Longview High School
Longview, Texas

This page was last updated on
09/18/2008 03:07 PM

So you have decided on a career goal and you know you must obtain a degree in order to be successful at this career. Congratulations, you are light years ahead of some of your peers. Now you must decide where you want to prepare for your career. This can be a tough decision because not all schools offer the same degree programs, also referred to as college majors. How do you determine which colleges offer certain degrees? A convenient way to match colleges with degree programs is to use a special college search engine, sometimes called a college match search. There are many on the Internet and some are better than others. Keep in mind that colleges must give permission to be included in a search engine's database and in some cases they pay a fee to be listed. For these reasons, you may not find a college that you know exists or offers a specific major.

If you want to find a college in a certain state that offers a specific major, a good search engine can be found at http://www.nextstepmagazine.com/nextstep/college-search.aspx#main. This search engine is provided by Next Step Magazine.   

The College Board also offers a similar search engine called College Match Maker. This search engine allows you to search and sort results by several criteria, such as Two Year vs. Four Year College, Public vs. Private, Religious Affiliation, location, activities & sports, majors, even tuition costs and deadlines.  

The U. S. Department of Education even offers help in finding a college with its College Matching Wizard.

Try Petersons.com for another search engine that will allow you to search and sort by several different criteria.                                     

Fast Web offers these same services although student and/or parents must first create an "account" before using the services. The service is free, but the website asks for email and other demographic information that most likely will be passed on to advertisers.

Transfer Questions

Students often decide to attend a two year college near their hometown and then transfer to a 4 year college to finish their degree. This can be a good decision from several standpoints such as cost, class size, and residence issues. However, there are some things to consider before making the decision.

1. Q. Will my credit hours transfer to another university?
   A.  Only the college to which you are transferring can make that decision. If you transfer from a Texas Public two year college to a Texas Public four year college they probably will transfer, but you should ask. Texas Public colleges and universities and even some private institutions use a common course numbering system that makes the determination fairly easy. Even if your courses do transfer, you can't be guaranteed that they will count toward your degree plan requirements unless you know ahead of time what courses are required for the degree you are seeking. Therefore, find out the courses required for your degree at the four year college that you want to transfer to and then compare that list to the available courses at the two year college you plan to go to. If you plan ahead, the transition to the 4 year institution should go smoothly and you will not have paid tuition fees for courses that you didn't need.

2. Q. Will I have to take the SAT/ACT if I transfer?
   A. If you took THEA or some other entrance exam to gain admissions into a two year college or if you were exempt from THEA, then you should know that you may or may not be required to take the SAT or ACT to gain acceptance into the four year college. If you obtain an Associate of Science or an Associate of Arts degree OR you gain at least 30 credit hours from a Texas Public two year college, then you do not have to take the SAT or ACT to gain acceptance into the four year college. Your admission will be evaluated based on your GPA for the credit already acquired and other admissions factors as set forth by each individual college or university. Some private four year colleges and universities abide by this same policy, but others do not. You must inquire about college entrance exams with the private four year college to which you will transfer.

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