Finding a College

Once you know what you want in a college or university, you should start narrowing your search by looking at specific institutions that meet the criteria you outlined in the Making the College Decision section.

For example, visiting college fairs could be a great way for you to meet representatives from several colleges that meet criteria on your list. You can also speak with college alumni by contacting associations in your area, go on a college tour, or use online college databases to take virtual tours of colleges and universities that most interest you.
To get more information about college fairs, you should:

• Visit the NACAC web site
• Contact local malls
• Visit your high school counselor or Career Center

To get prepared for getting the most from your college fair experience, read the "College Fairs" section of Chapter 2 in Winning Scholarships for College.

To speak with alumni and representatives of the colleges/universtities you are interested in attending, you should:

• Contact alumni associations in your area (alumni associations could also be a source of scholarship money for you)
• To find an alumni association in your area, contact the admissions office of the school(s) in which you're interested.

If you're interested in organized college tours with a group, visit the following sites for more information. You should also contact your high school counselor or career center director:

• CE Tours: College Tours and Educational Trips
• College Tours

Are you interested in a virtual college tour? If so, use the following sites for help:

• eCampus Tours
• Campus Tours
• College View

Or use you can use the online college databases on the sites below to get more
information about your favorite colleges and universities:

• College Board
• GoCollege
• CollegeNet
• HBCUConnect

Resource Center

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