Choosing a college

     I rarely recommend a web site but this is a great site for parents and students.  www.usnews.com is a wonderful site for parents and students. US News sends a questionnaire to every college in the country and compiles the results in an easy to find format. It will tell you what SAT scores you will need for any college, it will tell you the actual cost of a college, and the good news is that they tell the truth. The bad news is that the information found there now is for this year. The figures for next year will be updated in late August. Access to the site costs $14.95 but it is well worth it. You may want to wait until August to register so you will see updated information. Students are welcome to use my laptop any day after school to access the site now. This site can really be helpful as it also will tell you how important the various parts of the application are. For some schools, it’s all about SAT scores; for other schools it’s more important to have a high GPA. You can use the site to find a school that meets your needs and is looking for someone just like you. To access the site go to the address listed above and look for “best colleges”. This will take you to the part of the site you will use.
   To see a PowerPoint with an example of what this site can do, click here. This demonstration will compare schools, show the costs and class size. Understand that the numbers come from 2007 but are an indication of what you will find next year.