The following list of resources should help both students and parents with everything from finding a college or gap year program and registering for the SAT/ACT, to completing financial aid forms. It’s broken into four sections: Standardized Test Preparation and Information; College Information & Guidebooks; Financial Aid and Scholarship Information and Forms; and, Not Looking at Colleges? Thinking about a Gap Year?
Standardized Test Preparation and Information
SAT
Register for the test, take a practice test, look at the “question of the day.” There is good college information here too (called the “College Matchmaker”).
http://www.collegeboard.org/
ACT
Register for the test or work with the online test preparation site.
http://www.act.org/
SAT/ACT Concordance Table
To compare your SAT score to your ACT score (and vice versa), click on the link below for the College Board’s Official Concordance Table.
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/sat/satACT_concordance.pdf
Kaplan Test Preparation
Standardized test preparation and tips.
http://www.kaptest.com/
AP
Advanced Placement test planning, calendars, and practice questions for each subject.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/exam/calendar/index.html
The Number 2
Free, SAT practice test that adjusts the difficulty of the questions as you go (as you get things right the questions get harder).
http://www.number2.com/
College Information and Guidebooks
Adventures in Education
Information about colleges and financial aid. Also includes information about job hunting and resume writing.
http://www.adventuresineducation.org/
Collegiate Choice
Walking tours of 300+ colleges and universities (not free).
http://www.collegiatechoice.com/
College Guides
Directory of many different college information services.
http://collegeguide.com/
College Net
This site allows you to input specific criteria about schools (location, size, cost, etc…) and creates a list for you.
http://www.collegenet.com/
College View
This site also allows you to input specific criteria about schools and creates a list for you.
http://www.collegeview.com/
The Princeton Review
A college guidebook that also includes a feature that rates your chances of admission to a specific school (take with a grain of salt!).
http://www.review.com/
Peterson’s Guidebook
A college guidebook that also includes job and summer program information.
http://www.petersons.com/
Financial Aid and Scholarship Information and Forms
College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC)
A good place to start thinking about paying for college (and financial aid opportunities) that also includes information about many different schools.
http://www.cfnc.org/
FAFSA
Fill out your Free Application for Federal Student Aid here.
This form is required for financial aid for all private and public colleges and universities. It will be helpful to have completed your taxes before you complete this form.
http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/completefafsa
College Scholarship Service
Fill out your CSS form here.
This form is required by most private colleges and universities (but few public ones). There is a fee for processing this form that depends on the number of schools you designate to receive it.
https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/index.jsp
Fast Web
Scholarship information and answers to questions about financial aid.
http://www.fastweb.com/
Department of Education, Student Aid
Answers to questions about federal aid and the DOE’s tips about paying for college.
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp
Fast Aid
A searchable scholarship database that asks you a lot of personal questions but does not share information (a non-profit site).
http://www.fastaid.com/
Fin Aid
An answer to your many questions about financial aid.
http://www.finaid.com/
eduPASS
This website was once a part of FinAid but has since become its own entity. It exists to help international students plan the financing of a US college education. It includes a list of schools that provide financial assistance to international students (who are not eligible for FAFSA or other federal money).
http://www.edupass.org/finaid/
Not Looking at Colleges? Thinking about a Gap Year?
North Carolina Choices
These two websites were created for NC seniors as an alternative to college or military service. There are wonderful ideas for students who are looking to take a semester or year off before enrolling in college or who aren’t sure if college is right for them. The program was sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and was created by two families with ties to CFS.
http://www.afsc.org/southeast/documents/links.pdf
http://www.afsc.org/southeast/whats-next.htm
Global Routes
A US-based non-profit that focuses on international volunteering with programs that include a 3-month teaching internship (teaching English) overseas. Was recently the subject of an op-ed article in the New York Times.
http://www.globalroutes.org/
The New York Times article can be read at the following link: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/education/edlife/notebook29.html
Council on International Educational Exchange
CIEE is an excellent program for students planning to take a year or semester off before enrolling in college. The program places students with a host family in one of five countries. Students work on language study and participate in a community service project. This is not a high school study abroad program, it is specifically designed for high school graduates.
http://www.ciee.org/
Cross-Cultural Solutions
International volunteer programs in twelve countries with many different start dates and programs that rang in length from one to twelve weeks.
http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/default.asp
Gap-Year.com
More gap year specific planning. Although this site is primarily intended for high school students based in the UK, the ideas and resources are helpful for all students.
www.gap-year.com
Gap Year Planning
Help plan your year off whether you are interested in travel or community service programs.
http://www.gapyear.com/ |
