College Research
National Association for College Admissions Counseling spring college fair at Charlotte Merchandise Mart, Sunday, March 19, 2006, 12-4 pm, with at least 145 colleges in attendence. For information, click here.
Online articles
First, take a deep breath, and read this article about not sacrificing real education on the altar of "college prep." It should help you realize what homeschoolers having been "missing" by choosing the road less traveled and what they have to offer their college of choice and ultimately their world:
How Not to Get into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation by Alfie Kohn who has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores."
HSLDA has developed a series of brochures the help you stay on track throughout the high school years.
Choosing a College and Life from LeadershipU (associated with Campus Crusade for Christ)
Choosing a College by Thomas Sowell
Avoiding the Ten Most Common Admission Mistakes by Frank Burtnett
Does an Elite College Really Pay? by Dan Akst, MSN Money
Yahoo!Groups
If you already have a Yahoo ID you can simply click "Join This Group" and go through the membership request process. If you do not already have a Yahoo ID you must first sign up by clicking on "Sign Up" and get set up at Yahoo first.
General information and college search
College Admissions from About.com is a huge site with articles and links on testing, scholarships, hints for writing essays, and much, much more.
College Board College Search allows you to search for colleges by a variety of criteria and view college profiles with basic stats about the school as well as information on admission requirements, available majors, housing choices, links to the student newspaper, etc. You can also compare three colleges at a time, find other colleges with similar characteristics, save a personal list of colleges, and link to other areas of the College Board site.
U-CAN (University and College Accountability Network) is designed to give, prospective students and their families concise, Web-based, consumer-friendly information on individual private colleges and universities. U-CAN consists of hundreds of institutional profiles that contain comparable data and links to qualitative campus information. The profiles are displayed in a common (very graphical) template that was based on consumer feedback.
Peterson's provides college search by a variety of criteria, as well as information geared to parents or students on preparing for testing, timeline, financial aid and more.
Fiske Guides This site is basically a teaser for their print publications but useful to evaluate whether they might be worth purchasing and does contain some useful information.
Princeton Review contains a "counselor" feature, lists of "best 361 colleges", "happiest students", "best value", "colleges with a conscience", etc. and help sorting through majors. Registration (free) is required for some features.
CollegeNet has been hired by hundreds of leading institutions to stage and host their official forms for admissions, housing, tuition, contributions and other university commerce.
National Association for College Admission Counseling student resources include "Steps to College" online newsletter, a year-by-year checklist of college preparation tasks, information on scholarship scams, and links to other online resources.
Mapping Your Future is a national collaborative, public-service project of the financial aid industry - bringing together the expertise of the industry to provide free college, career, financial aid, and financial literacy services for students, families, and schools.
Intercollegiate Studies Institute "directs scores of thousands of young people each year to a wide array of educational programs that deepen their understanding of the American ideal of ordered liberty."
College Parents of America site consists mostly of well-organized links to sites of interest to parents of current and future college students -- from savings plans and summer experiences to campus life, health and safety issues.
The Women's College Coalition is an association of women's colleges and universities – public and private, independent and church-related, two- and four-year – in the United States and Canada whose primary mission is the education and advancement of women.
Christian College Mentor offers total access to information and admissions applications for the Christian colleges and universities of the National Association of Christian College Admissions Personnel (NACCAP) and the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
Christian Connector has you fill out a form and you will receive information about Christian colleges in the mail.
Career-Oriented Schools offers help for those interested in design, culinary, vocational and other career-oriented schools.
College Confidential contains the usual features for searching, financial aid, etc., but also has discussion forums on all sorts of topics -- with thousands of posts.
Campus View - official college campus viewbooks. Requires a subscription to use. 3-day pass is $3.95, monthly is $7.95 and requires Paypal.
College Foundation of North Carolina is specifically geared to North Carolina residents and colleges. Includes a career center, student planner, college fair of NC schools, online applications, and financial information.
College View has a search feature and helpful articles on all the usual concerns about college investigation and application.
College Data has a search feature and short articles on various topics. Unique features are "College Buzz" and "calculate my admission chances." Free registration required for some features.
eCampus Tours contains search feature, scholarship search, chat with a live counselor, 360-degree photos of college campuses and more.
The Common Application is a not-for-profit organization that serves students and member institutions by providing an admission application - online and in print - that students may submit to any of our nearly 300 members.
Military Academies
Admissions requirements
United States Military Academy
Academies Summer Sessions
The summer sessions are ONLY open to students between their junior and senior years. The applications open right after Christmas of their junior year. Acceptance to these does not guarantee an appointment, but a good recommendation here can give you a boost.
United States Military Academy
Campus security
US Dept. of Ed. Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Security site provides searchable on-campus crime and arrest statisitics.
Security on Campus offers articles on security issues and a search feature
College Tours
College Visits (based in Charleston, SC) offers packages of regional campus tours of well-known colleges -- includes ground transportation, meals, student-led campus tours, hotel accomodations, etc.
Collegiate Choice Walking Tour Videos offers independent, non-recruiting, informational videos of many college campuses to consider if you can't get there yourself. Site includes reviews by others.
College newspapers
One way to "get a feel" for a college is to peruse the student newspaper -- find out what students care about, what issues there are on campus, what their attitude is toward the administration and vice versa (or at least what the student jouralists think!) and so on. Also check out the local city papers for "town and gown" relations, special offers for students, etc.
The College Board site links to student papers from each college listing (see link above in the general information section.)
Yahoo's College Newspapers by state (includes links to city and county papers as well.)
Newspapers.com lists college newspapers by state and has a separate search for city papers of all sizes.
NewsDirectory links to college newspapers, city papers, and more.
Financial aid
People looking for college financial aid have been a ripe target for scammers -- do your homework thoroughly!
Savingforcollege.com is a source for objective information about Section 529 college savings plans and other ways to save and pay for college. They compile and analyze the information that will help parents and financial professionals ease the pain of constantly rising tuition.
Real college savings offers a free newsletter and online audio seminar, as well as a book about navigating the financial aspects of college.
US Department of Education Free Application for Federal Student Aid
College Board - Paying for College
Lists and rankings
List of Colleges That Have Admitted Homeschoolers
HSLDA College Listing by Homeschool Admissions Policies
US News & World Report College Rankings
Link to list of other ranking sites also contains a cautionary look at the use of rankings
FairTest's list of colleges and universities that do not require SAT or ACT test scores for admittance
Student ratings
These may tell you more about the students that submit information than the colleges they attend, but that in itself may be useful ...
Independent College Counseling
National Institute for Educational Planning / College Focus
Debbie Mason's Consulting Services: Does the thought of getting your student into college overwhelm you? Do you wish you had a high school guidance counselor to help you along the way? Now that she have retired from homeschooling, Debbie is making herself available for consulting on homeschooling high school, preparing for college, and applying to colleges. I have homeschooled for 26 years and sent my 4 students to college (UNCC, Grove City College, NC State, and UNC Chapel Hill). I have a master's degree in education and counseling. To inquire about fees or to schedule an appointment contact Debbie at 704-541-5145 or by email.