College Counseling
College Counseling
The term "college counseling" can mean a lot of things. It could mean help selecting a career, choosing schools, applying and getting accepted into schools, applying for financial aid, graduating once in a school and more.
No short article can replace effective college counseling. We're not even going to try. We can offer a few resources you may want to check out, such as the Free 3 Minute Career Test:
For our purposes, we'll assume that "college counseling" means all of the above and more. It all starts with some kind of idea as to what might be an interesting and rewarding area to study. For most people that have to work for a living, that means narrowing study down to fields that hopefully lead to careers.
That's where the 3 Minute Career Test comes in. This non-scientific test is a fun way to get started thinking about possible careers. The results it gives also link to some resources for learning more.
Okay, let's say you already know what you want to study. Choosing a school is complicated. One place you can go for more answers is NSEE or National Survey of Student Engagement. They put out a handy pocket guide to choosing schools.
After selecting possible schools, applying to and getting accepted by one or more schools of your choice is often a function of college counseling. U.S. News & World Report has some a handy page, Getting Into College Guide To Admissions. It has all kinds of resources for getting into college, covering everything from essays, interviews and tests to financial aid and more.
Once accepted into school and sometimes before, college counseling may touch on financial aid and different resources to help one pay for college. Wikipedia has a very interesting round-up of student financial aid in the United States. It covers everything from debt vs. grants, merit vs. needs, and provides all kinds of further resources, including a handy list of schools that offer no-loan financial aid. Too many students exit college crushed by debt. Through savings, family help, work study, grants and maybe some loans, try to chart a course that does not include overwhelming debt upon graduation.
If you're still looking for more information, such as how more about college counseling or how to find college counseling, NBCC or the National Board For Certified Counselors offers a handy interactive map called Counselor Find, which offers contact information for all kinds of counselors… not just college counselors.
Check out all of the above resources. Again, BlueRectangle.com's very own Free 3 Minute Career Test is probably the most fun place to start! It's very different from the sort of serious test you may find at a job center or career center.
It's non-scientific, easy-to-use, and links to other sites where you can learn more. Our test doesn't require you to register to use it. Some of the sites we link to may require you to register to receive more information via them. Full Disclosure: BlueRectnagle.com may have an affiliate advertising relationship with some of the sites linked to on the career test results page. That's how we can afford to offer all of this free and hopefully useful information!
I know we haven't covered everything that college counseling is and does. Hopefully, you'll find what we have covered to be worthwhile. Best of luck!
Full disclosure: No warranty, either expressed or implied is given as to the accuracy of the results of this test. This is a non-scientific test and is only intended to provide fun food for thought and/or entertainment. The links provided may be affiliate or advertiser links for which BlueRectangle.com may receive a payment. As a condition of use, you agree to hold BlueRectangle.com, it's owners, operators, agents, advertisers, affiliates and employees harmless from any and all claims arising from or relating to the use of and or visit to BlueRectangle.com. Please acquaint yourself with the policies of the sites we link to at those sites and proceed at your own risk.
