A lot of families of high schoolers take advantage of spring vacation weeks to visit college campuses. For high school juniors and their parents, this may be the last opportunity they have to visit campuses while school is actually in session before applying to colleges in the fall. So, what’s a student to do with the limited time they have to be on campus to help them decide if this college is a place where they’d like to spend four years of their life?

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: The University of South Dakota
Vermillion, SD

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

The National Catholic College Admissions Association is committed to promoting the value of a Catholic higher education. Their scholarship is available to both high school seniors and transfer students who will be attending one of the association’s member institutions. Recipients will be selected randomly within each geographic region.

Scholarship: The National CCAA Scholarship

College Coach admissions expert Ian Fisher was recently featured in a U.S. News and World Report article on improvements made to the Department of Education’s College Scorecard. While the additional data on earnings and debt now provided on the site is a step in the right direction toward transparency in the college admissions process, the new information does not override the fundamental limitation of the site in that median data cannot predict the outcomes of any individual student.  “Fundamentally, this system offers a really interesting broad-strokes perspective on some important data that can be used for making a college decision,” Fisher says, “but should be used in tandem with other resources and should be understood as a snapshot rather than the whole picture.” See below for some insights provided by the College Coach team upon the launch of the College Scorecard which still hold true today.

Applying to US colleges can be complicated. The process can be even more difficult if you are coming from another country. We have advice designed specifically for international students who hope to attend college in the US. In Office Hours, we are answering your college admissions and finance questions.

In a previous blog post, Using Naviance: How to Get Organized, we discussed how to get started with Naviance. This installment focuses on how to best utilize the program.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

In the spirit of Bodie McDowell, a writer who covered the great outdoors, the Outdoor Writers Association of America honors talented undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate a record of accomplishment and commitment to the field of outdoor communications.

Scholarship: Bodie McDowell Scholarship

Despite thinking that the hardest part of the application process would be the actual application, for many families the waiting game can feel just as unnerving. Sitting on your hands during the months of January through March can feel like an eternity. Here are some things you can and should be doing while you await decisions from admissions offices.

Test prep can be an expensive undertaking, yet we recommend that every student do some prep before they take the ACT or SAT. We’ll be discussing free test prep resources—what’s out there and which options are best. For juniors, we have advice on the top five things you should be doing now to get started on the college search and application process, and the top five things you and your families should know as you prepare to pay for college.