RESEARCHING COLLEGES ON THE WEB

1. Explore the college prep process (general interest sites)

College is Possible! http://www.collegeispossible.org
Includes info on preparing, choosing, and paying for college.

Think College! http://www.ed.gov/thinkcollege
The US Dept. of Education's guide to preparing for college.

Mapping-Your-Future http://mapping-your-future.org/MHSS
A hyperlinked tour with information on planning a career and selecting & paying for college.

WiredScholar http://www.wiredscholar.com
Find "pointers on the entire 'Go-to-College' process from preparation to getting loans" at this site.

Step-by-step Guide http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/stepbystep/index.htm
US News & World Report's guide to the college admission process.

2. Do a straight-up search for a college - try these search engines:

Google http://www.google.com
MSN Search http://search.msn.com
Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com

3. Find college websites, brief info about schools, and college catalogs:

American Universities http://www.clas.ufl.edu/CLAS/american-universities.html
A simple alphabetical list of US college and university web sites.

Peterson's College Quest http://www.collegequest.com (click on "Find a college")
Peterson's offers easy access to basic information and a link to the college website.

College Board http://www.collegeboard.com (Use "College Quickfinder")
Search for college info; compare to other colleges; find others like it!

College Source Online http://www.collegesource.org (by library subscription only)
Access to the official college catalog, as well as the college's website and brief information.

4. Find a college by its profile

IPEDS "COOL" Directory http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/Search.asp
The US Dept. of Education's database for searching by criteria.

Peterson's CollegeQuest http://www.collegequest.com (click on "Find a College," then choose "Detailed Search")
Peterson's lets you search by location, major, tuition, size, etc.

Princeton Review http://www.review.com/college/advancedsearchstep1.cfm
The advanced search feature lets you specify admissions criteria, student body, financial profile, academic profile, etc.

5. Find college rankings

US News & World Report College Rankings http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex.htm
Scroll down for the rank index or go to http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankwebex.htm for their "Web-exclusive" rankings.

College & University Rankings http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/rankings.htm
Links to many different kinds of rankings and explanation of what all those numbers mean.

6. Apply online

CommonApp http://www.commonapp.org
Fill out just one application form for many colleges.