Here's a list of our favorite tips and study guides to prepare you for the APUSH exam:

• apushreview.org. Judging from the feedback, if there's one site you're looking for to cram for the APUSH exam this is it.  It's produced by a history teacher named Adam Norris, and contains a blend of practical tips and engaging videos.  

• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.  Here's a neat set of videos that consists of both test tips and study guides for the nine periods covered in the AP exam.  Use this for the big picture.

• studynotes.com.  Here's a online study guide for the APUSH exam by the folks at Study Notes.  It's far more comprehensive, with chapter and topic outlines, vocabulary review, timelines, Supreme Court cases and sample tests.  The downside is that it's all text, so brace yourself.

• Essay tips.  This guide posted by the Allen Independent School District in Texas gives "to the point" tips for mastering the APUSH long essay and document based question (DBQ).

• quizlet.com.  Useful flash cards for reviewing material.

Here's a list of our favorite tips and study guides to prepare you for the APUSH exam:

• freeman-pedia.com. Start here for a comprehensive review of all things AP World from Ben Freeman, a history teacher based in Virginia. It's a mix of text, visuals and crash course videos from John Green.   

• learnerator.com.  Here's a set of test tips for the AP World exam from learnerator.com.  

• Essay tips.  This guide posted by the Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in North Carolina contains tips your AP World essays and DBQ.  Click on the left menu options for the comparative, time and DBQ essays for details.

• quizlet.com.  Useful flash cards for reviewing material.  Note: there are several quizlets to choose from, we've opted for the one based on the 2013 Princeton Review material.

Here's a list of our favorite tips and study guides to prepare you for the AP Psychology exam:

• Charles Schallhorn (YouTube). Here's a set of YouTube videos designed to give you a crash course in AP Psychology.  It's a bit dry but complete! 

• CrashCourse. Here's an engaging introduction to psychology from Hank Green.  It consists of a set of 40 short YouTube videos and they're highly viewed and rated. Note that this doesn't necessarily focus on mastering the AP Psych exam so pick and choose topics as needed to supplement your cramming.  

• psychologyprogram (YouTube).  This is a 90 minute crash course in all things AP Psych.  It's missing the supporting outline/study guide but there are lots of positive reviews about the content.

• educator.com.  Here's a video review of the exam and tips for mastering it.

• Teacher test tips.  This guide posted by the Amador Valley High School in California offers test taking tips for the AP Psych exam.

• quizlet.com.  Useful flash cards for reviewing material.

The University of California recently introduced an online information center to increase transparency to UC admissions and other areas of public interest.  Though the site has not been updated with 2015 admissions data, it should prove handy for those of you interested in understanding how gender, residency, GPA and other factors influence admissions.  Note: it does not currently provide test score statistics, nor does it detail admission rate by departments or majors within a university.  

Click here for the press release, or here to go directly to InfoCenter.

"Where You Go is Not Who You'll Be" by Frank Bruni is a book that every stressed out rising senior or parent should read.

It's a quick, entertaining and grounding read about not getting too caught up in the madness of modern day college admissions.  It makes the point that brand name schools turn out to mean very little when it comes to success in life, and that there are countless examples of successful people who started from humble educational backgrounds. 

It's not where you start, it's how you finish!

Click here for the Washington Post review

Click here for the New York Times Sunday Book Review. 

Looking for help on which college to attend?  Here's an interesting article from Michael Roth for The Washington Post on how to navigate your way to a decision.  Michael is the president of Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Middletown, Connecticut. 

Click here for the article.

One of the best ways to make your college decision is to attend the admitted students weekend for each school on your short list. This article from Story2 provides tips on how to get the most from the experience.

Click here for the article.

Here's an interesting article from Nick Ducoff, a VP at Northeastern University.  He argues that it's not a skills gap, but rather an experience gap that holds back college graduates from the best job opportunities.

Though the article is conveniently self-serving—Northeastern is well-known for its active co-op programs for undergraduates—there's no arguing that experiential learning is extremely valuable for transitioning bright minds into the working world.

Click here for the article.

Now that you've been admitted to several schools on your list, how will you choose which one to attend?  Here's an article from the Huffington Post on how to navigate your way to a decision.

Click here for the article.

In this five part series from the New York Times, two college admissions experts answer questions to help students and their families make their final college decisions.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Lots of big-name schools post their decisions over the next 48 hours, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, Rice, University of Pennsylvania and Yale.

Continue reading for the updated list of regular decision notification dates for several popular private and public schools. Good luck, seniors!

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post about "undermatching"—when low-income students with the ability to succeed at elite universities never apply or attend one.  Past studies have shown that as many as four in 10 in this pool choose not to attend an elite institution because they didn't apply or decided not to enroll.

Undermatching is a serious social issue impacting long-term economic equality and social mobility, but it's also one that can be avoided with better information and planning.  

Read the article here

One interesting way to measure the value of a college education is to consider return on investment.  PayScale does this by comparing the salary of graduates (return) to the cost of attendance (investment) at each school it tracks.  

Here's the recently released 2015 rankings.  We'd focus less on the rankings themselves and more on the relative returns by major/career since it will give you a sense for where your interests can lead.  It comes as no surprise that schools strong in technology fare the best.    

University of California President Janet Napolitano indicated earlier this week that the UC system will not expand enrollment of California freshmen and transfers this fall if more funds are not appropriated from the state. Furthermore, enrollment of out-of-state students at UC Berkeley and UCLA will be capped.

Click here for a Los Angeles Times report on the topic.

This article from the Wall Street Journal explores the "value" of attending a name-brand college from three perspectives: the applicant's, the and the employer's and an admissions expert.  The article also includes a list of "best value" schools courtesy of PayScale that considers return on investment (future reported salaries) in addition to cost.  

Click here to read the article now.