General Resources

Student Self-discovery

A helpful way to begin the college search process is to do self-discovery about interests and talents. The tools provided here can be good starting points, but it may help to have additional guidance. Contact us at Educ8Fit Consulting to see how we can help. Here are some resources to help with self-discovery:

Informal Career Assessments

Interest Profiler: http://www.mynextmove.org/
Personality Mosaic from Delta College:
http://www.hollandcodes.com/support-files/delta-personalitymosaic.pdf

Career Prospects

O*NET OnLine https://www.onetonline.org/find/

Occupational Outlook Handbook This U.S. Department of Labor handbook provides information related to the outlook for numerous different careers. In addition to searching for information starting with an occupation, you can search for information starting with things like pay and job growth.

Steven Antonoff – College Worksheets

Dr. Steven Antonoff, author of College Match: A Blueprint for Choosing the School for You, provides worksheets that can be helpful to students as they conduct their college search process: https://schoolbuff.com/worksheets/

College Search and Exploration / Tools

One of the ways Educ8Fit Consulting can help a student is in conducting the search process. Here are some basic tools that can also assist in that process:

CollegeData https://www.collegedata.com/

CollegExpress https://www.collegexpress.com/

Big Future https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/

College Navigator https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

College Scorecard https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

Net Price Calculator https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price

College Results http://www.collegeresults.org/search_basic.aspx

Application Process

Applications

Educ8Fit Consulting does not prepare applications on behalf of students, but it does provide advice on how students can put their best foot forward in the various elements of the application. Please contact us at Educ8Fit Consulting for advice on what way of applying works best for you and potential ways to respond to decisions on applications. Here is some basic information about applications:

Common Application -- https://www.commonapp.org/
FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
Ways of Applying
Non-Restrictive Application Plans—Students are not restricted from applying to other institutions and generally have until May 1 (often June 1 in 2020 due to COVID-19) to consider their options and confirm enrollment.
Regular Decision—Students submit an application typically around January 1 and receive a decision typically in the Spring of the year the student would later matriculate to college.
Rolling Admission—Institutions review applications as they are submitted and provide decisions throughout the admission cycle.
Early Action (EA)—Students apply early and receive a decision well in advance of the institution’s regular response date. Some of these are Restrictive Early Application plans (e.g., a student can apply to multiple public colleges but only one private school) under which students are responsible for following restrictions.
Early Decision (ED)—Students commit to a first-choice institution where, if admitted, they definitely will attend. Students can only apply to one school using this method. Consequently, this is a restrictive application plan. The application deadline and decision deadline occur early. Exceptions may be made in cases where financial aid offered is deemed to be inadequate.
Restrictive Early Action (REA)—Students apply to an institution of preference and receive a decision early. They may be restricted from applying ED, EA, or REA to other institutions. If offered enrollment, they typically have until May 1 to confirm.
The best way of applying can vary based on your circumstances. Please contact us at Educ8Fit Consulting so we can schedule an appointment to provide additional information and advice.

Types of Responses to Applications

Accepted – This is the goal so that options and opportunities can be explored.
Deferred Admission—This is a potential response to an early application. This response would typically release a student from being compelled to attend the school if admitted under the Early Decision application process. The school would reevaluate the applicant in the Spring under this response. This response is not the same thing as being on the waitlist. It is more hopeful than that.
January (Spring Term) Admission—Some colleges admit freshmen to begin study in the middle of the academic year. January admission may be an option worthy of investigation for students who might graduate a term or semester early from high school.
Wait List—This is an admission decision postsecondary institutions use to protect against shortfalls in enrollment. Wait lists are sometimes made necessary because of the uncertainty of the admission process. Students apply to multiple institutions and may receive several offers of admission, which makes it challenging for schools to determine how many admitted students will choose to enroll. By placing a student on the wait list, an institution neither offers nor denies admission. Rather, it extends the possibility of admission in the future, before the beginning of the school year.
Open Admission—Some colleges do not practice selective admission and offer admission to virtually all students who apply. Such colleges usually have extensive programs designed to provide remedial or developmental help to students who enroll with academic deficiencies.
Tuition Deposit—Schools want financial evidence that a student will follow through if a student indicates that he or she intends to enroll. Colleges typically let accepted applicants learn the decisions of all colleges they have applied to before requiring tuition deposits, provided that all decisions are made by May 1. The student, in turn, is obligated to submit a tuition deposit to only one college before its required deadline (usually May 1, frequently June 1 in 2020 because of COVID-19).