College Planning Websites
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COLLEGE TESTING INFORMATION
- SAT: (General information regarding registration, scoring, schedules and SAT Subject tests and AP exams.)
www.collegeboard.com - ACT: (General information regarding registration, scoring, etc.)
www.act.org - For AP test information at WJ, contact Gayle Evans:
Gayle Evans and for information on how different colleges award credit for the AP tests, visit.collegesearch.collegeboard.com/apcreditpolicy/index.jsp
SAT & ACT TEST PREP COURSES
- MCPS FREE online SAT and ACT Preparation Resources for WJ Students - www.Khan.Academy.org
- See WJHS Media Center’s "Surviving the SAT’s and Links to Help Prepare" for a long list of helpful sites
- ACT www.actstudent.org
- Test Prep Companies (WJ does not endorse any specific company)
- Colleges that don't require SAT/ACT for admissions - www.fairtest.org/university/optional
- 125 SAT tips and test taking strategies - www.conqueryourexam.com/sat-tips/
- 125 ACT tips and test taking strategies - www. conqueryourexam.com/act-tips
COLLEGE SEARCH SITES
- Naviance Family Connection – Juniors see Ms. Evans in the Registrar's Office to get your personal code. Parents may log-on as a guest with the password "wildcat."
- "A GUIDE TO COLLEGE and UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES for MCPS & WJ HIGH SCHOOL" on WJ’s Website: statistics on which colleges accepted WJ students.
- College Board Search
- www.collegesofdistinction.com A Search-site for smaller, less well-known colleges with special programs
- Campus Tours
- theU.com Virtual Tours
- Academic Common Market (ACM) - It is a tuition-savings program that operates on the premise that if public institutions (not including private institutions) in a student's home state do not offer a degree program major (undergraduate or graduate) that a student intends on pursuing, then s/he may attend a participating ACM out-of-state institution offering the degree of interest through ACM and be granted a waiver of out-of-state tuition charges.
Contact Information: Maryland Higher Education Commission
6 N. Liberty Street, 10th floor
Baltimore, MD 21201
Fax: 410-332-0270
ACM - Resources: ACM/Electronic Campus - www.electroniccampus.org
Maryland Degree Inventory (Check to see if your program major is available in Maryland)
GENERAL COLLEGE INFORMATION AND HELPFUL SITES
- CSS Profile (http://profileonline.collegeboard.com/) - The financial aid service of the College Board used by member colleges and universities to award nonfederal student aid.
- FAFSA (http://fafsa.ed.gov/) for instructions on completing the FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
- FAFSA Forecaster (http://www.pin.ed.gov/) - Provides an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid. www.FAFSA4caster.ed.gov
- The PIN website - Parents and students must apply for a Pin to complete or edit the online FAFSA. It is used as the student's and parent's electronic signature.
- MCPS Financial Aid Workshops - (https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curricululm/careercenter/financialaidworkshop.shtm)
- All of the Test Sites listed above have college planning guides on their websites, see for example: www.collegeboard.com; www.petersons.com; www.kaplan.com; and Princeton Review
- NACAC Web Resources for the College bound: "Steps to College" a free online newsletter for college-bound students and their parents, focusing on career planning, community colleges and help in the college planning process. Click here.
- www.collegeessayguy.com
ONLINE APPLICATIONS/THE COMMON APPLICATION
- Apply Yourself: www.applyyourself.com
- The Common Application: www.commonapp.org
- Common Black College Application: www.eduinconline.com/eduweb/
- College Board: www.collegeboard.com
- College Link: www.collegelink.com
- Peterson's Applications: www.collegequest.com
- Coalition Application: www.mycoalition.org
FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS
- Fastweb: www.fastweb.com
- Americorps: www.americorps.gov
- BrokeScholar: www.brokescholar.com
- CASHE scholarship search: www.wiredscholar.com and college-scholarships.com
- Colleges offering locked-in tuition rates: www.bankrate.com
- CSS Profile: www.collegeboard.org/profile
- FAFSA on the Web: www.fafsa.ed.gov
- Federal Pin registration: www.pin.ed.gov
- Find tuition: www.findtuition.com
- Go College.com: www.gocollege.com
- In like me: www.inlikeme.com
- Maryland Prepaid: www.collegesavings.md.org
- Maryland state scholarships: www.mhec.state.md.us
- MDgo4it: www.MDgo4it.org
- scholarships.com: www.scholarships.com/
- School soup: www.schoolsoup.com (claims to have the largest database in the world)
- Scholarships4students: www.scholarships4students.com
- Funding Your Education: www.ed.gov/fund/landing.jhtml
- Financial Aid Calculator: www.finaid.org/calculators/
- Scholarships for Students of Hispanic descent: www.scholarshipsforhispanics.org/
SPECIAL INTEREST SITES
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities: HBCUConnect.com and www.hbcumentor.com/
- Black Excel: www.BlackExcel.org
- Catholic Colleges Online: www.catholiccollegesonline.org
- Jesuit Colleges and Universities: www.ajcunet.edu
- Hillel Chapters: www.hillel.org
- Council for Christian Colleges & Universities: www.cccu.org
- Alternatives to College Ideas from an Illinois HS
- The Academic Common Market and the Electronic Campus: www.electroniccampus.org/Traditional/
MILITARY COLLEGES
- Army: www.goarmy.com
- Air Force: www.airforce.com
- Coast Guard: www.uscg.mil
- Marines: www.usmc.mil
- National Guard: www.nationalguard.com
- Navy: www.navy.com
- Selective Service Registration: www.sss.gov
Males ages 18-25 who live in the US must register. Visit the Career Center SSS Info Page for more information.
RESOURCES ON GAP YEAR PROGRAMS
Books:
- Taking Time Off by Colin Hall & Ron Liebe
- The Gap Year by Charlotte Hindle, Joe Bindloss
- Taking a Gap Year by Susan Griffith
- Your Gap Year: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Year Out the Adventure of a Lifetime by Susan Griffith
- The Gap-Year Advantage: Helping Your Child Benefit fro time Off Before or During College by Karl Haigler
Websites:
- www.gapyear.com
- www.gap-year.com
- www.collegegapyear.com
- www.teenlife.com/gap-years
- http://www.gapyearadvisor.org - free resources targeted at students and parents exploring gap years for the first time
- www.whereyouheaded.com
Programs:
- www.interimprograms.com
- www.dynamy.org
- www.spw.org - Students Partnership Worldwide
- www.americorps.gov
- www.ysa.org - Youth Service America
- www.peacecorps.gov - Peacecorps
- www.earthwatch.org - Earthwatch
- www.timeoutassociates.com
- www.interimprograms.com
LEARNING DISABILITIES
- College Planning for Students with Learning Disabilities: www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/college.planning.LD.html
- National Institute on Life Planning for Persons with Disabilities: www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Parents/naparent.html
CAREER BUILDING INFORMATION/JOB SITES
- Arts related jobs: Montgomery Youth Works
- Maryland's Job Bank: www.careernet.state.md.us
- Montgomery College Career Center: www.mc.cc.md.us/departments/studevrv
- MD High Technology internships/jobs: www.mdhitech.org
- Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook:
www.bls.gov/OCO/ - Dept. of Labor - Job Outlook: www.ajb.dni.us
- Career Key Interest Assessment: www.careerkey.org/english/
- Job training assistance: www.acinet.org
- How to become a CPA in Maryland: https://discoveraccounting.org/become-a-cpa/maryland/