Tis’ the season of college applications! The start of the senior year poses a responsibility to students of figuring out what they want to do for the rest of their lives…stressful right?

According to Naviance records, the top five most commonly applied to colleges at Linganore High School over the past three years are Towson University, University of Maryland, Frederick Community College, Salisbury University, and Frostburg University. These colleges are common mostly due to being so close to home and the availability of in-state tuition.

Naviance is a database available to students, parents, and teachers that keeps track of students’ personal information and test scores. It’s massive network of college information is organized in a way that is easily accessible to users and helps them discover options for college.

A few of the helpful features on Naviance include students being able to compare colleges by specific factors, view scattergrams that show average test scores of students who were accepted or denied to a specific college, and allow students to take college and career placement tests to give them ideas of what they want to pursue in the future.

Recently, colleges such as East Carolina University and Coastal Carolina University have been showing big numbers in applications from our school. Why?

Both ECU and CCU have beautiful locations with warm climates and are similar in tuition prices. Out of state tuition for CCU averages around $23,660 yearly, while ECU averages about $21,340. Both schools also have a relatively high acceptance rate with CCU at 63.6% and ECU at 77.3%. The “relatively low” tuition and high acceptance rate make these two attractive.

“I toured a few schools when trying to pick a college and the ECU campus was by far my favorite,” said first year ECU student and LHS graduate, Miranda Keaton.

Location is a big factor in choosing a college for students either because they want to live in a certain area or because of financial constraints. So with CCU being only miles away from Myrtle Beach and ECU being in a warm climate in North Carolina, these factors could entice students away from the colder winters in Maryland.

It’s also a matter of word-of-mouth.  Friends discover where their friends have applied and begin thinking about the same.

Be sure when beginning your college search, consider all of your options, and accept the free guidance Naviance offers.