College Planning

Academic preparation
Applying to colleges
Choosing a college
College planning checklist

Applying to colleges

Advice from ACT about what you need to do when you're applying to colleges.

Become familiar with college entrance requirements

Most colleges look at your high school performance, course selections, and test scores to decide which courses you will be allowed to take. So it's worth knowing about admissions requirements before you start applying to colleges.

Register for and take college admissions tests

Most colleges want students to take a college entrance exam. Here is some helpful information about registering and preparing for the ACT test.

Should you test again?

Sometimes it's hard to know if you should retake the ACT test. This article offers some things to think about when you're considering whether you want to take the ACT test again.

Apply to "choice" colleges

The application process at each school is unique. Some things remain consistent though, and we have advice to help you through the application process.

Top 10 college application mistakes

College application blunders to avoid. The top responses from counselors and admissions staff who shared the most common mistakes on college applications.