College Counseling Resources

How to Choose a College

Click here to review a set of questions that will hopefully be helpful as you determine which colleges to apply to. The options you choose are just that—choices that you believe will best provide the academic environment and culture necessary for you to pursue your collegiate studies. There is no set of “right answers” that these questions presume. What is best for one family and student is not necessarily best for another. With that being said, however, the importance of a strong Christian fellowship group on campus and a student-friendly, biblically sound local church that is easily accessible should be high on your priority list.

College Search

• Scoir: Students are encouraged to use their personal Scoir accounts
• collegeboard.com
• fastweb.com
• princetonreview.com
• blog.prepscholar.com: College planning articles on a myriad of topics
• YouVisit.com: Virtual college tours
• Niche.com: Research college rankings, list, and various scholarships.
• collegemajors101.com: This site will give you virtual tours of colleges and universities. Each school is asked the same questions to help prevent bias in the presentation. They are really more like virtual profiles because the college stats are also there.

College Applications

• How to Write a College Application Essay, by Margaret Metzger
• The Art of the College Essay, by Gabrielle Glancy
• Common Application: allows a student to fill out one application form and recommendation form for filing at more than one college or university. While more than 200 selective colleges and universities accept the Common Application, many require a supplement, which can be accessed from their websites.

How to Write a College Resume

Here is a sample resume to help you get an idea of what you may brainstorm and put into your own resume. Students are required to use the resume builder within Naviance.

Financial Aid/Scholarships

• 2015 Guide To FAFSA, CSS Profile, College Financial Aid and Expected Family Contribution (EFC) —Forbes article
• FAFSA: www.fafsa.ed.gov
• To apply for PIN needed for the FAFSA and CSS: www.pin.ed.gov
• CSS Profile (for list of schools who require the CSS and the application): www.collegeboard.com/css
• To calculate an estimate of your family contribution for college: www.finaid.org/calculators
• Florida Bright Futures: www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/bf
• Net Price Calculator: collegecost.ed.gov
• Ten Things You Need to Know about Net Price Calculators
• The Princeton Review—Scholarships and Financial Aid

Student Athletics

• NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association): www.ncaa.org

Florida Virtual School

• Online courses (no charge for Florida residents): www.flvs.net

Parent/Student–Sites of Further Interest

• collegeguide.org: A source providing the whole story—good and bad—on over 200 leading colleges, the new edition of Choosing the Right College 2010-11: The Whole Truth about America’s Top Schools is essential reading…and it’s now available in its entirety online.
• khanacademy.org: Free online tutoring on multiple subjects including PSAT, SAT, and AP exams.
• act.org: Register for the ACT and also access free ACT prep
• applerouth.com, Free SAT, ACT, & PSAT exams. Test prep and tutoring options.

Publications

• Dorm Brothel: An article written by Vigen Guroian and published in the February 2005 issue of Christianity Today