8 College Admissions Sites You Should Know
Monday, October 25, 2010
If you want to be overwhelmed, type "college admissions information" into your favorite search engine. The results are monsterous to weed through. So, here are my top picks for information-rich sites produced by reputable sources. From financial aid to student reviews and athletic recruiting, these sites will keep you in the know.
1. SATs, searches, and more: www.Collegeboard.com
This robust website provides SAT registration and information, a college search engine, and financial aid guidance. If you only bookmark one Web site, this should be it
2. The latest scoop: http://hscounselorweek.com/
Are you tired of trying to keep current on all the media regarding college admissions? This newsletter pulls together the top stories each week and e-mails them to you. It’s intended for high school guidance counselors, but parents and students are welcome to join, and it’s free.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST3. Athletes must-have: www.berecruited.com
Founded by former coaches and ESPN executives, this athletic recruiting site rocks! Some of the features are free and others cost a nominal amount. Many recruiting sites will charge you thousands to post your information for coaches, but this site won’t. It’s an excellent place for athletes to get information on the recruiting process and post their athletic resume and videos for coaches to review.
4. The inside look: www.collegeprowler.com
It’s hard to find reliable sites with student reviews that aren’t littered with those who are bitter and angry. I think Collegeprowler does the best job of providing a balanced view from students of their college, and it has a great scorecard for each institution. As with all review sites, take it with a grain of salt, but it’s the best that I’ve found so far.
5. No SATs here: www.fairtest.org
Not everyone is a standardized test whiz, and studies have shown that the SAT is not a predictor of how well students will do in college. So today, more than 800 colleges and universities in the US have joined Fairtest and do not require students to submit standardized test scores. Find the list of member institutions here.
6. Safe campus? Check here: http://ope.ed.gov/security/
The federal government now collects campus crime statistics. If you have concerns about the safety and security at colleges, this is the place to go. Keep in mind that controversy does swirl around truth in reporting and whether nearby off-campus crime is included. Nevertheless, it is the most cohesive source for campus crime data available today.
7. Best stop for financial aid: www.finaid.org
Navigating the maze of financial aid can be difficult. Finaid.org explains the various programs, from loans to scholarships. It also provides calculators and the necessary forms for parents to fill out. It’s a safe site that will not ask you to pay for information, and it is not sponsored by a financial institution trying to lure you into selecting their loans. The author also puts out Fastweb, a great free scholarship search engine.
8. Merit aid: www.meritaid.com
Merit aid is available to all students regardless of income, but it can take hours to find and read each college’s individual information. This Web site lists all of the merit aid opportunities in the US and allows you to search by college or special talent area.
Related Articles
- Ways to Ace the College Interview
- Making College Financing Work
- College Admissions: How To Get Noticed by College Coaches Now
- Colleges with the Best Co-Operative Education Programs
- 7 Things Your College Counselor Won’t Tell You
- 6 Steps to a Killer College Application
