College and University
Information
Listed here are several sites. Some are similar to
one another, but each has its own unique features. All colleges and
universities are not at every site. Browse around. Also visit our
page titled "General Commercial
Sites" for some helpful resources. Have fun!
Choosing a College -- The Selection Process
- You know you want to go to college, but where do you start with the search?
The U.S. Dept. of Education has useful site for parents on the selection process
called "How Can My Child
go about Choosing a College?" Getting yourself thinking about a few priorities
will be a great help in this complex process. This site is an archived site
of older information, but it is concise and still accurate.
- To get an idea of what student on a campus are thinking and doing and what
the "issues" are, check the student newspaper. Greekspot.com
has a very long list of student-run campus newspapers from across the U.S.
and some from other countries. Student newspapers offer a look not shown in
the glossy viewbooks, virtual tours, or student-led campus tours.
Local, Illinois, and Big 10
Schools
- Two great reasons to be a student in Urbana-Champaign are The
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, our very own world-class university,
and Parkland College, our quality community
college. Here, they are just a click away!
- Apply to UI quickly by using their online
process. Be sure to read their "Application Tips & Checklist"
section! The Parkland online
application takes only minutes to complete and submit electronically.
(Just be sure to complete a transcript request form in the guidance office.)
- Looking for Parkland College
Dual Credit? Through Dual Credit, high school juniors
and seniors, ages 16 and older, take Parkland College courses to earn credit
simultaneously toward both a high school diploma and a college degree. Talk
to your high school counselor or contact your chosen college for specific
information.
- There are 12 reasons to attend a state school. Illinois State, Eastern,
Southern, and all the other State Universities in Illinois are accessible
along with addresses, phone numbers, links to home pages and e-mail to admissions
offices, and electronic (web-based) applications. For a nice PDF document
giving brief information on the 12 state schools, download the "12
Reasons" booklet from the IACAC (Illinois Association for College
Admissions Counseling) site. If you want a nice chart of majors and admission
requirements, check "At a Glance" on the same page.
- Interested in one or more of the Big Ten Universities in addition
to the U of I? Check out our Other
Big Ten Universities link for those other quality rival schools.
- IllinoisMentor™, is a
service of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. It allows users to
explore career options, compare colleges, complete and submit applications
on line, and ask questions. There is a huge amount of information here!
Searching for Colleges
- If you are not sure what colleges might be of interest or you want to compare
some schools, the Institute of Education Sciences (part of the U.S. Dept.
of Educ.) has "College
Navigator" to help you search for a college. You can search
for a college based on its location, institution type (2 or 4-yr), and level
of award/degree. If you click "More Search Options" at the bottom
of the choice panel, you will have the option to use more criteria in your
search. The more you specify, the smaller the number of colleges that will
fit your criteria. You can select schools, then compare information
on them. You can print your comparisons, too. This is a very nice site for
getting side-by-side comparative data.
- Index
of American Universities is maintained by University of Florida and provides
a direct link to over 1500 American colleges and universities. (It
also includes a link to a database of Canadian Universities, other international
schools, and community colleges.)
- Another site, "American
Universities" has a nice little map of the United States which
allows a user to click on a state and get a listing of the 4-year schools
in that state and links to those schools. It's a good approach if you're looking
for schools in a certain state. The site also allows users to search for schools
by alphabetical listings.
Schools Around the World
- Looking for web links to World Wide
Colleges and Universities? The University of Southern California's Center
for Global Education has established a wonderful database of schools around
the world, and it is arranged by continent. Along with a link to the home
language home page, the site also provides direct links to an English Language
Home Page and a link to the school's International Relations Office. The site
also provides background on the system of higher education for each country
around the world.
- Ever thought about attending college in Canada? It may be worth exploring.
The monetary exchange rate makes a Canadian education a good buy, and it may
be closer to home than many U.S. schools. Also, most Canadian schools are
accredited for qualifying for HOPE, Lifetime Learning, and Stafford Loans,
all U.S. aid programs. To check on attending a Canadian school, check out
Study in Canada.
For specifics on being a foreign student in Canada, check out the fact
sheet published by the Canadian government. If you want to read about
education and educational issues in Canada, check out Maclean's
Magazine's online publication, which has a section on ranking the Canadian
schools.
- College and
University Home Pages, a data base started by C. DeMello at MIT, lists
over 3000 schools from around the world. This takes you to the university's
actual web site. This list has recently been enhanced by colleges.com and
breaks the college lists down into focus area such as undergraduate education,
business school, etc. It also lists many foreign schools.
Schools
Not Emphasizing Test Scores for Admission
- Do all schools put a lot of emphasis on test scores? No. An
organization called FairTest has compiled a list of schools that
either do not use test scores or use them minimally in making
admissions decisions regarding some or all of their incoming
freshmen. Check them out for the list of these
SAT/ACT Optional
Schools.
Specialized Schools,
Religious, and HBCUs
- Education.org is a great site if
you are looking for schools with programs of study in Art,
Business, Computers,
Cooking/Culinary, Design,
Environmental Education, or
Fashion. They also list Nursing
Schools and Medical Schools.
These sites list program offerings in these various areas regardless of whether
it is a public or private school or a certificate, associate, bachelors, or
graduate degree program. The site offers direct links to the schools offering
the programs, so the content is fresh and accurate. A couple more valuable
components of these sites are the financial aid and career information links
they offer. which are focused on the particular career areas. Check it out!
- Students looking for a more religious education might want to check the
site of the The National
Catholic College Admission Association, the Christian
College Mentor, or the Jewish Hillel
organization. These sites have a great deal of information specifically for
those looking at this more focused type of educational setting.
- There are many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Students looking at HBCU's would be wise to check the Black
College Common Application by EDU, Inc. which allows students to apply
to 34 HBCU's with one application and just one low application fee of $35.
Two-Year, Vocational, and Technical
Schools
- Looking for a 2-Year School? Maricopa Community College
maintains a searchable index of links to
community colleges
in the U.S. A site still under development but coming along
nicely and now quite usable is
U.S. Two-Year
Colleges. Choose schools by state. It lists community
colleges, technical colleges, junior colleges, branches of 4-yr
colleges which focus on associate degree education, and accredited
2-yr proprietary schools.
- Is a vocational or technical
school what you have in mind? If you're looking for an
educational program to become a jeweler, plumber, cosmetologist,
legal secretary, mechanic, etc., there are many private post
secondary vocational schools offering programs. This site has a
database which is organized first by state, then by programs
offered.
The Common Application
- The Common Application is the recommended
form of many (over 300) selective independent schools and a few public universities.
Students simply complete one form, then copy it and send it to each school
to which they wish to apply, thus eliminating a great deal of duplication
of efforts by students and teachers. The Common Application may be downloaded
in either Word or PDF.
Rankings, Comparing
Schools
- There are all sorts of rankings of colleges/universities and their programs.
The University of Illinois (Urbana) Library has done a nice job collecting
some College and University
Rankings sites and trying to put them into some perspective for users.
This is an excellent site, and the first link read should be the "Caution
and Controversy" link. This site goes on to list national rankings of schools
based on student reports, services for the disabled, minorities, activism,
research, and even the health of the campus squirrels! If you're into rankings,
this is your site.
- Each year, U.S. News & World Report does a special issue ranking
colleges according to a number of criteria and publishes their book entitled
America's
Best Colleges. Save your money on the book by checking their site.
- Ordo Ludus, Latin for "School
Rankings" is a site where "lists provide a more well-rounded view.
They rank 126 colleges and universities in approximately 30 different areas
that are organized into 4 separate categories (Academics, Athletics, Quality
of Life and Tuition and Costs), which are then averaged together to produce
overall rankings.
- Squirrels. They're on every campus (or are they?) and some people think
that's a good way to judge a college or university. You may think they're
out of their tree and completely nuts, but the Campus
Squirrel Listing is our most unique resource for you to use in the quest
to find that "perfect" school. Enjoy.
- Wonder which residence hall to choose? Check out Dorm
Advisor for student comments and ratings of residence halls on a number
of college campuses.
Campus Visits, Security and Safety
- Nothing replaces a campus visit. It is a "must." If you need help
narrowing your list of schools and would like a closer look at a school than
what you get from a viewbook or a web site, consider a video tour. A group
of college counselors has put together their videos of walking tours of more
than 350 colleges and universities at Collegiate
Choice Walking Tours Videos. You can view their list of school, then order
DVD's of any of the schools. The DVD costs less than $20 and run at about
an hour's length. This site and its service has received very good comments
from users and the media. Check it out. And, of course, our guidance office
would be glad for donations of any of those DVD's when you're finished with
them.
- If a students would like to spend some time visiting colleges, there are
companies out there that specialize in just that area. These are not cheap,
but you do get a professionally organized trip to several colleges within
a geographic region. Schools visited tend to be private, nationally ranked
institutions, so the money you spend visiting several of them is but a small
fraction of what you'll spend once you're admitted and enrolled. College
Visits is one such company that has been around a while and has earned
a good reputation.You can find others on a web search.
- Campus safety and crime have become focal points in college circles. There
is a site devoted to this topic, and it is worth a look. Security
On Campus provides tips for campus safety, links to recent legislation,
news reports, and studies, among other topics. To get stats on crime at a
particular campus, click on "Crime Stats" on their home page.
- The Office of Postsecondary
Education Campus Security Statistics Web site is your link to reported
criminal offenses for over 6,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. This
site is a result of acts of Congress aimed at helping potential college students
and their parents research criminal offenses on college campuses. Any school
that is Title IV eligible (those that participate in awarding Pell Grants
and other federal financial aid) is required to publish and distribute an
annual campus security report. Stats on this site come from those reports.
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Return to
UHS Guidance and Counseling Home Page
Urbana High School (www.usd116.org/uhs)
1002 South Race Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801
217-384-3505 | fax 217-384-3532
Last updated:
Mon, April 7, 2008 1:27 PM