Finding a College

Latino students often face sizeable obstacles on the road to college. Some may live in poor neighborhoods, where schools lack resources and don’t offer advanced courses needed for college admission. Others may be the children of undocumented immigrants or may be undocumented themselves, limiting their opportunity for higher education. They may face financial hardship and may be forced to choose between school and work. They may struggle with cultural balancing acts, and may be pressured to stay close to home.

So, what can Latino parents do to help their children avoid common obstacles and stay on the college track?

Check out OnlineColleges.org: a nonprofit resource for students considering an online college for their associates, bachelors, masters or doctorate level degree.

New site launched by students for students, CollegeTimes.

Web site allows side-by-side institution comparison, comprehensive behavior and history tracking modules; personalized educational profile tailoring and admissions chance analysis.

As you visit different colleges, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the many buildings, programs and informational tours. Preparing a preplanned checklist of what you want to see and do while on campus is advantageous. Each year my staff and I tour a myriad of universities across the country. Here are some things we look for at each college we visit:

So you can't visit all the colleges where you choose to apply. The internet is a great source to do lots of homework on colleges. Visit college websites and it's easy to be drawn into the fantastic graphics, sunny weather and smiling students. In addition to providing information on their schools, appealing to students via glorious websites is an objective colleges have to lure students into applying.