The Top 53 College Preparation Resources for Students

Preparing for college can be intimidating and overwhelming for students and parents alike. It can seem as if there is an endless line of standardized tests to take, forms to fill out, and colleges to choose from.

Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a list of the 53 best online resources out there to get you ready for the whole college process. These resources cover everything from SAT prep to college visits and will help make this transitional period easier to manage.

Standardized Tests - Finding the Right College - College Applications - Financial Aid

Taking Standardized Tests

1. ACT Test Prep: Sample Tests: These practice ACT questions come straight from the source and can help give you an idea of what taking the actual test will be like.
2. ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Choose?: This article succinctly breaks down the differences between and features of the ACT and SAT so you can make an informed decision as to which standardized test you want to take.  
3. The Benefits of Advanced Placement Tests: Wondering whether or not to take that AP test? This informative article breaks down just what AP tests are and why they are important for college.  
4. The Best SAT Prep Books and Great College Prep Websites: A good SAT prep book is packed with tips to ace the test and plenty of practice to sharpen your skills. This blog post picks out the best SAT prep books, explains their strengths and weaknesses, and relays what you can expect to find in them. It also provides links for you to buy the books online.
5. College Board Tests: The official College Board website has extensive information on all its tests, including the SAT and SAT subject tests, the PSAT, AP tests, and the CLEP. Besides general information about each test, you can also register for them, check out timelines and calendars, and even take some practice questions right from the source.
6. FairTest Optional List: Standardized testing not your thing? This handy site lists colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores for admission.
7. Hard SAT Crosswords: Want to challenge yourself and have a little fun at the same time? This site offers nine different crossword puzzles featuring difficult SAT vocabulary words that can test your knowledge in an enjoyable way.  
8. INeedAPencil.com: This free SAT preparation site is a great resource that offers SAT lessons, practice questions, and even full-length practice exams. It boasts a number of useful features such as in-depth question explanations, communication with mentors, and a performance history.
9. Learnhub.com: This website contains question banks that let you choose specific areas of the SAT to focus on. For example, you can choose to work on only sentence completion questions or only probability questions. It also contains articles and tips to help you with the SAT.
10. Number2.com: Number2 offers free customized SAT and ACT courses, and has useful features such as a word of the day, monitored progress, and a vocabulary builder.  
11. Peterson’s Free Practice Test for the SAT: This free online test is full-length and timed, so you can gauge your readiness for the SAT in an accurate way. After you finish, you can view detailed explanations for each question on the test so you can learn from your mistakes.
12. The PSAT: What you should know: The PSAT is often dismissed by students because it is optional and not required for college admissions. This article can help you decide whether or not the test if worth your time and money to take. It explains very clearly what content is covered on the PSAT and the benefits of taking the test.  
13. Sample Essay Responses: The essay portion of the SAT often stresses students out. This list of sample essays and what they scored should give you an idea of what to expect. 
14. SAT Essay Prep Guidelines: This worksheet by PBS walks you through writing an essay on the SAT. It offers tips and takes you step-by-step from writing a topic sentence to selecting vocabulary.
15. SparkNotes SAT Subject Test Center: SparkNotes provides free online books to help you prepare for six of the most popular SAT subject tests. In each book are an overview of each test, tips for taking them, and detailed notes covering the subject matter. 
16. Testing, Testing, 123: This is a fantastic 23-page PowerPoint presentation brought to you by Jefferson County Schools. It covers preparing for the test and goes into detail with many test-taking strategies. For example, it covers the process of elimination for multiple choice questions, identifying keywords, keeping math computations straight, and general strategies like pacing yourself. If you don’t have PowerPoint, you can view the presentation here.
17. Top 10 SAT and ACT Test-Taking Tips: This simple article by the American School Counselor Association provides 10 essential tips for standardized testing. While these may seem basic, they are important to always keep in mind.
18. Vocabulary Games: This great resource has 720 commonly tested SAT vocabulary words that you should know. You can view these words in a flash card format or generate quizzes to test yourself with.

Finding the Right College

19. 5 Reasons to Attend a Liberal Arts College: Sometimes bigger isn’t necessarily better. Liberal arts colleges offer an experience that might be more suited to your needs than those provided by larger schools. This article lists five important reasons why liberal arts colleges should be considered during your application process.
20. Choosing a College that’s Right for You: This resource provides a list of steps to help students start finding the right college for them. While by no means the definitive method, the process described in the article can help you narrow your college choices down.
21. College Profiles: This A-Z list of colleges is extensive and is packed full of pictures, statistics, and descriptions. With a short list of prospective colleges, this resource can help you get a better idea of what each school is like and what the students they accept are like.
22. Good Match, Reach, Safety: What Are My Chances?: This resource provides advice on how many schools you should apply to. It classifies a school as either a good match, a reach, or a safety, and gives reasons on why you should apply to a few of each.
23. The Ins and Outs of a College Visit: Visiting a college’s campus gives you a lot of information that can’t be captured in any other way. This well-written article gives advice on how to maximize a college visit.
24. Should You Go Public or Private?: One essential choice a college applicant must make is whether he wishes to go to a public or private school. This article discusses the pros and cons of each, such as the different admission standards and the impact of campus size.
25. Tips for Finding a College Match: This article provides some preliminary advice for choosing a college. It lists several factors that should be considered, including location, cost, and diversity, and mentions why these factors are important. This is a good starting point for considering what type of college is right for you.
26. Types of Colleges: In order to choose a college, you first have to know what options you have to choose from. This article provides a good overview of the different types of colleges and also lists special interest colleges, such as single-sex or religiously affiliated colleges. It also links to a college search engine through which you can explore and find colleges that might fit your interests.
27. U.S. News Best Colleges: U.S. News & World Report ranks colleges yearly according to a variety of factors, such as class size and endowment size. While these rankings and the way in which they were determined is debatable, the lists can still serve as a useful tool for comparing colleges. Numerous statistics, such as acceptance rate and graduation rate, can be sorted through.  

College Applications

28. Admissions Checklist: This timeline can help guide you throughout your high school career and prepare you for the college applications process. It offers suggestions on what to do in your junior and senior years of high school and provides a list of materials you will need for your application.
29. Best College Admissions Essays – Writing Tips: This simple article provides several dos and don’ts for your admissions essays. The advice here, while basic, is important and should be kept in mind while building your essays.  
30. College Admission Essay Samples: Sample college essays for five schools are provided on this site, with comments from the admissions committees provided for each.
31. College Application Overview: Learn the basics of the college application process. This article gives a brief overview of the factors that are looked for in a college application and offers examples of how these factors are weighted by different schools.
32. The College Interview: The Emma Willard School provides general information on the college interview and tips for making a good impression. Twenty-seven important and commonly-asked interview questions are listed.  
33. Early Admissions versus Action Admissions: The differences between early decision and early action admissions can be confusing. This article provides insight into the differences between the two and their benefits compared to both each other and regular admissions.  
34. Four Steps to Getting Perfect College Recommendations: Recommendation letters can be a very important part of a college application. Good recommendation letters can make an applicant stand out. This article provides four tips for getting great recommendations for your college application.
35. How to Get Off a College’s Wait List: This informative article offers step-by-step directions on what to do after being put on a college’s wait list.
36. How To Get Off The Wait List: This excellent article by Forbes gives more tips on how to get into a college after being put on the wait list. 
37. Most Common Mistakes in College Application Essays: It is important to know what not to do in an essay in addition to what you should do. This article lists ten mistakes in college application essays that can be easily avoided.
38. Sample College Essay Questions: This resource groups application essay questions into three groups and provides example prompts for each. It explains what these essays are looking for and how best to tackle them.
39. Should You Apply to College With the Common Application?: More and more schools are turning to the Common Application. This article describes what the Common Application is and answers frequently asked questions about it.  

Applying for Financial Aid

40. Before Beginning a FAFSA: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the main source of financial aid for many students. Read this list of things to do and necessary materials before filling out the actual form.
41. Entry Level Job Center: Working a job during college is one way of easing your financial burden. This online guide offers a number of resources for students looking for a job, including entry level job searches, resume building tips, and interview techniques. 
42. FAFSA4caster: The FAFSA4caster provided by the government is a useful tool that can help you figure out just how much aid you’re likely to receive from the FAFSA. Besides providing an aid estimate, it is also useful because it serves as practice for the real form, provides the option of transferring the information you filled out to the real form at a later date, and gives you the chance to receive a Federal Student Aid PIN which you need to fill out the real FAFSA.
43. Fastweb.com: Fastweb is the largest scholarship search engine on the internet. After entering in some personal information, the site will give you an extensive list of scholarships that match your profile. Besides having a vast database of scholarships, the site also has many features such as a list of deadlines and email notifications of new scholarships. 
44. FinAid.org: This website contains an enormous amount of information for financial aid. It provides a great overview of several types of aid, including scholarships, loans, savings, and military aid, and also contains tools such as loan payment calculators and aid form explanations.
45. Financial Aid Calendar: The financial aid calendar provided by the College Board advises you on when you should be doing each aspect of the financial aid process. It not only lists deadlines for forms, but also recommends when important tasks such as creating a college list or talking to a college counselor should be started. 
46. Financial Aid Secrets: This website has a list of tips that can help you maximize the aid you receive from the FAFSA. For example, it provides a practice FAFSA form and recommends that no entry on the FAFSA should be left blank.
47. Government Student Loan Programs: Students looking for loans often go to the government first. This article explains the different types of loans offered by the government and clarifies their features and relative benefits. 
48. Guide to filling out the CSS Profile: This useful worksheet provides additional information on each question on the CSS Profile. It takes you step-by-step through every part of the CSS Profile, rewords confusing questions, and helps you figure out how best to fill out the form.
49. Guide to filling out the FAFSA: Like the guide for filling out the CSS Profile, this guide takes you step-by-step through the FAFSA, illuminates confusing points, and can help you maximize your results.  
50. Know Your Education Benefits: The military is one common source of money for college. This article goes into detail on how the armed forces can provide for your education and is a good starting point for information on everything from Military Tuition Assistance to the GI Bill.
51. The Lowdown on Student Financial Aid: This article provides a great starting point for students wondering about financial aid. Basic information such as the main sources for financial aid can is provided.
52. Most Important Financial Aid Questions to Ask: Once your common, basic questions concerning financial aid are answered, you may want to consider asking the five questions contained in this blog post. The answers to these questions are important to consider when figuring out how financial aid works at your desired college.
53. Scholarship Searches for College-Bound Student-Athletes: This site provides information specifically for athletes looking for scholarship money. It provides information on the main source of student-athlete scholarships, the NCAA, as well as several other organizations that offer financial aid for athletes.