Some useful links to information
and resources on the web on
college preparation, boarding
school application, and choosing
a career:
College Board
College
Board is the
organization practically all
students will go through for
a college opportunity - among
College Board's best-known
programs are the SAT and the
AP (Advanced Placement).
College Board also provides a
wealth of educational and
financial aid information for
college-bound students.
SAT
Calendar 2010-2011 - Register on
line for SAT and check the fees. updated!
Jumpstart
Your College Planning - Tips and
strategy for a
successful college
application.
Action
Plan for High School Seniors; for
Juniors.
Tests and More Tests
SAT
Reasoning Test - The College
Board implemented changes to
SAT in 2005 to include a new
writing skill section. The
New SAT has been taken by
high school Class of 2006 and
beyond. Learn about
the three SAT question types.
ACT - an
alternative college entrance
exam to the SAT accepted by
many schools. The
multiple-choice tests cover
four skill areas: English,
mathematics, reading, and
science. The Writing Test,
which is optional, measures
skill in planning and writing
a short essay.
The College
Board and ACT have
completed a concordance study
to examine the relationship
between two scores on SAT and
ACT. ACT also compares
ACT Composite score to SAT
CR+M+W score.
Kaplan and Princeton
Review are
well-known test prep service
providers that offer tutoring
both on the web and in
classroom settings.
AP - AP programs
allow high school students to
take college-level courses
and exams in various subjects
and earn college credit or
advanced placement.
TOEFL
- Test of English as a
Foreign Language
Resources
for students, test takers and
applicants.
ETS - TOEFL test
practice on-line.
SSAT - Start your
college planning early.
College and University Info
College
and University Info - College
Board code, general info and
links, application deadlines,
application requirements,
"likefinder" and
side-by-side comparisons.
US
News & World Report
Ranking - Probably the
most widely-read annual
rankings of the schools, by
fields of study and more.
Check out their College Forum
at their Education
Forum home. (Factors
considered in the US News
rankings include reputation,
selectivity, faculty
resources, financial
resources, and student
retention. Read about the cautions
and controversies on rankings from the U of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
site. Also, Beyond
Ranking, a May 2007
open letter from a group of
college presidents commenting
on the use and misuse of the US
News rankings. ) updated! Washington Monthly's College Guide ranks universities and liberal arts colleges based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country). new! Forbes Magazine's America's Best Colleges is a mix of both natioinal research universities and liberal arts colleges based on students' rating on the quality of education, their campus experiences, and postgraduate success. updated!
Maplewood
250 - Maplewood's
shortlist of over 250
selective schools including
the top national
universities, top liberal
arts colleges, and the
best-value schools from the
US News rankings. new!
Maplewood
40 - Maplewood's
listing of 40 most selective
private colleges and large
national universities.
Listing
of College and University
Websites indexed by
state and alphabetically,
from U of Texas at Austin.
College
Information at NewsDirectory - a fast
directory of college web
pages by state, also a directory of
college newspapers to catch a
glimpse of campus news and
student lives at different
schools. updated!
CollegeSource - Virtual
library of college catalogs
in searchable pdfs, profile
sheets, website links, maps.
Free trial available.
Peterson's - The Peterson's
College Guide on-line,
plus standardized test
practice, essay help, and
more.
Princeton
Review's Best 361 College
Rankings - 62
rankings
lists based on student
feedback in academics,
diversity and demographics,
quality of life,
extracurricular, social and
political life and other
categories.
Colleges
That Change Lives - 40 schools
offering a familial community
that gets students heavily
involved in cooperative
rather than competitive
learning, and a commitment to
undergraduate education that
focuses on the liberal arts
and sciences.
100
Best Values in Public
Colleges -
The best value-for-the-money
listing from Kiplinger,
based on a combination of
academic quality factors and
affordability. See also their
listings of 50
Best Values in Private
Universities and 50
Best Values in Liberal Arts
Colleges. new!
The
Nation's Top Liberal Arts
Colleges -
The core of liberal arts
education and comparison to
large public universities
explained. From the The
Annapolis Group, a
nonprofit alliance of the
nation’s leading
independent liberal arts
colleges (member
listing).
The
Benefits of a Liberal Arts
Education -
Why choose a liberal arts
college to study? What is the
meaning of a liberal arts
educaton? What are the main
benefits? Read the
perspectives of an admission
counselor from a US liberal
arts college. new!
Effects
of a liberal arts
education on students'
lives -
a study by the Center
of Inquiry in the Liberal
Arts at Wabash College new!
Liberal
Arts - The New Specialty
- how the new specialty
prepares a senior vice
president and CFO for
professional success. new!
Top
undergraduate business
programs from
BusinessWeek. Also, the best
B-Schools (MBA
programs).
Accredited
Colleges and Universities - Check for
accreditation of your college
choice at the Council
for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA) database.
Campus
Virtual Tours - Virtual
tours could be the next best
thing to an actual school
visit, with links to maps,
webcams, photos, videos, and
college and university
websites.
eCampusTours - 360° x
360° virtual college tours
of college campuses. Multiple
spots at each campus. Account
registration required.
Unigo is
an online student-generated
college resource guide
covering over 1,000 US
colleges and universities.
Current students in different
schools share photos, videos,
documents, and reviews of
their school. High school
students and parents use the
site as a research tool to
explore college options.
new!
The Application Process
Common
Application - Facilitates
and simplifies the college
application process for
students seeking admission to
their member institutions.
Over 400 four-year, selective
colleges
and universities use the common
application form. You can
open an account at 2010-2011
Common App Online (available
from August 2010) and look up
the detailed application requirements and deadlines for different
schools. updated!
From Princeton
Review the test prep
expert, which also hosts a College
Discussion forum:
What
Colleges Look for in an
Applicant
Competition
in the College
Application Process - Myth vs.
Fact
Honors
Classes Do Help
What's
Your Major?
Fishing
for a major
- Explore your options.
Ten
questions to ask yourself
as you explore majors
- distinguish between
those that sound mildly
interesting and those
that really seem right
for you. Explore
major profiles
at College Board.
Your
major = your career?
- It's a good idea to
give your potential
career some thought at
the college application
stage. But don't be
obsessed about a major
that you think will lead
to your career. Exploring
careers.
Selling
Your Liberal Arts Degree
to Employers
- Are liberal arts
degrees of value to the
employer? new!
The Essay
Conundrum:
Top
15 Essay Tips
from the essay readers at
Carleton College.
The
Good, the Bad, and the
Risky
- sound advice from a
veteran admissions
officer at University of
Virginia. new!
Essay
Tips from Davidson
College.
Essay
Edge - Essay
service for hire on the
web. The output may not
be speaking your voice
though.
Essay
Samples and Sample
Personal Statements.
updated!
Confessions
of a College Interviewer -
insightful tips from a
20-year veteran college
interviewer.
The
Education Conservancy -
reaffirming education values
and principles amidst all the
admissions process frenzy. College
Unranked -
"college choice and
admission are a matter of
fit, not of winning a
prize." from a 20-year
veteran college interviewer. updated!
College Financing
The
Price Tag -
How schools figures the Cost
of Attendance and other
basic and useful info, though
more relevant for US
students.
Who
Truly Needs Financial Aid? -
Trends in scholarships and
financial aid for college and
the process of award
decisions from US
News & World Report -
Education.
FinAid - a
comprehensive financial aid
resource portal with a college
cost projector
calculator to estimate how
much one of your most
important life investments to
make would cost.
The
Financial Aid Podcast
- an Internet radio
station exploiting the new
media to bring daily news and
commentary on financial aid,
scholarships, and more to
your computer or iPod. Free
subscription.
Financial
Aid from US Dept of Education - US
government loans, grants info
for students who are US
citizens.
US
colleges offering financial
aids for international
students -
listings by state, with links
to schools and related sites.
Funding
for US Study Online - an
extensive database of
scholarships, fellowships and
grants for international
students organized and
maintained by the Institute
of International Education
(IIE),
with listings by programs,
areas of study, countries and
regions, and locations in the
US. (Program listings for Asia/East
Asia Region; for
Hong
Kong.) new!
InternationalScholarships.Com -
Free scholarships database
for international students.
Free membership.
International Students
Is
the U.S. Right for You?
- A checklist from Princeton
Review, the
test prep expert. Explains
the "liberal arts
philosophy" in the
curriculumm of US
undergraduate programs of
study and more.
IIE
- Institute of International
Education - The
experienced US education
exchange and training
organization puts on an
annual US
Higher Education Fair in Asia
(next Hong Kong Fair on October 16, 2010). updated! Publications
include the Open
Doors Report on International
Educational Exchange with comprehensive
statistics on the
international students in the
US and the on-line Survey
Report on International
Students and U.S. Study
Abroad.
IIE
Hong Kong;
IIE
China
Final
Applications and Initial
Offers of Admission -
Findings from the Council
of Graduate Schools (CGS)
International Graduate
Admissions Survey, August
2007. new!
EducationUSA -
Supported by the US
Department of State, this
website of a global network
of advising centers on
education in the USA provides
basic information, key terms
and ideas on undergraduate
studies, graduate
studies, professional
school and
other educational
opportunities for
international students. (What's
the Liberal Arts philosophy
in US college education?)
The
Nation's Top Liberal Arts
Colleges -
The core of liberal arts
education and comparison to
large public universities
explained.
The
Benefits of a Liberal Arts
Education -
Why choose a liberal arts
college to study? Read the
perspectives of an admission
counselor from a US liberal
arts college.
Useful Guides and Tools
Newsweek/Kaplan
College Guide 2010 Edition. This annual
college planning guide by
Newsweek and Kaplan contains
the latest profiles of America's
25 hottest colleges - termed the
new Ivies. Plus practice
for the new SAT, tips on
researching and evaluating
schools, winning the
admissions game, campus
visits, campus life.
Comprehensive College
Research Guide includes a
detailed directory of schools
featuring tuition, admissions
requirements, campus
demographics, and more. (It's
fun just to go through the
hottest college lists and see
how they have changed from year to
year, so we keep some of the links to the
hottest college lists in
previous years: 2007; 2006; 2005.)
Fiske Guide to Colleges 2011 by Edward
Fiske updated!
- The former
education editor of the New
York Times puts out an annual
guide with basic statistical
academic information and more
personal descriptions of the campus
cultures and personality of
each school.
Boarding Schools
Boarding
school at Hogwarts, anyone? -
from The
Christian Science Monitor,
September 19, 2005.
Boarding School Finder - from TABS (The
Association of Boarding
Schools). Try their school browser and guided search.
Boarding
School Review -
reviews
by alumni, detailed school
profiles based on
school-supplied info, top
school listings (not
rankings) by acceptance
rates, SAT scores, sizes,
diversity, student attention,
endowment, affordability,
breadth of offering in
activities, sports, academic
courses.
BoardingSchool Admission Application
-
The "Common App"
for boarding schools is used
by over 200 schools. Application
fee info available on
list.
SSAT
Central - Peterson's
mini-portal on preparing for
the SSAT, with test dates,
tips and strategies, study
guides.
TOEFL
(Test of English as a Foreign
Language)
IB
and AP program choices for
high schools
AP
Program - With 35
courses in 20 subjects to
choose from, you
can demonstrate your maturity
and readiness for
college, and show a
willingness to push
yourself to the limit.
International
Baccalaureate
Organisation
and The
Diploma Programme - 2-year
pre-university program in
which a student's
performance is measured
against well-defined
levels of achievement in
a rigorous curriculum.
A
Passion for Learning -
how the best American high
schools - though not boarding
schools - see what makes
their school one of America's
best high schools. new!
Career
Exploration
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