The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now open to all students and families hoping to get help paying for college in the 2025-26 school year. After weeks of testing the online form, the U.S. Department of Education released the official application on Thursday. The paper form is also now available. This year’s FAFSA may not look new, but it’s certainly improved compared to last year’s version. “It’s a piece of cake, honestly,”…
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Your summer vacation is the perfect time for college prep and to explore potential careers. All summers in high school are important, especially the summers after sophomore and junior year. Check out these ideas for summer activities that will make admissions officers take notice. 1. Start your SAT or ACT test prep. Summer is a great time to explore the ACT vs SAT , practice for the PSAT , or ramp up your study schedule.…
Read More »Families and students will have to wait even longer for financial aid offers from colleges and universities. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced yet another delay in the already-turbulent FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) timeline: The department says it won’t be sending students’ FAFSA data to schools until the first half of March. Previously, it had said it would start sending that data in late January. For more than 17 million…
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Figuring out what extracurricular activities to do or join in school isn’t easy. Everyone knows that extracurricular activities look good on a college application; however, you don’t want to spread yourself thin by doing too many at once. In fact, colleges value being able to see commitment and excitement for a few activities that you are passionate about; they want to see passion and commitment to activities that you find meaningful. By joining clubs that…
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In some cases, extracurricular activities matter as much as a students’ academic record. This is often the case for students who intend to study art in college. While admissions committees want to see that you’re a committed student who takes their courses seriously, your talent, portfolio, and dedication to art activities will also be crucial to the admission committee’s decision. That’s because your experience as an artist is often a better indication of how you’ll…
Read More »Here are our best FAFSA tips with everything you need to know about filling out the FAFSA. You should fill out the FAFSA form as soon as possible on or after Oct. 1, but you should definitely fill it out before your earliest FAFSA deadline. Each state and school sets its own deadline, and some are very early. Check deadlines for your state here. It’s important to get a StudentAid.gov account username and password (FSA…
Read More »One college admissions officer at a large public university described how test-optional admissions had spurred more disagreements in his office. A third reader on an application was often called in to break a tie when one staffer said ‘yes’ and another said ‘no.’ Without SAT and ACT scores, he explained, the job of admitting students had become more subjective and more time-consuming. “I feel like everyone who reviews applications has their own perspective or opinion,”…
Read More »College Board is preparing several new AP classes, including Pre-Calculus for the 2023-24 academic year, and African-American Studies for the following year. The Pre-Calculus AP class is designed to replace standard pre-calc classes in schools, rather than serving as an additional, Honors-like program. Other new AP classes in development include Anatomy & Physiology and Business Principles (an AP course focused on economics and entrepreneurship). The development of digital options for AP classes is also picking…
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With the announcement of the new digital SAT, College Board has left some key details out, especially regarding how the exam will be scored. The typical message has been somewhat dismissive, assuring us that the scoring is handled by their finely tuned algorithm and that it’s complicated. Through analysis of the new SAT’s scoring, it was found that each test question is weighted, with some questions having a greater impact on scores than others do.…
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While different schools put different stock in extracurriculars, almost every college considers them when deciding which students to admit. For example, the University of South Florida ranks extracurricular activities just behind grades, difficulty of coursework, and standardized test scores in terms of importance. The right high school activities can make a big difference during the admissions process. According to a study by California State University, Sacramento, extracurricular activities are positively correlated with attendance, GPA, test…
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