Plan and Prepare
College Readiness Courses
Make sure students are taking the right courses and challenging themselves. Taking Honors, Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Enrollment, or other rigorous college readiness courses can give students the best chance of college readiness.
ACT Resources
- Get2College’s ACT® prep workshops provide live, virtual instruction on ACT® prep.
- The Get2College Guidebook for the ACT® is a guide to study tips, test-taking strategies, and practice questions to prepare for the ACT®.
- In this podcast, Get2College discusses tips and strategies to use on the ACT®.
- Get2College offers a YouTube playlist that contains recorded videos from previous Get2College workshops on the ACT®.
- Students can use the Get2College PowerPoint presentation for ACT® prep.
- YouTube videos by Team 36 share tips and tricks on studying for the ACT®.
- This Get2College preparation worksheet lists math formulas and properties typically tested on the ACT®.
- Get2College has an ACT® English rules list with particulars that students may be tested on.
- Get more free prep resources from the ACT® website.
Types of Colleges
College is any education after high school that leads to financial stability. A good college fit is when a college meets a student’s academic, social, and financial preferences. Students may pursue a one-year, non-degree credential/certificate, a two-year associate degree, or a four-year Bachelor’s Degree and beyond.
- Mississippi offers a wide range of colleges to choose from, including public or private, community college or four-year institutions, Historically Black Colleges And Universities, online programs, and religious affiliations. Use Get2College’s college comparison tool with your students to learn about and compare colleges – see student body demographics, graduation rate, costs of attendance, and more.
- Help students understand Mississippi’s four-year public universities’ admissions requirements (and College Preparatory Curriculum).
Resume Information for Students
Your students’ resumes should be an opportunity to showcase their extracurricular activities, academic programs, honors, awards, leadership skills, and summer jobs or internships. Students should begin building their high school resume as a freshman and continually add to it each school year.
Career Planning
Get2College has a career planning tool to help Mississippians explore various careers. The tool shows salary ranges, level of education needed, average number of openings, and expected growth rate.
Special Populations (Homeless, DREAMers, and Undocumented Students)
- The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) is dedicated to ensuring educational equity and excellence for children and youth experiencing homelessness.
- TheDream.US and Immigrants Rising offer robust resources pertinent to DREAMers and undocumented students planning to attend college and obtain career-ready degrees.
Pay
Federal Aid
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form is required to receive any federal funds. Federal funds include the PELL grant, need-based and non-need-based grants, work-study programs, and student loans. We’ve compiled information to help students navigate and complete the 2023-24 FAFSA.
State Aid
There is FREE money for students who attend college in Mississippi. Learn about MTAG, MESG, HELP Grant, and FAITH on our website.
Scholarship Tool
Students can search for both Mississippi and national scholarships using Get2College’s scholarship tool. Use the tool’s filters, as some scholarships could fit your school type, field of study, and race and ethnicity.
Calculators
- Use the College Savings Calculator to understand what college costs now and in the future and estimate how much money students need to save.
- Use the Loan Repayment Calculator to estimate what a student will owe on student loans after graduation and calculate the monthly bill.
Additional Resources
FAFSA Tracker
See your high school’s week-to-week completion rates using the FAFSA Tracker. To view national FAFSA Completion results, filtered by state, use the Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker.
College Countdown Resources
Since 2013, College Countdown Mississippi has encouraged high schools to provide every graduating high school senior the opportunity to apply for college at an Application Day Event, complete the FAFSA, and celebrate their post-secondary plans at College Signing Day in the spring. Register your school for College Countdown MS every year.