Scholarly and Reliable Higher Education Resources for Students, Parents and Educators
- College Board
- Khan Academy
- ACT Academy
- YouTube – Veritas Prep
- Going2College
- Quill
- Cappex
- US news & World Report's Best Colleges Report
- The Princeton Review
- Forbes Magazine's America's Top Colleges
This resource is an absolute must for any aspiring college student. As the founder and administrant for the standardized SAT test for college admissions, this website has earned the right to be the first stop for anyone beginning their college search. The College Board website offers invaluable resources and services to students, parents, and colleges and universities seeking help with college planning, admissions information and financial aid. It has practice tests and tips for the SAT, a step-by-step college search guide, and sections offering pertinent info for both parents and educators.
https://about.collegeboard.org/Since 2015, Khan academy has been the official SAT practice website. In addition to its free SAT practice questions and tests, Khan Academy takes things a step further with helpful instructional videos and a customized learning dashboard which enables students to learn at their own pace.
https://www.khanacademy.org/satThe perfect resource for those planning to take the ACT test instead of the SAT, ACT Academy is basically their response to the SAT's partnership with Khan Academy. Offering free personalized practice for the ACT test, ACT academy also includes video reviews of concepts and helpful test-taking strategies.
https://academy.act.org/YouTube's college prep channel, Veritas Prep, is a terrific resource for all aspects of the college prep process, especially if you're more of a visual learner. Not only does it walk you through standardized test-taking tips and strategies, but it also features videos covering everything from acing the admissions interview to writing application essays to common college applicant mistakes.
https://www.youtube.com/user/VeritasPrepSAT2400/featuredSponsored by the National Council of Higher Education Resources, the Going2College website specializes in refining college plans by helping to identify the right schools, search for financial aid resources and even explore eventual career options. It even breaks down resources by state, so students can refine their search by specific areas.
http://going2college.org/PlanForCollege.cfmAt the moment, Quill is offering its services for free to students due to the recent school closures over coronavirus concerns. At any rate, this site is instrumental for anyone who needs to improve their writing skills. It's an interactive site that prepares college applicants for writing their admissions essays. As a result, it takes students through exercises such as proofreading passages, practicing grammar skills, and special diagnostic tests to identify learning problems.
https://www.quill.org/aboutThe advantage of this site is that it makes it easy to compare multiple schools, weigh chances of admission, and determine approximate amounts of financial aid. Their tools really helps students figure out if a school is a good match. After creating a profile, Cappex then determines which schools might be the right fit based on the student's criteria. It also has things like student reviews, so anyone can get a feel for how current students rate their experience at the school.
https://www.cappex.com/how-it-worksThe largest of the college search sites and the standard bearer for college rankings since the early 1980s, US New & World Report annually compiles nearly 50 different types of rankings lists for colleges and universities. Indispensable for the budding college applicant, its wealth of information can help any student narrow down their search. For instance, students can search by field of study or best undergraduate business program. For this reason, it offers a great starting point for the student embarking on their college search.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universitiesAnother indispensable college search source, the Princeton Review's rankings concentrate on annual surveys of college students currently attending each school. The students answer questions about everything from academic life to their fellow students to the quality of campus life. These results determine the overall score for each school and whether they make the grade for inclusion in the Princeton Review's list of the top 380 colleges. Similar to the US News College Report, they also divide colleges into specific categories to help students narrow their list of choices.
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-education?source=aw&awc=18466_1588644626_3ba77503c5f9a84c189518d33bf41be8Forbes presents a slightly different angle on the college rankings lists in that it emphasizes students' return on investment (ROI) instead of their admissions criteria. For this reason, they look at how much debt students assume, what their educational experience was like, and career success and graduate school placement. They use this criteria to compile their list of the 650 best undergraduate institutions in the country. Students interested in the best value for their money and a ROI can benefit by taking a look at Forbes' college rankings.
https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/#1051b01a1987