Want more information on College? Check out these Sites!

We have been talking about college this week. For many people it is overwhelming because they have no idea where to start to get the information they need. This article will provide some resources that will help you learn more about what majors schools offer and what makes them each school unique. 

A good place to start if you are just thinking about college is finding out which college will offer the best bang for your buck. It is important to think about the quality and the cost of the education. 

Here are some websites that will help you get started in your research

http://www.collegeboard.org/: This is a great comprehensive website for college preparation. It covers testing, college search tools with comparisons and information on paying for college. It is definitely the go-to website for college prep testing. 

http://www.usnews.com/education: This is a great website to find out how schools rank by major and in general. College rankings are important and could determine the size of the field of the opportunities available after graduation. It also provides ranking for universities around the world which is great for students who may want an education from different countries. This site a must check out.

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/: This is a government website which provides the most information for each individual college. It is a great site to go to once the student has narrowed down some options and wants to learn more about each school. 

http://www.collegemajors101.com/: This is a great website if you want to narrow down on your majors. It provides information on how various majors can be put to use and the opportunities available. 

http://www.schoolsoup.com/: This website is the largest scholarship match site for students. It is a great place for students to register and get scholarship matches. It is important to do this at the beginning of high school so the student and parents have an idea what they may qualify for and start preparing for the scholarship applications. 

http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/: This is a great site to find out more about the financing options that colleges offer. You can get more information on the makeup of the financial package and the percentage of student loans involved. This is a great site to get the best bang for your buck. 

It's Not Too Late To Apply For College

Yesterday, a co-worker mentioned that her daughter is graduating high school in May and so I asked about her plans . . . "what does she want to do?", "is she going to college?" . . . the usual small talk.

To my shock, my co-worker replied that her daughter had not applied to college yet. Both mother and daughter felt that there was enough time as she did not have to enroll until next September. They planned to start the process in January, which is way too late. It's late now but they can still meet the deadlines if they work really hard and move very fast. Not an ideal situation.

Why are they in this situation? They are immigrants who are not familiar with the educational system in the US, the process, the deadlines, the hyper competitive environment. I explained to her that most colleges have application deadlines in December and January and that they need to spend several months preparing the applications instead of doing them in a rush.

I encouraged her to take a day off and go visit her daughter's teachers and ask for assistance. I also promised to find her some resources that can help them tackle this process.

I searched the internet and the best website that I could find that explained the process clearly was College Board whose stated goal is to, "ensure that every single student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college".

It's a very informative website and I encourage anyone with children to review the website even if your child is not yet old enough for college. You will know what to expect when that time comes and you can ensure that you start the process earlier rather than later.

Click here for the College Application Calendar to see all the recommended steps. Do it now before it's too late.