Admissions Readiness

Admissions readiness seeks to ensure that all Amarillo ISD students are prepared to enter the postsecondary training or career of their choice. To support all students to succeed in college entrance exams, we administer the PSAT 8/9 to all eight grade students, the PSAT/NMSQT to all high school sophomores and juniors and the SAT to all high school juniors provide other test preparation opportunities.

Each high school in Amarillo ISD has a College and Career Resource Center, staffed by a college and career clerk to assist all students in their college and career questions and application process that connects students to college, career, and military access. We are proud that 100% of Amarillo ISD students apply to postsecondary institutions or enlist in the military.

Students can increase their admissions readiness by doing the following:

• Maintain a high grade point average (GPA) and class rank
• Take the Pre-SAT (PSAT) seriously and use My College QuickStart and Khan Academy to help prepare for the SAT and American College Testing (ACT) test
  • Visit the College Board's college readiness page to use their preparation resources for the PSAT and SAT (Opens in new window)
  • College Board's "My College Quick Start" provides a way to send your PSAT and/or SAT scores to Khan Academy for a free, personalized SAT practice plan (Opens in new window) based on the student's test results
  • Visit the ACT products and services page to use their preparation resources for the ACT test (Opens in new window)
• Visit your high school's College and Career Resource Center to register for the SAT or ACT
• Get to know the College and Career Resource Clerk at your high school

College Search and Helpful Websites

Utilize the Accredited Online Colleges database to research online universities (Opens in new window). There you will find a comprehensive resource that provides a list of accredited online universities and colleges, along with other resources such as searching for specific online degree programs from schools throughout the nation and those found within the state of Texas.

Other links that are useful in your research of universities and colleges include, but are not limited to:

• Texas Tech Admissions (Opens in new window)
• Texas A&M - College Station Future Students (Opens in new window)
• University of Texas at Austin "Be A Longhorn" (Opens in new window)
• Oklahoma State University Admissions (Opens in new window)
• West Texas A&M University Admissions (Opens in new window)
• Abilene Christian University Admissions (Opens in new window)
• Texas College Match Up (Opens in new window)
• Online, Virtual Reality Campus Tours (Opens in new window)
• College Board's "Big Future" (Opens in new window)
• Adventures In Education (Opens in new window)

Easy Steps For Applying To A University Or College

1. Complete and submit the college application including essays. The topics for both ApplyTexas and The Common App are similar and rely on your ability to coherently describe how you would handle a specific situation or how you can articulate your strengths and weaknesses. ApplyTexas is for state colleges and some private institutions. The Common Application is used for many in and out of state private colleges. Some small private colleges still use their own online applications. Check with the individual college’s website if they are not on ApplyTexas or The Common Application!
2. Pay the application fee or submit a fee waiver (see your counselor for qualification). There is usually a way to do this in the online application. Most community colleges, such as Amarillo College, do not charge an application fee.
3. Send SAT or ACT official scores to the colleges in which you are applying. Always send ALL SCORES, even if you plan to take a test again in the future. Send them what you have now. If you haven’t taken one of the exams yet, the college you are applying to cannot consider your application until you have at least one set of scores from one of the tests. An exception to this are community colleges which use your End of Course (EOC) scores for admission/placement.

College Board provides a way for students to stay on track with this Admission Checklist (Opens in new window).

Test Preparation

Amarillo ISD does not officially endorse any test preparation provider other than Khan Academy, which is a free service through College Board. Some companies listed below charge fees and are provided for information resources only:

• Varsity Tutors offers free SAT and ACT live online classes (Opens in new window) to help students learn key techniques for understanding and mastering each section
• Purple Math provides students with Math practice and explanations to answers (Opens in new window)
• Princeton Review offers a variety of PSAT, SAT, and ACT preparation options (Opens in new window) including one-on-one tutoring, small classroom instruction, crash course, and more (Program costs vary)
• Kaplan's PSAT, SAT, and ACT preparation courses (Opens in new window) are available online and at various locations (Course costs vary)
• Free Rice allows students to practice for the SAT and donate rice to the World Food Programme (Opens in new window) at the same time
• The official ACT website contains practice and additional resources (Opens in new window)
• The official College Board SAT website provides practice questions and more (Opens in new window)

Student-Athletes

In addition to academic preparation, the information and links below can assist student-athletes with navigating the student-athlete experience at universities and colleges.

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (Opens in new window) was founded more than one hundred years ago as a way to protect student-athletes. NCAA continues to implement that principle with increased emphasis on both athletics and academic excellence. NCAA is made up of three membership classifications that are known as Divisions 1, 2 and 3. Each division creates its own rules governing personnel, amateurism, recruiting, eligibility, benefits, financial aid, and playing and practice seasons – consistent with the overall governing principles of the Association. Every program must affiliate its core program with one of the three divisions.

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) (Opens in new window) balances a dedication to leadership development is balanced with sports accomplishment. A trailblazer in providing equal opportunity for all student-athletes. An expectation of ethical behavior, fairness in competition, access to athletic scholarship, sportsmanship and leadership development. At the core of all of this — character. NAIA is typically used with smaller, independent colleges and universities.