Some of My Favorite College Planning References

Here are a few of my favorite college planning reference books and websites organized by category.  What other references do you like and use?

What makes a college right for you - College Match 

College Majors - Book of Majors

College Guides:

• The Princeton Review, The Best 3xx Colleges
• Fiske Guide to Colleges
• America’s Best Colleges for B Students
• Colleges That Change Lives
• Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians and Writers
• The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Differences
• Rugg’s Recommendations on the Colleges 
   

College Search Sites:

• http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
• https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search
• http://www.collegedata.com/cs/search/college/college_search_tmpl.jhtml
• http://www.collegexpress.com/lists/ 

Chance for acceptance - Naviance scattergrams from your high school

Financial Aid:

• Financial Aid information- http://www.finaid.org/
• FAFSA Web site - http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
• CSS Financial Aid PROFILE - https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile
• Federal Student Aid - http://studentaid.ed.gov/
• Expected Family Contribution Calculator - https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator
• NJ State financial aid - hesaa.org
• Some legitimate college search sites:http://www.fastweb.com/college-scholarships, https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search, www.petersons.com/college-search/scholarship-search.aspx
• Net Price Calculator – on each college’s website
• Shrinking the Cost of College
   

College Visits: “A Pocket Guide To Choosing a College: Questions to Ask on Your College Visits” by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) - http://nsse.indiana.edu/pdf/NSSE_PocketGuide.pdf

Common Application - http://www.commonapp.org/

College Essay - Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps

Going to College Advice Guide - The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into College

Expected Pay when you Graduate - www.payscale.com