To practice for the SAT go to www.SATpractice.org. Link your College Board account to your SAT Practice/Khan Academy Account in order to get tailored SAT practice based on your strengths and weaknesses.

If you want to apply to test options schools that don't require your SAT score, go to this link to search which schools are test optional this year: https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional

You only get 150 characters on the activities list for the Common Application. How do you make the most of that space? Here's a guide.

The "Why Us?" essay is one of the most common supplemental essay prompts. Your mission: to demonstrate—through specific details and examples—why you’re a great match for a particular school. This guide walks you through it.

Developing a great list of colleges takes time, research, and a whole lot of self-reflection. Throw in a global pandemic and remove the prospect of being able to visit a school in person, and knowing how to research colleges can be even tougher. But is it impossible? Not at all. Here's a guide to show you how to research colleges even when you aren't able to visit the campus.

This video looks at North Carolina Central University in order to see how to navigate through a college's website in order to find the following things: How to apply? Admissions criteria. Clubs and Organizations. Residence Halls, Virtual Tour, etc.

Video from College Board on YouTube.

Most college applications for this are due by or before January 31st. The actual DC CAP form is due on or before February 1st.

Safeties are colleges that accept the majority of applicants. These are your backup colleges that you know you can get into easily.

Graduation Requirements

Career Opportunities

Recommended SMART Colleges

How does the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and DCTAG (District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant) help you with funding for college and certain career certificate programs.

Search for a College's Net price using this calculator: https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price

What does Net Price mean?

Net Price is the amount that a student pays to attend an institution in a single academic year AFTER subtracting scholarships and grants the student receives. Scholarships and grants are forms of financial aid that a student does not have to pay back.

What is a Net Price Calculator?

Net price calculators are available on a college’s or university’s website and allow prospective students to enter information about themselves to find out what students like them paid to attend the institution in the previous year, after taking grants and scholarship aid into account.

The DCPS Goes to College Website has a Financial Aid Award Letter Calculator that can be used to review financial aid award letters. Click here to access the calculator and here for a PDF version.

Steps for using the calculator:

1. Get a copy of all financial aid award letters received

2. If using the digital version type the name of the college in the college name box and push the + button to add a section for another college’s award letter. You will be able to add a maximum of four colleges. If using the PDF version write each college’s name in the top box.

3. Read the award letter and add the corresponding information to each of the boxes. For example add any intuitional grants to the “Intuitional Grant/Scholarship Section.”

4. If using the online tool, the calculator will automatically calculate your estimated bill and net cost. If you are using the PDF version, you will need to calculate your net cost and estimated bill yourself. How to Calculate Estimated Bill and Net Cost: Estimated Bill: Total Cost - Gift Aid (funds that do not need to be repaid) and loans (funds that need to be repaid) Net Cost: Total cost - Gift Aid (funds that do not need to be repaid)

5. Repeat steps three and four for each financial aid award letter recieved.

6. Compare all financial aid award letters to see the different amounts of financial aid offered by each college.

If you need additional help understanding your financial aid award letter(s) please reach out to your college and career coordinator, counselor or DC CAP advisor. If you are unsure who this is or what their contact information is please email ccp@k12.dc.gov.

• Do they have some majors I am interested in?

• What is the financial aid package like? What is my final cost of attendance? https://dcpsgoestocollege.org/calculator/

• What is their graduation rate? http://collegeresults.org/

• What is the culture like on campus?

• What support services do they have for students? (e.g. health, career services, etc.)

• Do they have clubs/organizations that I’m interested in?

• Are they in a location that I would feel comfortable in?