The college admissions process can seem overwhelming. However, it doesn't have to be intimidating if you have a strategic plan. This workbook is intended to assist high school freshmen, and their parents, in identifying opportunities and resources that will help them prepare for a college education. Students will design a strategy to successfully matriculate through high school, prepare for college acceptance, and plan a potential career path. By completing this workbook, freshmen will have a better understanding of the activities they need to complete in preparation for the rest of their high school career, and subsequently a post-secondary education.

The college admissions process can seem overwhelming. However, it doesn't have to be intimidating if students have a strategic plan. This college readiness workbook will allow high school seniors to design a strategy for college acceptance specific to what they want their college experience to be. Students will be challenged to take a good look at themselves, and where they stand in reference to the requirements for their top college choices. This workbook is designed to equip seniors to become successful college-bound students by exposing them to major concepts covering college readiness, college acceptance, and college life. ​

The college admissions process can seem overwhelming. However, it doesn't have to be intimidating if students have a strategic plan. This college readiness workbook will allow high school juniors to design a strategy for college acceptance specific to what they want their college experience to be. Students will be challenged to take a good look at themselves and where they stand in reference to the requirements for their top college choices. This workbook is designed to equip juniors to become successful college-bound students by exposing them to major concepts covering college readiness, college acceptance, and college life.

The college admissions process can seem overwhelming. However, it doesn't have to be intimidating if students have a strategic plan. This college readiness workbook will allow high school sophomores to design a strategy for college acceptance specific to what they want their college experience to be. Students will be challenged to take a good look at themselves, and build a college readiness plan for their remaining high school career. This workbook is designed to equip sophomores to successfully matriculate through high school and transition into college-bound students by exposing them to major concepts covering college readiness, college acceptance, and college life.

The college admissions process can seem overwhelming. However, it doesn't have to be intimidating if you have a strategic plan. This college readiness workbook will allow you to design a strategy for college acceptance specific to what you want your college experience to be. I will challenge you to take a good look at yourself, and where you stand in reference to the requirements for your top college choices. This workbook is designed to equip you to become a successful college student by exposing you to major concepts such as college readiness, college acceptance, and college life. This workbook is intended to assist high school students and their parents in navigating the college admissions and acceptance processes. By completing this workbook, you will be able to articulate which college is the best for you and the reasons why

Most Americans no longer question whether and which students should be prepared for college. Rather, it is now widely accepted that ALL students should be prepared for postsecondary education in some form (e.g., certificate, 2- or 4-year degree), as these credentials are not only required for many jobs but are also the surest path to upward mobility (Carnevale, Rose, Cheah, 2011). There is also greater recognition that in addition to a more traditional approach to preparation for postsecondary education (e.g., taking college preparatory classes), students should also graduate high school with technical knowledge and employability skills to secure, retain, and advance their employment when they leave school, at whatever level that may be. Simply put, today’s high school graduates need a broad-based education that combines an array of knowledge, skills, and experiences to prepare them for life after high school. And indeed, state’s definitions of college and career readiness have broadened in recent years to include a variety of skills and dispositions, such as critical thinking skills, social emotional skills such as collaboration, and interpersonal skills such as resilience and perseverance (English, Rasmussen, Cushing, & Therriault, 2016). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, the key federal K-12 legislation, explicitly supports the notion of a “well-rounded” student, emphasizing readiness in areas beyond its predecessor’s (the No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB) focus on core academic content. ESSA mandates that states ensure that students are provided an enriched, accelerated curriculum beyond courses and content areas in which state assessments are given (e.g., mathematics, reading) and that is aligned with the postsecondary experiences students are likely to encounter. ESSA also supports an expansion of readiness goals through provisions for the improvement of conditions for student learning that support social-emotional learning, intrapersonal skills, and other employability skills. And ESSA includes provisions in states’ accountability systems that support emphasis on broader definitions of readiness. Additionally, ESSA’s accountability framework includes important principles for supporting a broader definition of what students need to know and be able to do once they graduate high school. Accountability systems under ESSA may include multiple measures of college and career readiness. Indeed, several states had already added a career-focused indicator prior to ESSA passing (such as pathway completion or technical assessment achievement) to their accountability systems, and the number of states publicly reporting such indicators continues to increase (Achieve & AdvanceCTE, 2016). As definitions and measures of college and career readiness continue to evolve, we know one thing for sure: we need to better prepare ALL students for success after high school. This book explores the ways in which some education researchers are approaching this task. This was written in Corinne Alfeld's official capacity as part of the national conversation on education, is intended to promote the exchange of ideas among researchers and policy makers and to express views as pail of ongoing research and analysis, and is not intended to necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Department of Education.