If you are unsure of what college to attend for your major, Collegeboard.org can help!
- www.collegeboard.org
- Click on College Search at the top of the page (fourth from the left)
- On the left you will find a side bar including “select filters” that will help you filter out colleges based on your preferences.
- “SAT or ACT scores” You can put in your SAT or ACT scores to see what colleges your scores match to.
- “Type of School” You can choose if you want a 2 or 4 year college, a public, private, for –profit, a small, medium or large school. You can also choose if you want a coed, all women or all men campus. If you’re looking for a college with religious affiliation, you can put that in as well.
- “Location” You can choose how many miles away you are comfortable with your college being from home. You can also choose what state or states you would like your college to be in.
- “Campus and Housing” You can choose if you want a rural, suburban or urban setting as well as if you want to live on campus or commute. You can specify what type of housing availability you would like, special housing options and if cars are allowed for freshmen.
- “Majors and Learning Environment” You can choose what major, family of majors or study options you would like. If you are unsure of what specific major you want, but have an idea of the subject area you would like a major in, you can choose from a major family.
- “Sports and Activities” You can select the sports you’re interested in playing, extracurricular activities and if you are interested in Greek life.
- “Academic Credit” This is a great tool to find colleges that accept AP and college transfer credit.
- “Paying” You can choose the % of financial need a school can meet, put in your preferences for how much you’d be willing to spend on tuition and fees, if a college has a work study program and if the college has an application for fee waivers (Fee waivers are subject to different rules by college. However, most colleges provide fee waivers for families who receive Free or Reduced Lunch).
- “Support Services” This section allows you to choose if you would like a campus service such as tutoring. If you are a student with a 504 plan or IEP, you can choose disability services that meet your needs.
- All preferences include a rating scale of “Don’t care, want and must have.” You can change these preferences at any point for each category. If you make everything a must have, you will most likely get a small number of matches.
- Once your search is complete, you will receive a list of colleges that match your description. You can then click on each college listed to see a glance of what they offer, deadlines, majors and learning environment, campus life, how to apply, how to pay, quick facts as well as a link to the college’s official website.
- When you are on a college screen, to the right you will find “Are you on Track?” This helps you see what the college requires of their incoming Freshmen and if you have completed the courses they recommend for your major, have the GPA they are seeking as well as ACT/SAT scores.