College Planning

Is the college you are interested in "test optional"?? Many schools are now choosing to no longer require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their college application. However, this does not mean that you should withhold them!

Hofstra University stated in a letter from the Office of Admissions, "please do not mistake our testing policy. Students' decision to send or withhold test scores matters. Nearly 75% of our applicants will, and should, submit standardized test scores."

Note: Check out the SAT and/or ACT range of the school your student is applying too and if your student falls into that range, including their SAT/ACT scores in their application could make them a more competitive applicant.

Researching and applying for college can be overwhelming at times. Here are some links to help you as you start your search

  • A tutorial about how to apply for college by the Khan Academy - www.khanacademy.org/college-admissions/applying-to-college
  • The BIG list of schools - Provides a list of American universities granting degrees. Indexed by alphabetical letter and name of university. www.clas.ufl.edu/CLAS/american-universities.html
  • Campus Tours - Provides virtual tours of many major campuses. Requires Shockwave. Text, photos, interactive maps, videos, movies: http://campustours.com/
  • College Board - Detailed information on the Advanced Placement Program, the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), and SAT test dates, from the organization that created the SAT. Text, graphics: www.collegeboard.com/
  • DefenseLINK - DefenseLINK, the Web Information Service of the U.S. Department of Defense, provides links to the home pages of all of the armed service: www.defenselink.mil/
  • NCAA - For student-athletes interested in playing sports in college, please check out the NCAA Eligibility Center: www.eligibilitycenter.org at the beginning of your JUNIOR year. Please be aware that there are NEW requirements for enrolling full time which can be found at the link above.
  • SUNY - www.suny.edu
  • Common Application - www.commonapp.org