An Update...

My goodness... I have been slacking on getting updates out here on my blog. I am sorry! Every day I think that I will make a post and then somehow the day escapes me without updating.

I had a great question e-mailed to me by a student regarding the difference between the Common Application and the College ZApps that is featured on PrepHQ. Chances are that more of you probably have similar questions so I wanted to share the answer with all of you...

The Common Application is a centralized website (see previous post) where you can go and fill out applications and then have it submitted to the colleges who are on the Common App list. There is no additional fee for using the Common Application website to apply to the colleges - just the college application fee (if applicable) which would be the same if you applied using the Common App website or if you applied directly on the college website.

PrepHQ is a GREAT resource for WKHS students and parents and it has a ton of information. It is free for the district to use, but in order for the company to pay their bills they have a variety of different sponsors and corporate partners. College ZApps is one of those partners. Honestly, I do not see any value or reason to use their website as you can go out onto the college's website directly and apply to the schools without the extra fee that they will charge you. I also learned that on PrepHQ some of the colleges have a "share information" button - this is not something that I can see from my side of PrepHQ, but generally speaking, my recommendation is not to use that feature. Nothing the colleges need to know about you needs to go out through PrepHQ - it is intended to be used as a resource for you and your parents and not as a tool to communicate your information to the colleges. Obviously, you have the right to release any information that you want, but I would recommend against it.

If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know.