It’s mid-August and many teens are experiencing anxiety from the mere thought of returning to school, but none more than those who are about to begin their final year of high school. They know the pressure is on…applying to college, playing Varsity sports, going to Prom, navigating the social scene, dealing with peer pressure and finally, and most importantly, maintaining those good grades.
There are a couple of tasks that you can begin now, before the big crush, to get a head start on #ApplyingToCollege. The first one is to write your college essay…and the hardest part of that assignment is picking the perfect topic. Many students are dumbstruck by this requirement…we will explain more about the college essay and offer inspiring resources in next week’s article.
Today, we’re focusing on the information available to you on the Internet…it is a manageable topic to start with since most teens are sleeping with their phones under their pillows anyway.
Who doesn’t love to surf the Internet to learn about new products, read personal advice, experiences and cautionary tales or watch entertaining videos? That’s what teenagers do all the time, but now we are going to focus those same efforts to learn more about SCHOOLS, COLLEGES and UNIVERSITIES!
www.collegenavigator.gov
The National Center for Educational Statistics offers the College Navigator website at www.collegenavigator.gov
This easy to navigate, comprehensive database offers admissions, financial aid, and campus-culture related data which is reported directly from the schools to the US Government….please notice the .gov extension at the end of the web address.
Some of my favorite information (pay attention!) to gather includes student population percentages, campus safety statistics, graduation and retention rates and financial aid facts.
I consider this website to be a “heavy hitter” meaning that you can spend quite a bit of time compiling useful facts, trends and information on all colleges and universities. It is one of my favorites…chock full of data, all on one page, no hyperlinks, no ads, no distractions.
Take some time to look up schools you’ve heard of and may be considering. Use scrap paper (or a spreadsheet!) to compile the important information I mentioned above…use your critical thinking skills to compare and contrast.
www.schoolsname.edu
Here’s a fun fact: Each college’s official website is designated by the .edu extension at the end of the web address or URL. I consider the information found here to be a “primary” source because the schools are responsible for their own content and they have immediate access to keep the information accurate and up-to-date.
Here are some examples off the top of my head: Lehigh.edu, Udel.edu, Hofstra.edu, Yale.edu, Harvard.edu, Princeton.edu
And don’t forget that you can always use Google to find the link…just remember to look for the correct file extension.
Use these official sites to obtain specific information about academic programs and majors, course offerings, admission requirements, social media accounts and contact and application information.
www.collegeboard.org
Most high school students have already visited College Board’s website for SAT, Advanced Placement, and Subject Test registrations. College Board also offers college planning tools and college-related data similar to that of College Navigator, however their Big Future website www.bigfuture.collegeboard.org provides the information in a more teen-friendly layout, size and font.
www.usnews.com/rankings
Each year US News publishes a guidebook solely devoted to the best colleges and their rankings. It is great resource for the coffee table and family discussion purposes. Their ranking system is based on a complex formula which has received mixed reviews, and for a subscription fee you can gain online access to their school profiles, rankings and college planning tools at www.usnews.com/rankings.
www.collegeconfidential.com
A user-driven community forum for questions and answers, reviews, articles and tools related to colleges, admissions, campus-life, and so on, many teens enjoy reading the advice and cautionary tales written by their peers at www.collegeconfidential.com.
www.YoUniversityTV.com
A highly entertaining website which contains a great catalog of well-produced videos that capture the essence of the college and surrounding campus-life, as well as the faculty and student population at each school. wwwYoUniversityTV.com is a great tool to virtually visit those “far-away” schools which you may be considering or dreaming about.
Whew…
That’s already a bunch of resources which will keep you busy for a long time. The best part is that you can access these resources from the comfort of your own home, day or night…which means it’s time to get off Instagram and Snap Chat to do something productive with your life!
But one last point…there is a challenge when using the Internet…it is vast world of data and knowledge…some of it true, some false and some opinion. It can be overwhelming if you don’t know which is which or how to pull out the meaningful information while leaving the unnecessary behind.
Trish Portnoy is a blogger, writer, app developer and high school teacher who helps high school students and their parents to research colleges, understand their options, and make choices using resources from the Internet, guidance counselors and other helpful people.
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