Top Ten Sites for College Students

Best Sites for College Students

Whether you're college bound, or on college grounds, here are some excellent resources that will help you succeed in your college journey.

1. Preparing For College - A Resource Book for Parents - This comprehensive guide gives a wealth of information on how to prepare for college, choosing a school that's right for you, and how to finance your college costs. The College Prep Resources section has dozens of links to info on Advanced Placement tests, SAT preparation, financial aid, and student loans and colleges in all fifty U.S. states.
2. College Bound - InfoPlease has some great resources for the college bound student. I suggest you read "Getting Into College Is Easier Than You Think" and then check out their "Top Ten Tips for Admissions". Follow that up with "Ten Tips for Writing a Great College Admissions Essay" and you're half way there!
3. College Board Just what is the capital of Nebraska? College Board has everything you ever wanted to know about the SAT and PSAT. Not only can you register online, you can take practice tests and receive a free, personalized planning kit.
4. College Directory USA - is a comprehensive directory of addresses, phone numbers, maps and area information for 10,000 colleges in the USA. You can easily find a list of colleges by state and city, with links to visit the college, or find it on the map. You can also search for colleges with degree programs that match your interests.
5. Scholarships - FastWeb is a free service that has helped over 30 million high school and college find college scholarships and grants. You can search their database of over 1.3 million local, national and college-specific scholarships. FastWeb uses your personal skills, interests and background to match you up with scholarship opportunities and helps you to apply for them.
6. FinAid - was created in 1994 by Mark Kantrowitz, a nationally-recognized financial aid expert. It's chock full of expert advice on searching for scholarships that you qualify for, and how to spot scholarship scams. You'll find help understanding PLUS, Perkins and Stafford student loans, and military aid for ROTC students, veterans and recruits. There's a section called "Financial Aid Demystified", with tips on filling out the dreaded FAFSA form. And finally, calculators for figuring college costs, loan payments, and savings.
7. Best Book Buys - Finding textbooks on campuses can be frustrating as well as expensive. Best Book Buys is a comparison shopping service with access to thousands of books, both new and used. Search by title, author, subject, or ISBN number and you'll get a list of sellers who have the book, sorted by price. You'll be amazed at how much you can save by getting a used text book. One of my daughter's college math books sells for $129 new, but I found a used copy in excellent condition for $8 through Best Book Buys. Here's a tip: People who publish college text books figured out years ago that there is a thriving market for used books, which cuts into their profits. So they come out with new editions regularly to force people to buy new. Just make sure you get the right edition of the book.
8. Collegiate Promotions - Need some extra coinage? There are always work/study opportunities and ways of getting credit for internships, but we also discovered Collegiate Promotions, a company that features businesses that want exposure on campuses. Distributing posters, flyers, catalogues, magazines, brochures, etc., they pay a fixed rate per item from a week up to a month. It may be chump change, but if you are already there you might want to look into it since there is no direct soliciting involved.
9. Care Packages - Click on over to FlowersFast and send your far-away college student a special care package. As you might expect, FlowersFast offers roses, plants, and fresh flower arrangements of all kinds. But they also have a big selection of Balloons, Plush Bears, Candy, Chocolates, Cakes, Cookies, Fruit, Nuts, and Gift Baskets. College kids love to get mail, especially mail that's edible!