Using Naviance for College Applications

So, my school strongly encourages us to use Naviance for college applications. I'm not super familiar with it, and I was wondering if anyone here could give some advice on effectively using Naviance? Please let me know what you liked and disliked about the platform. Thanks!

Naviance is a useful tool for college applications, especially when it comes to organizing your colleges and tracking your progress. One of the best features of Naviance is the ability to create a list of colleges you're interested in and research those schools based on various factors like size, location, majors, etc.

Naviance also provides scattergrams, which are visual representations of how students from your school fared in admissions to specific colleges based on their GPA and test scores. This can give you a general idea of where you stand compared to others from your school who applied to the same colleges, which can be more informative than data from a particular college, which obviously accounts for students from high schools all across the country and the world.

Another helpful feature is the Common App integration, which allows you to keep track of your application progress and due dates more efficiently. Plus, your counselors can use Naviance to submit recommendation letters and school reports directly to the colleges on your behalf.

However, some students find that Naviance doesn't provide all the information they need. It may not always have the most up-to-date or extensive details on every college, so I'd recommend using it alongside other resources like CollegeVine, college websites, and admissions blogs to ensure the information you're getting is accurate.

In short, Naviance is a helpful organizational tool for the application process, but don't solely rely on it for all your college research. Use it to complement other resources to get a well-rounded view of the colleges you're considering. Good luck with your applications!