Online Resources
ACT
http://www.act.org/
The college admissions and placement test taken by more than 1.8 million high school graduates every year.
bigfuture by The College Board
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/
This is your go-to site for “one-stop-shopping”: explore career choices and academic areas of interest; build, save & edit colleges of interest based on your answers to survey questions; register for PSATs, the SAT, APs and CLEPs; find financial aid and scholarship information & links to other sites.
The Common Application
http://www.commonapp.org/
Accepted by more than 600 colleges, this is most likely the application you'll need to submit to your colleges of interest.
CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE
https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile
Offered by The College Board, the CSS is now required by 400+ colleges/universities in addition to FAFSA in order to qualify for non-federal financial aid and some scholarships.
FairTest: The National Center for Fair & Open Testing
The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) works to end the misuses and flaws of standardized testing and to ensure that evaluation of students, teachers and schools is fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial.
fastweb!
http://www.fastweb.com/
Provides college, scholarship, and financial aid searches. Allows you to narrow your search criteria to include specifics, such as “no essay” required.
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
https://fafsa.ed.gov/
This form must be filled out and submitted annually in order to qualify for federal aid.
Federal Student Aid (an Office of the U.S. Dept. of Education)
https://studentaid.ed.gov/
Provides information on career choices, college searches, types of aid, filling out the FAFSA, managing & repaying loans.
FinAid: The SmartStudent™ Guide to Financial Aid
http://www.finaid.org/
This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive source of student financial aid information, advice and tools -- on or off the web. The site has won awards from the College Board, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the National Association of Graduate and Professional Students and the American Institute for Public Service.
This is a listing by state of specific high school graduation requirements. Do not confuse these standards with those required for college admittance. They are NOT! I strongly encourage parents to familiarize themselves with these standards prior to their child's entering high school. It is important to understand that colleges and universities take these standards into account when reviewing application materials, just not in the way you may think. For example, most colleges and universities are a lot less concerned with how many physical education credits and life skills credits an applicant has (often a state graduation requirement) and are more interested in seeing that the prospective student opted to take electives in technology and engineering - neither of which are required for graduation in many states. Similarly, parents should know where their child's high school ranks among those in their state. A school's ranking will affect a candidate's college acceptance, especially at highly selective schools.
National Merit Scholarship Corp.
http://nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php
The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships. High school Juniors enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®)—a test which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.5 million entrants each year—and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.
Scholarships.com
https://www.scholarships.com/
This site rivals The College Board and FinAid sites in providing comprehensive information related to financial aid, scholarships, loans, grants, college searches, college savings accounts, etc.
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