i'm in school for IT also

It really depends on what track you want to get into
Cisco has CCEnt CCNA CCISSP CCIE obviously some are alot higher than others
COMPTia has A+ , Network+, Security+, Linux+
I have plenty of resources and tons of information if you want drop me a PM and I'll send you my phone number and we can talk. I'm currently doing the CISCO and COMPTia exams ..well will when Taxes come back.