more majors and degree options—bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees—than colleges. Most universities contain several smaller colleges, such as colleges of liberal arts, engineering or health sciences. These colleges can prepare you for a variety of careers or for graduate study.
Examples of Universities include: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Iowa, Boston University, Yale University, Purdue University, University of Southern California, and Michigan State University.
Community Colleges:
Community colleges offer two-year associate degrees that prepare you to transfer to a four-year college to earn a bachelor's degree. They also offer other associate degrees and certificates that focus on preparing you for a certain career. Community colleges are often an affordable option with relatively low tuition.
Examples of community colleges include: City Colleges of Chicago (Truman, Wright, Washington, Malcom X, Kennedy-King, Daley, and Olive-Harvey), Oakton Community College, Morton College, and College of DuPage.
Vocational-Technical and Career Colleges:
Vocational-technical and career colleges offer specialized training in a particular industry or career. Possible programs of study include the culinary arts, firefighting, dental hygiene and medical-records technology. These colleges usually offer certificates or associate degrees.
Examples of vocational-technical and career colleges include: Kendall College, DeVry University, Chamberlin College of Nursing, and IIT Technical Institute.
Art Colleges:
Art colleges and conservatories focus on the arts. In addition to regular course work, these colleges provide training in areas such as photography, music, theater or fashion design. Most of these colleges offer associate or bachelor's degrees in the fine arts or a specialized field.
Examples of arts colleges include: San Francisco School of Art & Deign, Illinois Institute of Art & Design, Savannah College of Art, Kansas City Art Institute, and New Hampshire Institute of Art.
Specialized-Mission Colleges:
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) focus on educating African American students. Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) are colleges where at least 25 percent of the full-time undergraduate students are Hispanic. HBCUs and HSIs may offer programs, services and activities targeted to the underrepresented students they serve.
Examples of HBCUs include: Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, Tennessee State University, Dillard University, and Spelman College. For a complete list of HBCUs check out this list.
Examples of HSIs include: Northeastern Illinois University, Morton College, and Valencia College
For-Profit Colleges:
These are businesses that offer a variety of degree programs which typically prepare students for a specific career. They tend to have higher costs, which could mean graduating with more debt. Credits earned may not transfer to other colleges, so be sure to check with the admission office at each college.
Examples of for-profit colleges include: University of Phoenix, Westwood College, IIT Technical Institute, Kaplan University, Everest College, and Le Cordon Bleu.
Things to consider in a College Environment:
Location:
- Do you want to stay near home or travel several times a year? (Consider how much travel expenses will cost, especially during holidays)
- Do you want the fast-paced life of a metropolitan campus or easygoing serenity of a small town college town?
- Is it import for you to be nearby mountains for skiing or oceans for swimming, etc?
- What kind of weather do you like?
Student Body:
- Is a single sex or coed school more your liking?
- Are you looking for a student body drawn from across the nation or from a smaller geographic area?
- Do you want to be surrounded by thousands of classmates or only a few hundred?
Academic Requirements:
- How do you realistically view yourself as a student?
- Do you have the academic record to be seriously considered by highly competitive institution?
- Do you want an academically demanding college program or would you prefer a school where you can make respectable grades without knocking yourself out?
- Do you expect to be aiming for graduate school?
- Do they have the major you are interested in?
Academic Structure:
- Do you feel attracted to a larger university encompassing many schools and colleges or to a small single-purpose institution?
- Does a liberal arts or a professional curriculum seem more in line with your career interests?
- Do your interests require specialized facilities?
- Are you looking for a specific major?
- Do you need a highly structured academics framework in order to work effectively or can you work with a curriculum that allows for independent projects or has no requirements at all?
- Do you need the incentive of grades or would you work equally well under a pass/fail or comment grading system?
Campus Life:
- Do you want to live in a dormitory or off campus? How much are the dorms? What is the availability of off campus housing?
- Is it important to you that there be something happening on campus every minute or would you be happiest in a more leisurely setting?
- Are you interested in fraternity or sorority life?
- Are you in a inveterate joiner who is looking for a school with a wide assortment of extracurricular activities?
- Can you live with restrictions and regulations?
- Do you want an extensive athletic program?
Costs:
- Is your family able to pay the generally higher tuition of a private college (or can you get a scholarship) or does a public college seem more feasible?
- Are you interested in work-study programs, in which the college officially combines or alternates periods or employment with periods of study? (cooperative education)
- If you are sure you won’t quality for scholarship assistance, would you be willing to work part-time and/or take loans to pay for your education?
SchooLinks & Research Website:
- Using SchooLinks, students can:
- Access career interest, strength and mindset surveys
- Build and review their Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP)
- Explore 2-year and 4-year colleges
- Take virtual college campus tours
- Search for scholarships
- Learn about financial aid
- Find internship and volunteer opportunities
- Explore traditional, emerging, and military career fields
- Create digital portfolios / resumes
- Communicate with counselors
In addition to SchooLinks, check out these websites for more college information:
College Board’s “BigFuture” is an extensive college search engine. The best feature is the financial information provided for each college that is identified. This is one of the few sites that tell students the average amount of need met by each college’s financial aid department.
This is the official college search site of the US Department of Education. You can search for colleges by a number of different criteria, plus you can check out the retention and graduation rates of different colleges.
Extensive college search information. Plus, browse college rankings section for a list of top schools in various categories.
Explore college rankings based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of student and alumni reviews.
In depth information about college majors and related careers.
View virtual college campus tours and interactive campus maps.
Choosing a College Major
"What do you want to major in?" Don’t worry if you’re not ready to answer this question. It’s OK to take your time and explore your options. At most colleges, you don't have to choose a major until the end of your sophomore year.
There are often dozens, if not hundreds, of majors you can choose from in college, and some are very different from what you study in high school. This can make it hard to choose a major on a college application, regardless of whether you have to just indicate interest or actually apply to a major.
Check out these resources to help you choose a college major:
When you choose a major, you are also choosing an environment – surroundings and conditions that,
- Encourage students with a certain personality, and often
- Discourage students with a different kind of personality.
- There are six personality types according to John Holland's theory: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Once you know your Holland Type you can easily discover majors that relate to what you're interested in. It's that easy!
CLICK HERE to take the O*NET Interest Profiler to discover your Holland type!