College Search and Selection

One of the first steps in deciding where to go to college is to think about what your future career goals might look like. When you have an idea about what sort of career you might be interested in it will be easier to find a good fit college.

Helpful Resources

• Training- Options Beyond High School: This training includes an overview of popular postsecondary options including- Community Colleges, Universities, Apprenticeships, Military Service, and Career Development. Find a schedule of upcoming webinars here or schools can request this presentation. 
• Website- Oregon Career Information Services: This is an excellent assessment and research tool for students in the areas of career choice, colleges and their respective courses of study, and Oregon scholarships. CIS is available through your school. 
• Website- Naviance: Naviance is a college, career, and life platform. That helps you discover your strengths and find your best-fit pathway. Naviance is available through your school. 
• Website-ASVAB: A military entrance test that also determine which branch of the military you are best suited for and what job might be best for you.
• Website- Big Future Career Search. This search engine includes not only a career search but provides information about what college majors correlate with these careers.
• Website: Career One Stop. Explore careers, take self-assessments to determine careers you might like, find training opportunities, job search, and more.

Figuring out which college or university is best for you requires keeping track of lots of important information including things like admission requirements, school profile, size, cost, and more.

Helpful Resources

• Resource: Oregon Goes to College Workbook: This tool allows you to keep all important college application information in one place. Using this tool you are able to store information needed for applications, note deadlines, create your activity chart, and save usernames/passwords in one location
• Resource: College Evaluation Chart: This document allows you to list schools that you are interested in and compare and contrast them against several factors. 
• Resource: Community College Assessment: This document helps you compare and contrast several community colleges against a variety of factors.
• Get the Most out of Your Campus Visit 

Based on your career interests, choose colleges with academic programs that meet your needs. Other considerations may be your ability to meet minimum admission requirements, the type of college, location, size, campus culture, in person vs. online courses, or whether a school has certain athletic programs, clubs, activities or affiliations that interest you. 

Helpful Resources

• Website- Big Future:  This is a college search engine and college planning resource from the College Board.
• Resource- College Evaluation Chart: This document allows you to list schools that you are interested in and compare and contrast them against several factors. 
• Resource- Community College Assessment: This document helps you compare and contrast several community colleges against a variety of factors.

College Fit means making sure that the academic programs, campus life, extracurricular activities, location, size of school, cost, and other factors of the schools you are interested in are in alignment with your needs. You can test college fit by visiting a college campus, researching the school, and asking questions.

Helpful Resources: 

• Website- College Score Card: A college search tool developed by the Department of Education, the College Score Card can also help you learn more about a college campus personality.
• Website- College Personality Quiz: This quiz from US News and World Report can help you determine with schools might be a good fit for you.
• Resource- Get the Most out of Your Campus Visit: Use this list of questions when going on a campus visit or attending a college fair to learn more about the schools you are interested in.

Once you have completed your college research create a list of 5-6 schools you want to apply to. It’s best to apply to a variety of schools to be able to compare academic programs and financial aid packages. Submitting 5-6 college applications is suggested. Think of your list as having 2 Dream schools, 2 Target schools, and 2 Safety schools for a total of 6 college applications doing this will increase the chance of acceptance into at least 1 college.

Helpful Resources: 

• Website- College Score Card: A college search tool developed by the Department of Education, the College Score Card can also help you learn more about a college campus personality.
• Resource- College Evaluation Chart: This document allows you to list schools that you are interested in and compare and contrast them against several factors. 
• Resource- Community College Assessment: This document helps you compare and contrast several community colleges against a variety of factors.

Eligibility requirements are the basic requirements needed for incoming students, these requirements can vary from school to school. Eligibility requirements may include things like GPA, HS course requirements, and/or college standardized test scores. The school may also consider other factors that may predict academic success in school like essays, auditions, or letters of recommendations. Requirements for each school are found on a college or university’s admissions page. 

Helpful Resources: 

• Document- Oregon Public Universities Undergraduate Admissions Requirements: This helpful document includes all of the admissions requirements for Oregon Public Universities.