NACAC releases FREE 80-page ‘Guide to the College Admission Process’

Students navigating the college admissions process now have a fantastic new resource to help them search for, evaluate and select a school that’s “right” for them.

An updated version of the National Association for College Admission (NACAC) “Guide to the College Admission Process” is now available for FREE download on the NACAC website.  And for anyone familiar with the older version, the 80-page guide has been expanded to include new chapters targeted to the special needs of transfer and international students.

“Students today are inundated with information about the college application process, but we know many families still struggle to access the right information at the right time,” explained NACAC CEO Joyce E. Smith. “Our updated guide takes the guesswork out of the process, with easy-to-understand steps for students as they research colleges, submit applications, and choose an institution to attend.”

In addition to providing a broad overview of the college admission process, the revised edition includes advice on how to sort through various financial aid options as well as questions to ask when evaluating the merits of online courses, for-profit institutions, independent counselors, and various college search tools. The guide also provides a very valuable glossary of terms applicants and their families need to know as they begin the process of evaluating colleges, programs, and admissions processes, as well as a four-year plan of action for any college-bound high school student (Prep for College, Appendix B).

Although all of this information may be found on the NACAC website, it’s nice to have it compiled into a single, easy-to-digest guide.  And there’s no better source for inside information on colleges and the admissions process than NACAC, which is a membership association of more than 15,000 primary and secondary school counselors, independent counselors, college admission and financial aid officers, enrollment managers, and other organizations that work with students making the transition from high school to postsecondary education.

Based on the original guide by Steven C. Munger, former dean and college counselor at Bridgton Academy (ME), the updated “Guided to the College Admission Process” may either be downloaded at no cost or purchased through NACAC’s Marketplace.