George E. Glynn , Jr.’s

Guide to Colleges and Careers

Everything a high school student planning to attend college needs to know—with links to related web sites.

Click on any of the categories below...

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SAT I—FAQs, practice tests, fees, test dates, registration.

SAT Subject Tests: English, History, Math, Science, Languages—FAQs, practice tests, fees, test dates, registration.

ACT—FAQs, practice tests, fees, test dates, registration.

Academic Common Market—If your program of study is not offered at the University of Delaware or Delaware State University , you may be eligible for in-state tuition at a public college that participates in the Academic Common Market and does offer that major. Delaware Department of Education web site gives information, FAQs, participating states and colleges, qualifying programs.

Caravel Academy Dates and Deadlines

    Online College Admission Applications

“The Common Application”—Online application accepted by nearly 300 schools. Fill it out once, write one essay, submit to multiple colleges.

  Princeton Review—Links to application processes for nearly 1000 schools: online applications or The Common Application for member schools. When a school does not offer a direct online application, you are taken to its web page to request an online or printed application.

  CollegeNet—Links to application processes for 500+ colleges. Links directly to online applications; otherwise links to the school web page where you can request an online or printed application.

  CollegeBoard—Direct online application to 21 colleges; links to web page application processes or requests for applications for 3600+ colleges.

Getting into College—Articles

   Rodel Foundation— • Admission Glossary: Explains the differences among admission terms Early Action, Early Decision, Regular Admission, Rolling Admission, Open Admission. • Education Pays: Your investment in higher education provides major returns. Find out the median earnings and unemployment rates for individuals with varying levels of education.

Washington Post— • How to Get Into Every College on Your List, Jay Mathews .  

U.S. News & World Report— • Coming Up with a Short List • A+ Schools for B Students  • Take the Year Off  • It’s a Girl’s World  • Early-bird Hype: Why You May Think Twice About the Early Decision • In a League of Its Own: An Inside Look at Cornell , etc.

  College Board— •Application FAQs •The College Interview •Sample College Essay Questions •Three Steps to a Great College Essay •What to Do if You’re Wait-listed •Why 20 is Too Many: Understanding the Application Frenzy, etc.

  Newsweek Kaplan College Guide 2007— •Don’t Be Bland: Pomona ’s Admissions Dean Suggests How to Show the Person Behind the Test Scores and Grades.

  Transcripts of live talks with admissions deans on how to get into their schools:  •Penn •Yale •Pomona. Newsweek Kaplan College Guide 2007.

  Princeton Review— •How Much Does the Essay Count? •Applying to College: How to Stand Out from the Crowd •Picking a College: How Important is Location? •A Brief History of Women’s Colleges •Is a Historically Black College or University Right for You? •3 Down and Dirty SAT Tips •Campus Visit To-Do List • Small Colleges: The Benefits •What Not to Talk About During Your Interview, etc.

  National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)— •Guide for Parents •Guide to the College Admission Process •Top 10 Financial Aid Questions •Web Resources for the College-Bound •Considering a College Honors Program •Getting Great Recommendations •The Truth About College Interviews, etc.

  Knight Ridder / Tribune News Service— •The Most Important Factors in College Admission Decisions, Howard and Matthew Greene .

  The Atlantic Monthly— •Who Needs Harvard? Gregg Easterbrook .

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Financial Aid and Loans

        FAFSA—Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Use also to apply for state and school financial aid. Submit online or by mail between January 1 and April 15 each year for Delaware colleges (deadlines for colleges in other states vary: check the FAFSA web page).

         Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid—Free, downloadable U.S. Department of Education .pdf booklet.

U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid web site—FAQs, forms, programs, loans, publications, worksheet.

Delaware Higher Education Commission—22 state-sponsored financial aid and 9 private scholarship programs for Delaware students are listed and explained. Also a schedule for DHEC-sponsored College Nights and Financial Aid Nights.

FinancialAid.org—Comprehensive college savings site: financial aid, student loans, saving for college, scholarships. Can calculate the potential savings from different plans' borrower benefits.

CollegeBoard—Financial aid FAQs, step-by-step guide, your family’s expected contribution (EFC). Also loans: applying, options, comparing.

  Yahoo—Links to 125+ web sites with info about loans, financial aid.

  Peterson’s—Links to loan providers Sallie Mae (on College Answer), Citibank. 

529 College Savings Plans 

Prepaid College Tuition Plan—article gives the basics about prepaid tuition plans.

College Savings Plan—article gives the basics about tax-advantaged investment plans for college savings.

SavingforCollege.com 529 Plans—Independent and objective information about 529 plans. They do not sell 529 plans and are not affiliated with any other company or organization. FAQs, details of each state's programs, side-by-side comparisons of state programs, ratings, 10-year fee study. One click to each program's site.

College Savings Plans Network 529 Plans—National non-profit organization dedicated to making college more accessible and affordable for families. FAQs, state plans, comparisons, articles, links.

Financial Aid—Articles and FAQs

Academic Common Market—If your program of study is not offered at the University of Delaware or Delaware State University , you may be eligible for in-state tuition at another college that does offer that major.

Peterson’s—Financial Aid Terms Defined •Overview •Federal and State Aid: Types of Awards •Estimated Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator.

U.S. News and World Report—35+ articles on topics such as •Top 10 Financial Aid Blunders •Schools That Claim to Meet Full Need •Compare Aid Offers • Tips for Working Students •The Hunt for Money.

Scholarships

UCLA Links to Outside Agency Scholarships—Links to 1500+ scholarships offered by outside agencies can be used at other schools: Grouped by discipline (engineering, health science, humanities, life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences),  qualification (ethnicity, women, other),  deadline. Also, clicking back to the Scholarship Resource Center finds links to 65+ databases of free online scholarship search services that provide thousands of listings.

CollegeNet—600,000+ awards totaling $1.6 billion; accessed by free keyword or personal profile search. Quick and easy; does not require entry of personal data.

Peterson’s—1.7 million awards totaling $8 billion; accessed by profile search. Also, an International Scholarship Search with a database of 420,000+ awards worth $2 billion for international students studying in the U.S. Must register (free).

Careers and Colleges—1.7 million awards worth $7 billion; accessed by personal profile search. Must register (free). 

CollegeBoard—2300 awards totaling $3 billion; accessed by profile search. Must register (free) to do some things, but can do a basic search without entering personal data.

Wall Street Journal (Scholarships.com)—Search 2.7 million funding sources offering $19 billion in awards. Must register (free).

Yahoo—Links to 100+ organizations sponsoring and/or sites listing scholarships.

Chemistry.org—$55 million (up to $3000/student) in ACS Scholars Program scholarships in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering or chemical technology for African-American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian students.

Black Excel—Extensive directory with links to 50+ sites with scholarships for minority students, financial aid info. Sites include 200 Free Scholarships for Minorities, 100 Minority Scholarships Gateway List; United Negro College Fund; Gates Millennium Scholarship Program; McDonald’s Education Scholarships; Hispanic Scholarship Fund; 101 Top College, University and Scholarship Web Pages.

Microsoft—(note for the future!) $500,000 to be awarded for the upcoming year to about 30 current undergrads—women, underrepresented minorities, students with disabilities, and general students—to pursue studies in computer science and related technical disciplines.  

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Self-assessment of Interests, Abilities

CareerKey—Based on Holland ’s 6 personality types; take online in 10 minutes; identifies your personality type and provides a list of recommended careers for your type. $7.95.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter II—Based on Meyers-Briggs inventory of 16 personality types. Free limited version identifies your temperament only; reports including temperament discovery, classic temperament, career temperament, and learning styles range from $4.95 to $19.95 

Missouri U’s Career Interests Game—Brief synopses of Holland ’s 6 personality types. Not really a game—click on the types you most resemble and see career possibilities compatible with each. Clicking on individual careers takes you to the U.S. Department of Labor’s OOH detailed listings. Free. 

USA Jobs—Take abilities/interests quiz or self-select attributes to generate a list of federal careers that suit you.

What Careers Could This Major Lead To?

Uof Delaware Major Resource Kits—Excellent site offering career information about approximately 80 individual majors. Descriptions, sample job titles, ways to enhance employability, possible employers, resources for finding employment, links to related web sites.

Westfield (MA) State College—Excellent site. 60 majors: extensive list of career areas, employers, strategies to maximize employability, related web sites. 

U of North Carolina/Wilmington—Excellent site. 46 majors: extensive list of job titles, skills needed for each major, related websites.

St. Joseph’s U—32 majors: lists of careers, job titles, actual jobs of recent grads, related web sites and professional organizations. Also links to help you research 10 career field options (government and law, health care, technology and computers, etc.)

Cornell U Career Briefs—23 Arts and Science majors. Written by Cornell Career Services staff. FAQs, resources, related web sites, professional organizations, strategies to enhance employability, real-world descriptions.

Cornell U—“What Can I Do With This Major?” 43 Arts and Science majors: common career areas, typical employers, strategies to maximize career opportunities, related web sites.

College Majors—Articles

 Hot Subject: Arabic. Enrollment in classes is up; so are job opportunities for grads. Newsweek Kaplan College Guide 2007.

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Top Careers for the 21^st Century

U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Fastest-growing Occupations 2004-2014—covered in the 2006-2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook.

CollegeBoard’s List of 10 Fastest-growing Occupations for College Grads 2004-2014.

High Growth Middle to High Income Jobs in U.S. Requiring a Bachelor’s Degree—Find out which careers are expected to have high growth. Rodel Foundation.

JobWeb’s Best and Worst Jobs—According to the 2002 Jobs Rated Almanac. List and article.

iSeek’s Fastest-growing Careers, Industries in Minnesota 2000-2010—Detailed info and video clips (descriptions apply to any geographic location).

Careers—General

Cornell U Career Exploration Web Sites—Excellent directory of sites with general Arts and Science career information, articles, info about specific careers. Also contains links to sites for students with disabilities, students from diverse populations.

JobWeb—Excellent overall site. Career development and job search advice for new college graduates. Career library articles, links for general job info, entertainment and film, healthcare, legal, music and science careers.

JobStar—Each listing is linked to related web sites. Easy interface.

UC Berkeley—Career descriptions from a variety of sources; student and professional organizations; career paths; extensive related links.

CollegeBoard—Descriptions of individual career categories, related majors and careers.

Occupational Outlook Handbook—Thousands of detailed job descriptions, including training/education, earnings, prospects and work environment; accessed via individual job titles, occupational clusters, or browsing by first letter. U.S. Department of Labor.

iSeek—Detailed info and video clips about specific careers, industries.

WetFeet—Detailed, well-written info (including job outlook, compensation) about specific careers, industries. Easy interface.

Careers—Humanitarian

Cornell U Career Services—Directory of web sites with links to thousands of organizations, associations, foundations, think tanks, public interest research groups (PIRGs), environmental organizations, plus Americorps and Opportunity NOCS (Nonprofit Organization Classifieds), where you might pursue a socially responsible career.

Careers—Government

USAJobs—U.S. Government’s main jobs site. Info on 26,700+ federal jobs worldwide. Match jobs to your interests and skills, explore specific careers. Short descriptions for each career.

Cornell U Career Services—Directory of web sites announcing job opportunities with public interest research groups (PIRGs), NYC, political parties, local governments.

Careers—Government—Articles

JobWeb— •Federal Government is a Best Bet •Catch the Federal Hiring Wave •Federal Job Myths.

Partnership for Public Service— •10 Reasons to Consider a Federal Career • Best Places to Work in the Federal Government: 2007 Rankings.  

Harvard's JFK School of Government—• Going Beyond Government

USA Jobs— • Building a Resume Using USA Jobs--use to apply to multiple jobs.

Careers—Military

MilitaryCareers—Excellent site, easy interface. Detailed descriptions of 4100 specific military careers (officer and enlisted) and their civilian counterparts. Tells which service branch each career is available in.

iSeek—Detailed info and video clips about specific careers in the military. Tells which service branch each career is available in.

ArmedForcesCareers—List of careers with short description of each. Tells which service branch each career is available in and what their civilian counterparts are. Also can sort by service branch. Provides questions to help you decide whether a military career is right for you. Gives the facts about enlistment and officer programs before you talk to a recruiter. Must navigate through a lot of ads and commercial info on the site.

Careers—Offbeat

Offbeat Ways to Make a Living—Reader’s Digest Canada article.

 
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College Fairs, Visits, and Comparisons

Delaware College Fairs—Major college fairs in Delaware , plus questions to ask. Rodel Foundation. If your event hasn't been updated, most events are yearly. Contact individual organizations for current date.

Performing and Visual Arts College Fairs—Rodel Foundation.