Woodside High School

BigFuture: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search

For finding colleges that match your unique criteria - needs & wants. Useful to find schools you may not have heard of and those which offer your major. Can do multiple searches for different majors, sizes of school, etc. Good for a general sense of where your grades & test scores put you for each college.

Naviance:  All Woodside students have Naviance accounts.

Web address: connection.naviance.com/woodside

User Name: ID number (email NOT needed)

 Password: 2 initials 6 digit birthdate

Niche: https://www.niche.com/

Ratings on a wide variety of issues like professors, safety, dorm quality. Descriptions of students

and campus life and breakdowns of political leanings. Real comments from students.

PrincetonReview: https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/best-colleges

School lists on unique topics you don’t normally see: Most accessible professors, Best food, Everyone does intramurals, etc. Can help define what is important to you and provide some new names to look into.

StartClass: http://colleges.startclass.com/

Compare schools side by side, who has the best graduation rate? Student retention? Financial aid? Smallest class sizes?

Unigo: https://www.unigo.com/colleges

Long, detailed descriptions from real students on many aspects of their college.

Takeaways from March Into College #4

• Use the Net Price Calculators on colleges' websites starting soon. These calculators give you a clear picture of the COA (cost of attendance) for the different schools and what assistance your family could receive.
• Big Future on CollegeBoard is great for general college research, and it's also very good with college financial information.
• WUE schools and honors colleges are often an excellent fit for students, and they provide significant merit aid. This has been a VERY competitive year for many of the UCs. Their low admit numbers can maybe be an inspiration to help students feel positive about looking at colleges that they may not have considered before.  

           http://publicuniversityhonors.com/new-top-programs-by-category/

           http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all

Takeaways from March Into College #3

• Students can begin Common App now. Be sure to select Fall 2019 when you open your account, so your application will "roll over" when the next cycle begins on August 1.  The UC app does not open until August 1, but you can write drafts of your four Personal Insight questions now. http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/personal-questions/freshman/
• On Common App, do NOT work on the My Colleges tab until August 1. That's when the FERPA will be live for you and when the specific short essay prompts and questions for each college will be up-to-date.  All the other tabs on Common App--go for it!
• On Naviance, do NOT work on the colleges I'm applying to list yet.  Use the colleges I'm thinking about list and SuperMatch (for college research).

 Takeaways from March Into College #2:

•  The best applications are genuine, detailed, and complete. 
•  Students should stay committed to academic classes
•  Students should consider good ways to define themselves on paper/screen. 
•  Students should get involved and stay involved with what’s important to  them.

Takeaways from March Into College #1:

• Students should create a list of colleges that includes characteristics that fit them including: academics, location, size, campus culture, and cost. A college is NOT a "safety school" if it doesn't fit you, you don't like it, and you'd never go. Get those places off your list.
  
• A few important elements that are easy to forget but shouldn't be lost: honors colleges, WUE, 3/2 programs, early admit rates vs regular admit rates