Apply to College Online
Great news, these days you can apply to college online! Exciting, huh? Well, it's not as easy as it may sound. Sure, the Internet has made everything from communicating over long distances to buying books and concert tickets easier, but the college application process has always been complicated. And just because you can apply to college over the Internet doesn't mean that you don't have to deal with the same headaches as before: essay requirements, endless blank spaces to fill in, and that pesky "List any academic honors you have received" section.
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Approach AP* Essay Questions with Ease
Every page of the Advanced Placement (AP) essay exam gives you plenty of space to make notes. If you write better essays by putting together an outline first, you can organize your thoughts in the spare space. The outline won't be graded or counted in any way. Your overall goal is to create an essay that relates well to the question, gives to-the-point supporting information, and makes a clear statement.
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Choose the Right Dorm
If you're planning to attend a medium-sized or large university, you might find that one of the most difficult decisions you'll need to make while still in high school is which dorm you'd like to live in. The dorm-selection process differs with every school, but most schools offer the chance to pick your top two or three preferences for dorm assignments (unless you want to live in an honors dorm, in which case you'll probably have to apply and be accepted). But how are you supposed to decide?
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Choosing a College: The Importance of the Campus Tour
Let's be honest, if you believed everything you saw on the college Web sites and in their marketing pamphlets, you might think that all college campuses have beautiful limestone buildings and tree-lined sidewalks, all college sports teams win every game, all college students are so happy that they never stop smiling, and the weather over every college town is sunny and 75 degrees every day!
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Choosing between a Large or Small College
You might be surprised that little Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, has a student population of only 900. On the flipside, Ohio State University's main campus in Columbus has well over 51,000 students. Whether you choose a massive university or a cozy college depends on several things, including your personality, desired major and courses of study, and learning style.
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The College Admissions Interview
As you plan to visit college campuses, most likely your admissions counselor will ask you to set aside some time for an interview. You should plan to attend an admissions interview for every college and university that you hope will send you an acceptance letter, even if you think your acceptance is in the bag.
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Entering College without a Major in Mind
Don't worry if it's time to accept your top choice college's offer of admission and you don't know what you want to study. Many students begin college with little or no idea what they will eventually choose as a major. You don't have to declare a major right away, so consider the following points to make sure you go into the right field of study.
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Figure Out Your College Preference
Choosing the "right" college suggests that among the more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States, one perfect match awaits - a single, magical campus that will meet all your needs better than any other institution. Not so. The good news is that every student who's willing to do the research can come up with several colleges that will enable them to reach their academic, personal, and social goals.
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Freshman Dorm Life: Choosing a Roommate
As you prepare to move into a college dorm, should you room with a friend from high school? Or should you play roommate roulette and take a chance on living with someone you've never met before?
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Gain an Edge with Community Service
Since the seventh grade, you've probably been hearing about the importance of extracurricular activities on your college application. While they're not as important as your grade point average or SAT scores, interests outside of school can work in your favor. Imagine if you and another applicant are "tied" for acceptance to the last available spot. You both have great grades and impressive SATs. As far as extracurricular activities go, however, you didn't do anything until junior year, when you joined the Penmanship Club. In comparison, the other student has held an after-school job all four years, has been in the Outdoor Club since sophomore year, and now - as president of that club - has initiated a community-wide effort to clean up the local river. Who do you think will get the acceptance letter?
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Get a Clue about Community College
Community colleges are accredited two-year institutions of higher education dedicated to serving the educational and workforce needs of their local communities. They are often called "the people's college" because of their philosophy that anyone can benefit from a college education. Open admission policies, low tuition rates, flexible schedules, and convenient locations make them easily accessible to the public.
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Keep Track of Test Time: Exam Calendar
Wondering when you can expect the next big test? Check out this calendar to get a month-by-month view. Most importantly, visit the Web site related to your exam of choice for the latest details about testing dates, locations, and requirements.
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Know What Colleges Are Looking For
You've thought about college until your brain's aching. You've done the research, and you've narrowed the list of institutions that interest you. Time to take the next big step toward making it all happen. Enter the application process.
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Know Which Exam's Right for You
Planning for higher education puts a lot of things on your plate. One of the bigger challenges to your sanity is the hearty serving of alphabet soup that represents standardized tests. The SAT and the ACT are as ever-present as household dust. Throw in references to AP exams and the GRE, LSAT, CBEST, TAKS, TOEFL, Praxis I-PPST . . . in a word, EEK!
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Pack Your Bags for SAT* Exam Day
Your head is packed with facts, figures, formulas - all the stuff you're supposed to pull out of memory to survive the SAT. Taking your bulging brain with you on test day is, well, a no-brainer. You're going to the test site to show what you know. To be fully prepared for this "exciting" experience, you'll need to load up with a few other items. Here are some must-haves for the test-taking trip.
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Plan Wisely for Campus Visits
Although the advent of the Internet has made it possible to take "virtual" tours of college campuses and to view streaming video of interviews with current students, there simply is no substitute for the real thing. To make the best-informed decision between and among the schools on your list, you must walk their campuses, visit their dining halls, attend their classes, talk to their students yourself, and get a real feel for each campus's students and its architecture, atmosphere, and "vibe." By visiting a campus, walking around, observing life on campus, and watching the way the students interact with each other (and with you), you should be able to get a feel for what it would be like to go to school there - and for how well you would fit in to the lifestyle you observe.
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Prepare for the Revised SAT*
In 1926, 8,000 students put pencil to paper as the first Scholastic Aptitude Test-takers. (Interestingly, the ballpoint pen wouldn't be introduced in the United States until several years later.) Sixty-eight years after that first grueling moment (as it's imagined by teens everywhere), the SAT became the Scholastic Assessment Test and continued in its claim to fame as the most widely used university admissions exam in the United States.
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Put Together a College Admission Timeline
You're looking forward to your freshman year in high school. Now blink. Before you know it, you'll be on the brink of entering your freshman year all over again - this time in college.
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Read the Right Stuff for the AP* English Literature Exam
Preparing for the Advanced Placement* (AP) English Literature and Composition exam can be overwhelming. No matter how you look at it, you're going to be required to do a lot of reading. The good news is that you can take your cues from the authors who have shown up most often on previous exams to help you focus your study.
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Save Yourself from Senioritis
Eleven years on any job is admirable, of course. And when you've worked hard every day to make the grade, a little rest and relaxation seems only right.
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Start Earning College Credit Early
You've been in school a lot of years, learning the traditional textbook way and picking up all sorts of valuable life lessons as you've moved closer to your college days. You can turn knowledge and experience gained through formal and informal means - such as on-the-job training, independent study, or life experience - into a head start on your college degree or certificate. Normally, you will need to be admitted to the college before pursuing this type of credit.
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Take the Right High School Classes to Get into College
Although there's no promise that if you take a certain combination of high school courses you'll get into any and every college you apply to, there's no question that you have to take the right courses in high school to be considered by most colleges.
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Write a College Admissions Essay
If you're dreading the essay part of the college entrance process, you're not alone. Most students find the prospect of writing a college admissions essay pretty scary. What are you supposed to write about? What should be the tone of your essay? What are they looking for? How personal should you get?
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