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West Chicago Community High School's

College Resource Page



Planning for College is not a simple process, but it is well worth the time and effort it takes. As a student at West Chicago Community High School, you have already been confronted with choices and and questions from your Counselor about your interests, career plans and educational goals. These are important things to think about before you look for a specific College. Once you are ready to look for specific colleges to contact and/or apply to, your Counselor can be of significant help to you.

To send a transcript to any College, we must have your written permission. Click here for a printable transcript release form. Fill out the form, sign it, and then mail it (by regular US mail) to the school address (326 Joliet St., West Chicago, IL 60185) or bring it in to your counselor.

The links below can also be helpful in contacting individual schools, or doing a search to identify schools that might be good for you. Of course, it's always a good idea to contact your counselor.


Illinois State Universities (supported by your tax dollars in Illinois)

Community Colleges

Other Illinois Colleges (frequently considered and/or chosen by former WCCHS students)

Other Private Colleges - a consortium of small private colleges maintains a website called "Colleges That Change Lives". Some students have found their website helpful in identifying and researching some of these college options.

NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) - the NCAA supervises and approves college athletic eligibility. Colleges that belong to the NCAA must follow certain rules governing how they recruit athletes and how those athletes participate. There are VERY specific requirements that you must meet as a student-athlete if you want to participate in a sport at college (at Division I or Division II schools in the NCAA).

NCAA Eligibility Information - the general NCAA website

If you plan to attend a Division I or Division II College and participate in any intercollegiate sport there, you MUST set up a file with the NCAA and have them review your transcript. If you fail to do this, you may not be eligible to participate during your Freshman year. For more information and Frequenty Asked Questions regarding eligiblity, click here.

Your Counselor can help you send your initial eligibility form, but it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to submit your transcript and choose the approved classes. Initial registration is done online through the NCAA website. You MUST sign a Transcript Release Form, and give it to your Counselor EACH successive semester. That way, the NCAA will keep updating your status. In choosing your classes for each year of high school, you should check the list of "NCAA Approved Courses" at Community High School. To see that list, go to the "Approved Courses" page at NCAA site, scroll down and click on "List of Approved Core Courses", then enter you school code (which is 144350 for Community High School). You will get a list of courses at our school which the NCAA has approved. If you have more questions, see your counselor.

Technical and Vocational Schools - try this Technical Schools site for schools that specialize in the Technical areas of Information, and Industrial Service and Medical technologies. This also includes Graphic Arts, Automotive, and Manufacturing Technology. Talk to your counselor about other options in the area of Technology and Vocational training that are different than a traditional 4-year or 2-year college.

College Search Sites - These sites are provided as links so you can do your own search for Colleges and additional training and education. We have provided a little general info as to what to expect, but students will need to be committed to spend some time to learn to use these sites, and access the information. Be sure to ask your Counselor for help, or suggestions.

  • Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is an arm of the State of Illinois, designed to provide help and information to Illinois students and their families. They have 2 sites that are useful to students and parents. One is called the College Zone, which is a search and information site, and the second is called ISAC Online, which provides links to lots of other places to get specific information on student and parent issues, especially focussing on Financial Aid.
  • CollegeView - One of the most versitile search sites for college information and other links. Managed by Hobson's. Contains College Search and Scholarship Search.
  • Wired Scholar - From the Federal agency that supplies and manages student loans - SallieMae. Also contains Scholarship search and links to Governmental agencies for student assistance.
  • Making It Count - From the people that bring you the "Making your College search count assembly. This is a private, but not for profit organization which seeks and receives Corporate sponsorship. That means that you will see ads for various companies, but the "agenda" for those writing the page is to provide unbiased info.
  • The College Board - The producers of the SAT Test, AP Tests and a lot of info related to colleges and the college search process, not just college searches.
  • Peterson's Guide - Peterson's has published a directory of Colleges for many years, this is the net version. It is a site owned and maintained by a private company and is useful for searches and qualitative evaluations of various schools (according to their own criteria). This site also has some features to help students plan for College, and prepare for Tests.
  • CollegeXpress - Owned and maintained by the Private Colleges and Universities Magazine. It also lists other resources (especially publication) that provide information, especially for Private colleges.
  • At The U - A private company called "Nelnet" publishes this site. They provide some information and a lot of services (including book, supplies and College monagramed stuff) through their "Campus Store" through which you are free to purchase supplies. The info is free, but all other stuff you must pay for.
  • Fastweb - Private company that also supports the Making High School Count and Making your College Search Count programs. Fastweb is best known for their Scholarship search, but has college searches as well.
  • Schools In The USA.com - Private site owned and maintained by a company referred to as the EI Group. This site is more career-focussed, and provides ways of connecting career choices to College majors.
  • College and Universitiey Link List - This is simply a listing of colleges (about 3,000 of them) and a link to the web sites of those college . If you know what college you are looking for, this will give you a short cut to the web site.

Other Resources

Online Applications - Many Colleges and Universities will accept this one, standardized application as well as their own. This can be useful to you especially if more than one school you want to apply to will accept this.

Testing information for the ACT, SAT and other tests offered at Community High School is available at this additional Counselor page, and can be obtained by seeing your Counselor.

ACT & SAT testing information, including dates and registration info. for the next test dates.

College Ranking Systems

The Princeton Review (based on surveys of colleges, evaluated by college counselors)

U.S. News & World Report College Rankings (published annually in the Magazine, based on a variety of criteria, and comparing schools in many catagories, including location, state vs.private, cost, reputation, and graduation percentages)

U.S. News & World Report College Fair - net version of the annual U.S. News college information issue, as collected for their College Ranking issue.


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Community High School
326 Joliet St.
West Chicago, IL 60185
(630) 876-6200