Callie Born, a junior at Naperville North High School, struggles to find the emails that matter in her inbox. College marketing messages flood it daily, burying school notices and application deadlines under a pile of pitches she never asked for.

"I feel really underprepared, so I know to keep it on my mind moving forward," Born told The North Star, the school's student newspaper, in a feature published Oct. 23.

The problem is familiar to District 203 families with juniors and seniors deep in college search season. Colleges obtain student email addresses after students take the SAT or ACT, through services like the College Board's Student Search Service. More than 1,200 institutions use that program each year. Schools send mass emails to boost their applicant pools and drive down acceptance rates, a metric used in college rankings.

For students at Naperville North, the result is an inbox clogged with generic messages. Senior Pallavi Umashankar told The North Star she only reads emails from schools she is already familiar with or that catch her interest.

Born said the emails are not going to change her mind about where she applies.

NNHS counselor Mary Lazowski offered a different take, encouraging students to read the messages when time allows.

"It's a good starting point for students to begin their college search … I think it's important that students know what all is out there," Lazowski said, according to The North Star.

Naperville North gives students alternatives to the inbox.

The school's Postsecondary Advising and Resource Center (PARC) is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Learning Commons. Students can sign up for college visits, meet with admissions officers, or use planning tools like NCompass and SchooLinks. The school also hosts a Career Take Over event in November and an International College Fair in the spring, according to The North Star.

The PARC sits within a counseling department that has broadened its focus. Angelo Georgacopoulos, a Naperville North counselor named 2026 Illinois High School Counselor of the Year, told NCTV17 in September that the job now involves working with students on stress and anxiety alongside the traditional college planning.

Brian La Porte, college and career counselor at the PARC, is available at 630-548-4943 for families with questions about the college search process.

School week ahead

  • The PARC is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., in the Naperville North Learning Commons. Walk-ins welcome.
  • A Career Take Over event is scheduled for November at NNHS. Date and registration details have not been announced. Check the PARC page at naperville203.org for updates.