We are including some of our favorite resources to help you get started as you begin your college journey. Whether or not you choose to work with us, we hope you will find this information helpful.
Resources
Books We Like and Reference Often
- Bruni, Frank, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be
- Damour, Lisa, Untangled
- Diver, Colin, Breaking Ranks
- Green, Howard, The Hidden Ivies
- Haimes, Julie-Lythcott, How To Raise An Adult
- Pope, Loren, Colleges That Change Lives
- Pink, Daniel, Drive
- Ripley, Amanda, The Smartest Kids In the World
- Selingo, Jeff, Who Gets In and Why
Test Prep and Testing
- ACT – Sign up for tests, send scores, and access free ACT test prep and sample tests.
- AJ Tutoring – 1-1 tutoring firm that delivers measurable results, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
- Prep Scholar – Provides great information on their blog regarding news and advice on prepping for the ACT, SAT, and more. It’s a bit hard to navigate, but if you take the time to dig around, it’s quite a treasure trove of information.
- College Board (SAT and AP Tests) – Sign up for tests, send scores, and access test prep.
- Compass Education Group – Provides one-on-one test prep tutoring to students around the country. Dedicated tutors specializing in math and/or verbal test prep are assigned to your student.
- Khan Academy – Free test prep for the SAT and several academic subjects.
- SAT Practice Tests – You can take all eight official released tests online.
- The College Panda – this test prep blogger (and perfect scorer) has a well-organized site with articles about strategies specific to each SAT section and the ACT.
College Research Resources
- College Data – Use this robust data set to search over 2,000 colleges.
- Collegeresults.org – Provides a searchable database with statistics on four-year graduation rates, retention rates, admission information, endowment information, and more.
- Colleges That Changes Lives – This non-profit organization is dedicated to the advancement and support of a student-centered college search process that supports the goal of every student finding a college that develops a lifelong love of learning
- Fiske Guide – Reputable and unbiased college guide that is favored by many college counseling offices.
- Niche – Data is based on rigorous analysis of academic, admissions, financial, and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with millions of reviews from students and alumni.
- Smartscholar.com – A robust, searchable scholarship database. Check out their College Guide with lots of resources here
- Unigo.com – A searchable database of student reviews of colleges.
- US News & World Report College Search – An annual set of rankings of American colleges and universities published by U.S. News & World Report beginning in 1983.
The Best College Admissions Blogs
Instead of increasing your anxiety level by talking about college admissions with other parents, who usually have the experience of only shepherding their own children through the college admissions process, why not take the advice of seasoned admissions officers who have read thousands of applications? Their comments on college admissions are certainly interesting and eye-opening!
- Georgia Tech Admissions Blog: A Dialog on College Admissions
- Johns Hopkins University Admissions Blog
- MIT Admissions Blog
- New York University Admissions Blog
- Princeton University Undergraduate Admissions Blog
- The Harvard Crimson Admissions Blog
- Tufts Blog: Inside Admissions
- Tulane Admissions Blog
- University of Chicago Admissions Blog
- University of Illinois Admissions Blog
- University of Michigan Admissions Blog
- University of North Carolina Admissions Blog
- University of Virginia Admissions Blog: Notes From Peabody with Cav Dog
- USC Undergraduate Admissions Blog
- Yale’s Bulldogs Blog
Twitter Accounts for Parents and Students to Follow
- @Chronicle – Great resource for higher ed news
- @Collegeadvice
- @CollegeEssayGuy – An obvious choice with great content
- @Collegeexpress
- @Collegevisit
- @CommonApp – Another obvious choice especially with some competition entering the market
- @Essayhell – great tips for essays
- @FrankBruni – Always good to know what he’s up to and talking about
- @Gotocollege – Professor and the go-to college guy
- @Huffpostcollege
- @JanetLorin – another higher ed reporter for Bloomberg
- @KirkCarapezza – Good higher ed editor
- @PMuthConsulting – Influencer and prolific blogger
- @ScottJaschik – Inside higher ed editor
- @SmartColleges – a lot of fun/good content on liberal arts
- @TeenLifeMedia – Good content that’s not just college-focused
- @Theprospectblog – Good concept, good content
- @Unigo
- @UVaDeanJ – Admission dean with good content, SM skills, and occasionally dog photos!
- @Valeriestrauss – A reporter who does a lot on college admissions
- @Zinch
College Visit Resources
- Campus Sherpa – Operating on over 115 campuses around the country, Campus Sherpa is a student-run college tour company, allowing prospective students to get a personalized, one-on-one college tour from real college students.
- Campus Tours – Builds video tours, photorealistic interactive campus maps, and mobile walking tours.
- GoSeeCampus – Go See Campus is the free website for students, parents, and professionals to plan college visits online and make the most of the college search.
- YouVisit – A great way to virtually visit all the colleges on your list -make sure to register for tours and info sessions to get credit for doing your research!
Financial Aid Resources
- California Student Aid Commission – Promotes educational equity by making postsecondary education affordable for all Californians.
- CollegeBoard EFC Calculator – Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the number calculated with information from the FAFSA used to determine a student’s eligibility for financial aid.
- CSS Profile – Run by the College Board, over 200 schools use CSS Profile and/or IDOC as part of their financial aid process for some or all of their financial aid applicants.
- FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) – The definitive source for federal student aid – make sure you are not mislead into using other copycats sites.
- Federal Student Aid – The U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid provides approximately $112 billion in financial aid to help pay for college or career school each year.
- National Association of Financial Aid Administrators – A great dashboard of all the most current information on how to apply for financial aid.
- Paying For College
