College & Career Center

Researching Colleges and Universities

Begin planning for college your freshman year:

• Research college admissions high school course requirements
• Meet with your counselor to map out a personalized high school course plan
• Talk with your parents about how you’ll finance your college plans and begin researching financial aid opportunities
• Use the College and Career Center website and the College and Career Center as a resource and guide
• Log into Naviance and play with the College Super Match program.
• Research college majors:  Searching majors for UCs and CSUs

There are many things to consider when choosing the college/university for you:

• Major – Is your major/subject of interest available at this college?
• Location - Do I want to be close to or far away from home?
• Cost – Research cost to live at college town as well as cost of tuition. Work out a budget.
• Size – Consider class size and size of total student population.
• Diversity
• Housing – What sort of on-campus housing is available to students?
• Extracurriculars
• Financial Aid – Does this college offer sufficient financial aid or scholarships opportunities?

• Campus Life – Is this a social campus, commuter campus, quiet campus?
• Reputation – Is the college accredited and trustworthy? What do other students say about this college?

Researching Colleges and Universities:

• Check out the catalogs and college guide books available in the BV College and Career Center
• Visiting the BV College and Career website
• Talking with your counselor
• Visiting the web sites of the colleges in which you have an interest and taking a virtual tour
• Attending presentations by college representatives visiting BV
• Attending the many college information sessions and college fairs that take place in the Sacramento area
• Visiting the campuses during their Open House and Preview Days (especially during your junior and senior years)
• Checking the student bulletin, the Flash, and the CCC web page for announcements regarding visiting college reps, information sessions, preview days, etc...

Create a list of colleges/universities that would work for you:

• Reach - Your test score are below average for this school, but are close. This includes elite schools like Stanford, Duke, Harvard etc…

• Target – School you really want to attend and your stats (test scores, GPA) meet their requirements.

• Safety – You have above average scores for this school and would be very likely to get in.

Biggest question to ask yourself:  Will I be happy here?

Helpful websites include:

BigFuture.collegeboard.org  Similar to our Naviance program.  This website has information will help you with information about selecting a college, financial aid, researching careers/majors and more.

www.californiacolleges.edu admission requirements, compare/explore colleges, financial aid info, and more for private and public colleges and universities in California. 

www.nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ - US government site that allows future students to evaluate and compare institutions’ prices, financial aid, enrollment fees and academic disciplines. 

www.QuestBridge.org QuestBridge is a powerful platform bridging the nation's brightest, under-served youth and leading institutions of higher education and further opportunities.

gocollege.com - locate appropriate schools by matching test results and other variables

www.ncaa.org The National Collegiate Athletic Association website.

www.ecampustours.com – virtual college tours