With stressful college admissions on his mind, Jason Liu, junior, walks into his guidance counselor’s familiar office. He takes a seat and explains how he is confused on which classes to take in order to boost his GPA and give him the right credits to get into his dream university. He is unsure of what he needs to score on the ACT and SAT to earn an enrollment spot.

Lucky for him, his guidance counselor mentions that he should use “Naviance,” the popular website where students can learn everything they need to know about certain colleges and universities.

Naviance is accessible through the school website under the “College Exploration” section. With pie charts, scattergrams, and a short test you can take to see which colleges are right for you, Naviance is helpful in narrowing down the numerous college and university choices.

“The majority of students here will go on [Naviance] to see the scattergrams, which give students a realistic idea of where they fall in the admissions pool compared to Hinsdale Central students at any given university,” said Mrs. Angeline Matos, guidance counselor. “Naviance could also be used for facts on the university, different programs that are offered, the location, size, and things of that nature.”

Naviance is an extremely helpful tool for students thinking about college options. As a sophomore, all students sign up for it where they are then given their username and password.

Central also offers in-school college visits. The full list of colleges that come to the school is accessible through the Naviance website.

At these visits, representatives from the university come to Central to talk about their school. What is unique about these visits is that the actual representatives who will be reading the students’ applications are the ones who come in. They give tips, information, and advice.

“I went to a bunch of the visits at the school including Villanova, Vanderbilt, University of South Carolina, and a few others,” said Lexie Totaro, senior. “The college visits are great because you can learn a lot about a college without visiting, and you get to meet the person who will probably read your college essay.”

From September through November, there are 167 visits from various colleges and universities. The college visits of the month are posted on a bulletin board outside of the guidance office.

Liu now uses Naviance regularly, and has a clearer perspective of the future ahead of him.

“I use Naviance now, and it is actually really helpful. I like the scattergrams the most, because they help me to see where my grades stand compared to people from Central who have gotten into that school. I’m also planning on going to some of the college visits,” Liu said.

With useful tools right at their fingertips, students are sure to gain a better grasp on what will become of their futures.