College 101

Before you hit the books, hit our fun college-section tool so we can help point you in the right direction. Don't hit too hard though. We can't be held responsible for any damages to your computer monitor.

Checklists

Yeah, we know. You're a paragon of organization. That's why you keep your stapler in your sock drawer. Let us help you keep your life in order with our grade-specific checklists. Who knows? Maybe you can even become the president of the Itty Bitty Nitty-Gritty Committee.

Top 10 Lists

You'll learn everything from the top 10 ways to get the most out of your college experience, to the top 10 things not to eat at the campus deli, to the top 10 silliest school mascots. (Did someone say Banana Slugs?)

College Application Station

Got Princeton dreams but an empty piggy bank? Wondering if your SAT scores are really good enough for your top choice? Shmoop’s College Application Station asks you questions about your test scores, background, and interests, then matches you with the right schools.

What NOT to Do

Making all the right moves will do you no good…if you then proceed to make all the wrong moves directly afterward. We'll help you avoid common traps and pitfalls. Like eating beans before your interview. Or wearing heels during a college visit. Both are definitely safety hazards.

NCAA

Dying to know what it takes to score a scholarship to a Div-I school in your sport? Want an inside peek at a day in the life of an NCAA athlete? We've got the info you're looking for…plus depressing statistics about how impossible it is to go pro. You’ll love it. We promise.

College Profiles

Apply Yo' Self.

College Majors

Our crystal ball for each college major.

中文版大学简介

录取统计数据、校内最佳居住宿舍，还有更多.

Cost of College Calculator

Find out what college will really cost you.

Need career advice?

Plan your future...or at least your next step.

Grade Calculator

Let us figure out what grade you need on the final.

Why Shmoop thinks you should go to College

Meh, college, who needs it? You already know it all, college is expensive, and who needs to be 300 miles away from mom's home-cookin'?

Sounds like a losing proposition, right?

College Degree

You can't get one if you don't go. And you'll want one. That diploma will look really nice on the wall of your office. The office you'll only get once you have a job. A job you'll only get with a college degree. See what we did there?

Career Focus

If you don't yet know what you want to do with your life, college is an excellent place to find out. If you do know what you want to do, then college is where you're going to hone your skills and become the sickest dancer, lawyer or electrical engineer this world has ever seen.

Social Life

College is where your strongest friendships are formed. You and your high school friend Sally might be tight for now, but you'll barely remember her in 20 years. It's for the best. She's just been using you to get to Kevin, anyway.

Prestige

Once mom and dad push you out of the nest and you're forced to enter the real world, employers are going to give you the stink eye if it's missing from your resume. You don't want to get the stink eye, trust us. It stinks.

Grad School

There's only one road to grad school, and it passes right through Collegeville. If you have any designs on being a top lawyer, doctor or Wall Street bigwig, a high school diploma just won't cut it. Patients don't like to be operated on by doctors with just a flimsy grasp on how photosynthesis works.

Life "Light"

College is an awfully good way to ease yourself into everything the world is going to expect of you. You get to live on your own, shop for your own groceries, cook your own food, do your own laundry…about the only thing it doesn't prepare you for is the experience of having children. Hopefully.

Shmoop-in-the-Blank

Oh, a fill-in-the-blank. How fun.

But hold on there, tiger. This is not just a cutesy diversion. The more blanks you fill in now…the fewer blank stares you'll receive when you eventually get to college.

Play the game now