General College Information

Confused by “College Lingo”?

Get definitions/explanations for commonly used college terms at https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/applying-101/college-admission-glossary

Two terms that often give students/families trouble: Early Action and Early Decision

Early Action (EA) An option to submit your applications before the regular deadlines. When you apply early action, you get admission decisions from colleges earlier than usual. Early action plans are not binding, which means that you do not have to enroll in a college if you are accepted early action.
Early Decision (ED) An option to submit an application to your first-choice college before the regular deadline. When you apply early decision, you get an admission decision earlier than usual. Early decision plans are binding. You agree to enroll in the college immediately if admitted, often before you know about financial aid packages. Be VERY careful with early decision agreements!

Helpful Links

www.cfnc.org – College Foundation of North Carolina. View all colleges in NC, apply online, find scholarships and grants.
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator – National Center for Educational Statistics and information on colleges in all 50 US States
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/ – Great resource for information about college planning/admissions, financial aid, and career exploration.
www.collegeboard.org – The College Board – Register for the SAT Reasoning Test and Subject Tests; Practice tests available. Information to help you plan, find, apply, and pay for college.
www.actstudent.org – The ACT Testing Program – Register for the ACT test; Practice tests and test tips available
www.commonapp.org – The Common Application -Apply to numerous schools across the US with one common application
http://www.collegedata.com/ College Match Data, Scholarship Search, Financial Literacy Information
https://www.standoutcollegeprep.com/ Learn strategies for getting admitted into your top-choice colleges and finding the money to pay for it.
http://www.ncaa.org/ – NCAA Eligibility Center for student athletes who wish to play college sports (either as a walk-on or as a recruited player)
www.scholarships4school.com – An extensive listing of scholarships available based on academics, leadership, extra-curricular activities, etc.
www.fastweb.com – Sign up for a free Fastweb account for scholarship information and scholarship searches.
www.ed.gov – The US Department of Education
http://www.nextstepu.com/ Next Step U – a personalized resource for students, parents, and counselors to find information about pursuing a career, joining the military, applying to and attending a two-year or four-year college or university, and developing essential life skills.
www.princetonreview.com – The Princeton Review, with information on college admissions and standardized test prep (SAT, ACT, and AP)
www.50states.com/college – Link to college information in all 50 states
www.aie.org – Adventures in Education – Sample resumes, career exploration activities, and information on planning and applying for college
www.collegeapps.com – Sample admissions essays and scholarship information
www.ed.gov/finaid.html and http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov – Federal Student Aid and financial aid information
http://www.collegexpress.com/# – College Express – information on undergraduate college searches, graduate degree programs, scholarships, lists/rankings, and summer programs
https://www.scholarshipexperts.com/ – Scholarship experts – large database of scholarship opportunities
http://www.tuitionfundingsources.com/ – Tuition Funding Sources is a private website designed to help students find scholarships, college, and career information. TFS offers students the largest scholarship database in the world with over $41 Billion in scholarship awards along with a career personality test and detailed college and career information
https://www.payingforcollegeresource.com/ – Sallie Mae Paying for College Resource