Your College Search Guide
12 North:
A College Search Guide is designed to give you confidence in your college selection process. This tested, developmental fourstep method will position you to take control of your college search and soar to new heights after your senior year of high school (i.e., 12th grade). Follow this “flight path” to unearth the college or university that exceeds your expectations and that will help you to thrive.
12 North:
A College Search Guide OBJECTIVE Through interviews with countless high school students, guidance counselors and parents, Niagara University understands well that searching for an institution of higher education can be a challenging process. That’s why we developed a comprehensive college search guide in four steps: Assess, Discover, Explore, and Connect. What sets this program apart is its unique approach. By encouraging students to think in broad terms first and then tapping into specific interests later, students learn what kind of college will best meet their needs. College is a time to investigate new ideas, cultures, and experiences. We hope to offer you a wide range of resources to help you assess who you are, discover resources, and explore college campuses so that you are able to make necessary connections and ultimately determine which colleges match your talents, capabilities, and values. You want to find a great school and we want to help you get there. As a high school student, the task of planning for the future can also seem overwhelming, and that’s why Niagara places a premium on helping students navigate the college search process. With important information and advice, we help students get the confidence necessary to achieve lifelong success.
Assess Tap into who you are. Assess your interests, values, and goals. The search for a great fit starts with you. A successful college search takes introspective thought, organization of values, and a close look at other important factors.
HOW SHOULD YOU GO ABOUT SELF-ASSESSMENT? Start by asking yourself some questions in these broad categories:
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Interests Values Practical/Logistics
INTERESTS Academic 1. What are your academic interests? Which high school courses have you enjoyed the most? Which courses have been most difficult? 2. What piece of work are you most proud of (i.e., a presentation, projects, papers, or artwork)? 3. How do you learn best – by reading or when involved in a hands-on activity? 4. Do you prefer your classes to be more interactive or lecture style? 5. What are your career goals? What do you hope to get out of a job (e.g., help others, protect the environment, lifelong learning, work independently or with people, etc.)? Extracurricular 1. What do you like to do for fun? What are you passionate about? 2. What activities are you involved in? Which do you see yourself continuing in college? How important are these activities in your college search? 3. How important is academic and social balance to you? Where is your focus?
ASSESS. DISCOVER. EXPLORE. CONNECT.
VALUES Social 1. How do you prioritize your time outside class? 2. What role does religion play in your lifestyle? What role does family play in your lifestyle? What role do peers play in your lifestyle? 3. Do you view yourself as a leader? 4. How would your friends and family describe you? What are your best qualities? What are your biggest challenges and shortcomings? How have you changed during high school? Advocacy 1. What issues are of concern to you? What matters most to you? 2. Where do you volunteer? 3. Do you see yourself as an activist? 4. Do you see yourself as a champion of a cause? 5. Have you encouraged people who act, think, look, and live differently than you? How do you learn from others? What viewpoints have challenged your perspective of your “normal?” 6. What’s a cause that matters to you?
PRACTICAL/LOGISTICS Location 1. How often do you plan to return home? 2. What setting do you want (urban, rural, or suburban)? Do you want the experience of a “college town?” 3. What climate do you want? Think about what type of weather you prefer. 4. How important is accessibility to campus for you (e.g., transportation to off-campus resources and activities such as restaurants, shopping, theatres, and museums)? 5. What surrounding features are must-haves? 6. Do you want a residential school or a commuter school? Do you want to live on or off campus? 7. Is public transportation important to you? Size 1. What does your ideal classroom setup look like? 2. What student population size are you looking for? What is small/medium/large? Is 5,000 students too many? 10,000? More? 3. What physical size of campus appeals to you (small and centralized, or sprawling)? 4. What is the size of the surrounding community? What type/size/structure of college town is it in? 5. How many students are currently majoring in your choice academic area? Affordability 1. How important is affordability to your family? What are you willing to contribute? What is your family willing to contribute? 2. What is the cost of the school? What kind of aid do they offer? Will you qualify for need-based financial aid? Are there merit scholarship opportunities?
Note: You should complete the FAFSA/CSS Profile even if you don’t think you qualify because special circumstances are not accounted for in the net price calculator, and you may qualify for institutional aid. The FAFSA is only for federal aid, but there are many other forms of assistance.
“I wish I knew to look for the college that was the best fit for me over trying to fit myself into the flow of every college. Once I looked at what would benefit me most, the decision became much easier.” — EMMA CARLO, ’21
Assessment By completing an assessment, you will have a better understanding of who you are and what is important to you. This will help shed light on what is the best fit for you and it will allow you to generate characteristics of a school that will support who you are. Go back and look over your answers. What stands out? What do you want to be sure you acknowledge during the search process? Find the keywords and key features of your answers and fill them in below. This will serve as your assessment chart moving forward. ASSESS INTERESTS Academic Extracurricular VALUES Social Advocacy PRACTICAL/ LOGISTICS Size Location Affordability
List important words or phrases that match these categories for you.
Discover You have a foundation and a better understanding of who you are and what is important to you. Now you need to engage with the people around you for some added support and insight.
YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM
Think about your personal support systems and identify individuals whose guidance could influence your search. Family Discuss options, online resources, and try to visit colleges together. Your parents or family may not be the ones applying, but their opinions and experiences should still be factors in the choices you make moving forward. Talk with your family about topics like financial limitations, geographical boundaries, and academic explorations. Friends Listen to your friends. Find shared experiences with friends who are current college students. Hear from them about their search process, their strategies, and their college experiences. Counselor/Teacher/Advisor/Coach Conversations with trusted academic and athletic advisors can often be helpful. They likely already have a sense of your areas of reach and competencies. Community-Based Organizations Sometimes it can be helpful to ask for advice from people who know you outside of school and home. If you need some extra support during the search process, try looking to religious leaders, youth groups, volunteer organizations, and other respected influencers in your town. These groups and individuals can offer access, services, and connections above and beyond what your school, family, and friends may be able to provide.
EXTERNAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Let’s think about outside support systems. How are you using outside support to guide and inform your options? Marketing Visit websites and share your contact details to request information. Create a new email address specifically for your college search and application process. Explore search engines online such as College Board, U.S. News & World Report, and The Princeton Review. Guidance Office/College Counseling Office High school guidance and college counseling offices are great centers of information. Most offices will post information for college fairs, programs, presentations, and high school visits. If your school has it, try using Naviance during your search, too. College Admissions Offices Once you have shared information, colleges will begin sending you brochures and information to your mailbox and inbox. Make a file and begin to organize these materials. Reach out to introduce yourself to counselors at colleges that interest you. It is important to develop a network of contacts. Athletics Your path may be shifted based on the contact you receive from college coaches. Some schools may show great interest in your athletic ability. It is important to understand if a school is actively recruiting you, or if you are simply on a mailing list. Has the coach emailed or called you personally? Has the coach watched you play in live competition? What was the feedback? Have you been invited you to visit campus? These are all signs of active recruitment. Other Reach out to faculty and staff in departments that interest you: the arts, debate team, sciences, advocacy or scholars, for example. They can provide valuable advice and will give you a good sense of whether or not their college is right for you.
The ability to listen to others and identify support, both internal and external, will help you narrow your search and give your self-assessment context and parameters. The end result in completing the discovery phase will leave you with a well-developed list of potential schools on which to focus. Create a list of 15 people who can help you with your discovery.
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Explore Once you have a list of potential schools, you should plan on visiting the campuses. Use the college resources • On-campus visits • Open houses • Tours and information sessions • Interviews • Class shadows • Overnight visits • Virtual events/visits Visiting colleges can help you find the right fit. The visit provides a firsthand experience of the programs, facilities, students and faculty, living environment, learning focus, and values of an institution. Many colleges track “demonstrated interest” so make sure that you arrange your visits through the Admissions Office. Each college also offers different ways to visit. Explore all the options to decide which one is best for you. Junior year and the summer before senior year can include broad visits like tours, information sessions, and open houses. Senior year may include more specific visits like class shadows, overnights, and revisit days. Interviews are also a great way to explore and add a personal connection to your search and application process. Before you visit, research a school’s website. Develop specific questions that are important to you. Have an understanding of your academic profile so that you can answer questions about your academic performance. Tap back into your assessment to remember what is important to you. It may also be important to plan out your transportation with your family so that you can get the most out of your trip. Call other surrounding colleges, visit neighboring towns, and really get a feel for the place you may call home for the next few years.
During the visit, pay attention to how you feel. Do you feel comfortable during the visit? Can you envision yourself as a student? Does the school present itself in a way that aligns to the information gained through your assessment and discovery? Can the school accommodate your educational needs? Or dietary restrictions? What can the college offer in terms of on campus housing, federal work study, internships, health services, safety (ask about a blue light system, and emergency plans), and community relationships? After you visit, write down or discuss your impressions, which can help when you begin to compare your visits. What sets this college apart from the others on your list? The visit should provide you with a takeaway that allows you to distinguish what makes that particular school unique in comparison to the others on your list. Use your local resources • College fairs • High school visits by admissions counselors • Off-campus events • Off-campus interviews • Current students and parents It is not always possible to get to campus, but there are ways to engage and network from where you are. Many colleges will travel extensively for the purpose of bringing information to you. College fairs provide information as well as an exchange of contact information. Students are able to connect with their admissions representative or graduate representing the college. Your high school will most likely host admissions counselors at your school for information sessions, question-and-answer sessions, and even interviews. Off-campus interviews are also often offered in your area in public spaces, in addition to information sessions and panels. And, if you want to learn even more, try checking out virtual tours of the colleges you are considering on YouTube or the institution’s website. Through this internal and external exploration, you will be able to gather all the factual, emotional, and visual information about a college. By diversifying your sources of exploration, you will understand the true identity of each school you are considering. You will understand how you fit on campuses and how colleges meet or fall short in relation to your priorities and preferences.
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“Deciding which college to go to is no easy task, and this lifechanging choice requires all the information one can gather. If I could make a wish for my younger self, I wish I had spoken to alumni from the college I am interested in before applying. “Since they’ve experienced it, they can provide great insight that I might not be able to find elsewhere. If I had spoken to them earlier, choosing NU would have been much easier for me.” — LINH NGUYEN, ’23
School 1 APPLICATION Deadline Fees Need-based Aid Deadline Scholarship Deadline Reach/Fit/Likely REQUIRED Interview Visit Standardized Tests Portfolio Demonstrated Interest PERSONAL FIT FACTORS • • •
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Connect The final step of your College Search Guide encourages you to connect all that you have learned as you begin the college application process. As you have navigated through the assessment, discovery, and explore phases, you have created a list of schools that fit for you. Use the chart on the left to keep track of the schools that fit you. Apply Organize your list of schools and consider all of the variables. Your list should only include schools that you would attend if admitted. You can dream big, but also find the “likely” schools that meet your search and academic criteria. Make sure you have a balance in the types of schools. If you are considering applying to a binding early decision, nonbinding early action school, or early decision, make sure you have a backup plan if it doesn’t work out. While there is no “right” number of schools to apply to, aim for 5-7 as this provide you with enough diversity in your list. Revisit After you have submitted your applications, revisit the College Search Guide steps. Again, tap into who you are. Review your assessment: did the answers to your questions change or did you find answers to new questions that help paint the picture of who you are? What were the important pieces of advice from your internal or external support systems? What were the biggest takeaways from your visits and your area engagements? Next, be sure to double check just a few more things: Application is submitted on time Scholarship materials are submitted on time Portfolio (when required) is submitted on time Confirm receipt of the application Teacher recommendations are submitted Mid-year grades are submitted All school materials are submitted Enroll Review your options and choose the best college option for you. Consider all of the factors again and have conversations with your support system as you make your decision.
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Office of Admissions P.O. Box 2011 Niagara University, N.Y. 14109-2011 niagara.edu