Prep for College

Some students may not fully appreciate the value of dual-credit classes—until they see Yarii’s story. This student (who didn’t even speak English until she was 14) took enough dual-credit courses in high school to actually start college as a sophomore.

The video introduces a former student from Brownsville who went from playing with Legos to owning his very own robotics company. Passion, hard work, and a lot of AP classes helped him on his journey to a dream job that feels more like play.

Shooting hoops, playing French horn, running track, careening around fields on an ATV—it’s all just a typical week for Brenden, a rather busy freshman from Lufkin. This future physical therapist also manages to squeeze in AP classes and quality bonding time with his mentor. Watch the video to get to know the guy who’s as inspiring as he is laid-back. (And we haven’t even mentioned his boxing grandpa yet…)

We’re exhausted just thinking about Brooke’s schedule. This senior from Bryan goes to school all day, and then works as a manager at Taco Bell all night. She does her homework, carefully plans her budgets, and gets in a tennis game all basically whenever she can. As a future nurse, Brooke is ready to dedicate herself to helping people—and serving up a mean carpool karaoke on the side. Get a sneak peek at her seatbelt singing when you watch the video starring this go-getter, who’ll be the very first in her family to graduate high school and head off to college.

Family is everything for Del Rio High School sophomore, aspiring artist, and history buff Gustavo. His parents moved to Texas from Mexico so that he and his siblings could have a chance at a better life, and now he's totally honoring those wishes by preparing himself for college—AND inspiring his brothers and sister to do the same. Watch the video to see how Gustavo's participation in Texas GEAR UP has helped him hunt down and apply for scholarships, become a better test-taker, and find his favorite college. Oh, and it also made him king...

If there’s anyone who’s on our fantasy lineup for the football team (close your eyes and picture it for a moment, it’s wonderful), it’s definitely Andrew. This guy can weld, lift, inspire, and most impressively, pole vault clean over a Triceratops. Or at least he could if there were any left. But don’t just take our word for it—watch to hear what he has to say. By the way, if you see any of yourself reflected in Andrew’s story, just know that means you’re also one of our first draft picks. We’re going to need more imaginary uniforms…

If you’re ready to start sending those college apps in, look no further—the Common Application lets you fill out one application, and then use it for up to 600 different colleges and universities.

Not totally sure what you should be doing at any given moment to prep for college? No worries—we’ve got you covered. Choose your grade to get a to-do checklist that’ll help you stay on track for that shiny college future of yours.

Think College is more than a website—it’s a comprehensive movement to provide college planning resources to people with intellectual and development disabilities. 

 A dynamic and inviting site lets students in middle school or high school immediately begin to explore information and advice about going to college. 

This is a mammoth web portal for furthering the College Board’s mission of getting students into and graduating from colleges and universities. Students and educators can become site members and have access to online organizational tools, AP and SAT test scheduling and reporting, and much more. 

Many schools, one application—that’s the tagline for this straightforward college admissions web resource. Students can begin from scratch by searching for Texas colleges and universities by type of school (two-year, four-year, graduate school, etc.) or degrees offered, as well as learning about the general application process. They can then create an account and fill out one comprehensive application that can be submitted to multiple schools online. 

While supporting your child during the whole journey to college, you’re probably hearing a lot of new terminology that might be a little bit confusing. Don’t worry—you’re not alone! That’s why we put together a cheat sheet of some of the most common words and phrases that pop up during the college-prep process. Download the glossary to boost your college-vocabulary expertise anytime.

One of the big parts of prepping to get into college is taking the ACT and/or SAT test. These college entrance exams measure general academic knowledge and also provide a rough assessment of students’ readiness to do college-level work. They are tough, but with some preparation (and a big dose of support from you), your teen can certainly make it through with flying colors. And the best news? The tests can be taken more than once to aim for the highest scores possible.

If you’re like most parents (and students), you might find the whole college application process more than a little overwhelming. The good news is that you don’t actually need to be an expert in applying to college, because there are lots of people at your teen’s school who already are. Your job is just to understand the big picture of the process, and then know how to best support and encourage your student along the way.

Your GEAR UP student probably has some big dreams. And you surely want to help make those big dreams come true. But it can be a bit confusing to figure out how you can actually go about helping your child prepare right now for a lifetime of success. Happily, answers are just a click away. Our guide to being an advocate for your teen is full of information that you can use to support your child, ask the right questions, and set achievable goals on the path to that future college degree.  

During high school, Maria went through every day carrying a secret—she’s an undocumented citizen. While other students were starting to prep for college, Maria was thinking that she’d never be able to step foot on a college campus due to her status. And she was seriously devastated. It was only when she finally shared her fear with her GEAR UP coordinator that she found out there was absolutely a path for her to get that college degree.