Since I just graduated from high school and finished my college search—and since I tend to hang out in the college counseling office a lot—I’m often the target of questions from students who need help trying to locate that ever-hoped-for "dream school."
The first step to finding the school for you is to utilize your available resources. Don’t let not having ready access to a college counselor hinder you, though. Too often I hear fellow students who attended a different high school complain they were stuck "settling" on a school because their counselor was lousy or they didn’t have one at all. This is no excuse! In the information age, facts on higher education are everywhere.
The Internet is a great place to start. With sites like www.makingitcount.com and www.fastweb.com that keep you up-to-date on information about specific schools and scholarship opportunities, you can get a head start on the search process before you even meet your college counselor. Just log onto the Internet, put the topic "colleges and universities in the United States" into your favorite search engine and you’ll get millions of results.
Also, the official websites of organizations are very helpful. For example, both www.collegeboard.org (the people who bring you the SAT) and www.act.org (the Iowa City testing company) have great resources for students, parents and teachers. Individual colleges’ websites can also provide a wealth of information for a prospective student in everything from FAQ’s and virtual tours to student chats and ask-the-professor nights. Just get out there and do it. Sometimes the hardest part of the process is getting started.
Probably the single biggest factor in my college selection process was the guidance I received in the college counseling office. Though you may think it a scary place to enter, just do it—you’ll be better for it when you are done. No matter how dense you think your counselor is, he or she will always have information for you and it is his or her duty to give it to you when you need it (but always remember, "ask and ye shall receive," might be your school’s policy).
If a school counselor is not available to you, there is always the option of help from a teacher or private counselor. Hone all of your senses. Rely on yourself and on the plethora of resources out there. Who knows? There may be resources available that are, at present, unknown to you.
