College & Career Planning

The the Common App essay prompts remain the same for 2024–2025.

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Earn College Credit with CLEP

Register to take a CLEP exam and receive college credit at 2,900 colleges. Click here to learn more!

CLEP exams are administered year-round on a flexible schedule. Exams cost only $95 plus your test center or remote proctoring administration fee, compared to hundreds of dollars per course credit at a college. 

• CollegeData.com

Plan your path to and through college using this free online college advisory service, provided by 1st Financial Bank US. Its goal is to help students make informed decisions about college.

• Applywise

Founded in 2021, Applywise is based in the south of England. But with a budding network of remote employees from around the world, it's focused on the building a vibrant, multicultural, community-centred brand.

Its goal is to make the lives of international students easier. Moving to a foreign country, often alone, to pursue further education is an exciting - though also scary - time for anyone. And the ultimate aim at Applywise is to be a supportive party, every step of the way.

Tuition Break, formerly known as the New England Regional Student Program, provides significant tuition savings to residents of the six New England states when they enroll at out-of-state public colleges and universities within New England and pursue approved programs.

Click here to see what associate, bachelors and graduate degree programs are available at discounted tuition for Connecticut residents.

Find information and links on Connecticut colleges and universities, college tuition, financial aid, teaching certification, community service, work-based learning opportunities for undergraduates, and more. Visit the Office of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut.

AIE is a public service website developed to help students plan and complete their journey through higher education. These free resources for students and their families are designed to help students find the right school for them, finance their education, develop career goals, manage their money, and graduate into a life full of opportunities.

Click here to find the tools, resources, and money management tips to help you make college a success.

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing has a listing of test optional schools and more.

Click here to find the more than 2000 Colleges and Universities are test-optional or test-free for Fall 2025 applicants.

NCAN Vision: All students—especially first-generation students, students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, and those from low-income backgrounds—have an equitable opportunity to achieve social and economic mobility through higher education.

NCAN Mission: The National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) mission is to support members and influence leaders, organizations, policies, and systems across the country to increase equity and excellence in postsecondary degree access and attainment.

Click here to learn more about College Access and College Savings.

College Results (CR) is an interactive, user-friendly web tool designed to provide policymakers, counselors, parents, students, and others with information for nearly every four-year university in the country.

The Education Trust updated this database in July 2022 (CR20). College Results include admission rates, graduation rates, student demographics, and other critical student data for the 2019-2020 academic year.