WEB LINKS TO INSPIRE, INFORM AND ORGANIZE COLLEGE APPLICANTS

PERSONAL EXPLORATION

Not sure of your interests, strengths, talents and skills? Are you trying to figure out what you might major in or a future career ideas? Complete assessments and with your results as a starting point explore college majors and career ideas.

Step One: Set up an account at College Coalition to gather and organize your academics using their set of free on line planning tools. www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org

Free personality quiz: The Big Five Traits: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/personality/
Free values assessment: The Values Test can help you learn more about your underlying work needs and motivations, and can help you decide what is important to you in a job. https://www.myplan.com/assess/values.php
Free assessment: True Colors. https://my-personality-test.com
Free personality assessment : https://www.16personalities.com
You Science aptitudes, interests, and future . Worth it at $29. https://www.youscience.com/student-aptitudes/
Self-Direct Search Assessment. Worth the $9.95 https://self-directed-search.com
Free career test: https://www.yourfreecareertest.com/career-tests/free-career-test-for-students/
ASA Futurescape: Fun career exploration game https://futurescape.asa.org
College Majors: https://www.collegemajors101.com

LETS MAKE A COLLEGE LIST

Thoughtfully craft your list of top eight college criteria. Cooly assess your academic and extracurricular strengths and weaknesses. Start your college research and develop a list of 12-15 schools of varied selectivity. Create a spreadsheet and take lots of notes.

COLLEGE SEARCH:

Cappex: General Search: great site for comparing schools, calculating admissions chances, calculating financial aid, and just figuring out if a school is a good match for you in general. https://www.cappex.com
College Insight: option to start your search with a specific college, a topic that interests you, or with building your own table of different variables to compare schools https://college-insight.org
Big Future: College Search Step-by-Step" for students who are unsure of how to go about the search process https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org
Chegg: create a profile and see which schools might be right for you. www.chegg.com/schools
College Board college search. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org
College match tools and student reviews: https://www.unigo.com/colleges
Colleges that change lives: https://www.ctcl.org/?sfid=16108
Hidden Small Colleges: https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/hidden-gems-2019/hidden-gems-in-the-us-2019/
Best Value Colleges: https://www.forbes.com/value-colleges/list/#tab:rank
FORBES BEST COLLEGE List: https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/#4a53d5171987
Best Value Colleges . Different measures: https://www.bestvalueschools.com

VIRTUAL CAMPUS VISITS

Visit each school in person or virtually. Study the admission website and at least two other websites. Ask for lots of advice, talk to current students and alumni. Write voluminous notes. Refine your list to 8-10 schools.

Detailed advanced search engine. including sorting by offered sports. Media includes videos, social media, college web site, map and more https://campustours.com
Review and scholarship information: https://www.unigo.com
Campus Video Tours: https://campustours.com
General college info and reviews: www.niche.com
Rankings in many categories and videos: https://www.youniversitytv.com

ACADEMICS, TESTING, APPLICATION ADVICE, ESSAYS AND MORE

Ready to get to work? There are many great websites to help and advise you for every step of the application process.

SAT & ACT TEST PREP:

Sign up for tests and MUCH MUCH more: https://www.collegeboard.org
ACT: http://www.actstudent.org
Free official test prep: https://www.khanacademy.org/sat
Free full length SAT test practice: https://www.khanacademy.org/sat
Free course on SAT test strategies: https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat/new-sat-tips-planning
Number2.com: http://www.number2.com (free preparation for the SAT and ACT)
Free ACT Overview: https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions/making-high-school-count/standardized-tests/v/overview-of-act

FREE UNIVERSITY LEVEL CLASSES (NOT FOR CREDIT)

Coursera: https://www.youscience.com
EdX: https://www.edx.org

STUDY STRATEGIES AND SUPPORT FOR EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AND ADHD/ADD

Intelligent Study Strategies: https://www.intelligent.com
College Success Plan: https://collegesuccessplan.com/
The College Blueprint: https://www.collegeblueprint.com/
Untapped Learning: https://untappedlearning.com/

APPLICATION:

PROMPT: This is your first stop! Detailed analysis of essay prompts and supplemental questions. Paid feedback. https://prompt.com
Khan Academy: free guides to all aspects of the college application process: https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions
Successful college essays and advice: https://blog.prepscholar.com/college-essay-examples-that-worked-expert-analysis
Actual Essays from Johns Hopkins and comments from Admission Staff: https://apply.jhu.edu/application-process/essays-that-worked/
How to write the college essay: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-write-a-college-essay
The common App activity List: https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/how-to-complete-the-college-application-activities-list
The Activity list again: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/blog/guide-college-activities-list-common-app-example-application
Letters of Recommendation: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-a-letter-of-recommendation
Recommendation Letters again: https://blog.collegevine.com/9-rules-for-requesting-letters-of-recommendation-from-teachers/

FINANCIAL AID AND SCHOLARSHIPS

Understand the costs of your college education and make a financial plan. First step: use the net price calculator for each school and plan to submit the FAFSA form.

Comprehensive financial aid web site: https://www.fastweb.com
Financial aid overview: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college
Calculator to use for most schools: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/tools-calculators
Scholarship listings and student college reviews: https://www.unigo.com/scholarships

RECRUITING AND INFORMATION WEB SITES FOR ALL FUTURE COLLEGE ATHLETES

Study and know the NCAA rules, register with the NCAA Eligibility Center, study and find your options. Cooly assess if your performance is at the standard expected for college teams of interest.

NCAA: ALL COLLEGE ATHLETES

College sports. NCAA recruiting overview: http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future
Register at the NCAA eligibility center https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/
Recruiting rules, calendars and letters:http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/recruiting
General recruiting guide: https://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting

ESPECIALLY FOR SWIMMERS

Explore programs, assess your performance in an analytical spreadsheet, follow the news of your favorite teams. In addition to fast times, what else will it take to impress college coaches? Do your academics meet a schools expectations?

Start here: www.swimcloud.com
Overview woman’s swim recruiting: https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-swimming
Overview of Mens college swimming: https://www.ncsasports.org/mens-swimming
Writing a coaches e mail: https://usatodayhss.com/2017/how-to-tell-coaches-are-reading-your-student-athletes-emails-even-if-they-dont-respond
Writing a coaches e mail:https://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting/contacting-college-coaches/email
Womens recruiting times: https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-swimming/college-swimming-recruiting-times
Swimming Colleges.. broken down by division with detailed information: https://www.ncsasports.org/womens-swimming/colleges
Mens recruiting times: https://www.ncsasports.org/mens-swimming/college-swimming-recruiting-times
Full list of mens swimming programs: https://www.ncsasports.org/mens-swimming/colleges

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

PRESENTING YOURSELF

Resume Builder: https://www.resumenerd.com

My Perfect Resume: https://www.myperfectresume.com

Teen Interview Tips: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/interview-tips-for-teens

VOLUNTEER / COMMUNITY SERVICE

Lion's Heart: http://www.lionsheartservice.org
Volunteer Nation: http://www.volunteernation.org
GreatNonProfits.org: http://www.greatnonprofits.org
Teen Life: http://www.teenlife.com

ACADEMIC SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Academic summer programs are great for developing and demonstrating interests, exploring majors and college essay content.

SELECTIVE AND NON-SELECTIVE PROGRAMS
Teen Life: http://www.teenlife.com

SELECTIVE PROGRAMS:

Usually require an application and admission. Applications are often due in January and February and require a short essay and recommendation. They are a better choice for a summer academic experience compared to those that are non-competitive.

University of California Summer Programs (COSMOS, leadership, etc.) - for additional pre-college programs in California, see https://askmssun.com/freshman-admission-extracurricular-activities/
- UC San Diego: https://summer.ucsd.edu/program-finder/index.html
- UC Irvine: https://sites.uci.edu/youthcouncil/summer-youth-programs/
- UCLA: https://summer.ucla.edu/student-types/high-school-students/#options
- UC Santa Barbara: https://summer.ucsb.edu/programs/summer-research-academies/overview
- UC Berkeley: https://precollege.berkeley.edu/
- UC Santa Cruz: https://cosmos.ucsc.edu/
MIT Summer Programs: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer/
Stanford Summer Programs: https://oso.stanford.edu/programs/high-school-students
Additional competitive/selective summer programs:

GAP YEAR PROGRAMS

AmeriCorps - https://www.nationalservice.gov
Boarding Schools Post Grad Year - https://www.boardingschools.com
National Outdoor Leadership School - https://www.nols.edu
Where There Be Dragons - https://www.wheretherebedragons.com

BOOKS

Fiske Guide to Colleges by Edward Fiske
How To Raise and Adult and Prepare Your Kid For Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims
Meeting College Costs by The College Board
Tales from the Small Time by Jim Moore
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
The Defining Decade by Meg Jay, PhD
College Admissions Simplified: A Guide for the College-Bound by Charlotte Klaar, PhD