SoFi

Preparing to go to college starts long before your senior year in high school. In fact, soon after starting your freshman year in high school, you may want to begin thinking about what you can do to put your best foot forward on your college applications.

With the right college preparedness plan, choosing where to apply, filling out your applications, and (yes) getting in to your top choices can be significantly easier. Here’s a smart 10-step plan that can help ensure you are ready for college when the time comes.

Ways to Get Prepared for College

1. Take the Required Courses

It’s a good idea to consult with your high school guidance counselor about what classes you should take for college preparation. Generally, high school students will take courses like English (American and English literature), Math (Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus), Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science), Social Studies (U.S. History, U.S. Government, World History, and Geography), a Foreign Language, and the Arts.


💡 Quick Tip: You’ll make no payments on some private student loans for six months after graduation.

2. Enroll in AP, IB, and College Courses

Your high school may offer you the opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, which are college-level and will allow you to earn college credit. Then, you can skip these courses when you get to college and ensure you have a head start. Both require that you take exams, and you can send your scores into colleges. Keep in mind that IB classes would be more useful if you plan on going to college outside the U.S., since only U.S.-based schools recognize AP coursework.

3. Do Test Prep

A key step in preparing for college is studying for the SAT or ACT. Taking one of these tests is required for many college applications in the U.S. You can study by forming study groups with friends, taking the PSATs/pre-ACTs and practice tests, getting an SAT/ACT tutor, and enrolling in SAT/ACT practice classes. You may want to look at the average SAT/ACT score of students who have been admitted to your top choice schools and aim to get those scores — or higher — to ensure your application impresses the admissions officers.

If standardized tests aren’t your strong suit, there are some colleges that do not require them as a part of the application process.

Recommended: ACT vs. SAT: Which Do Colleges Prefer?

4. Hone Your Study Skills

In college, you’re going to take a rigorous set of courses. Your academics are likely to be a lot more challenging than they were in high school. This means you should hone your study skills now to prepare for college. Find a quiet place to study, turn off all distractions, organize your lecture notes, join study groups, and take breaks when you need them in order to effectively study.

5. Go to College Fairs

Whenever there is a local college fair happening, try to attend it. That way, you can learn about different colleges you may want to apply to. Typically, a college fair will consist of college representatives who set up booths, give presentations, talk to prospective students, and hand out pamphlets about their schools. College fairs can be a great opportunity to learn about a number of colleges in a short time period.

They also offer the opportunity for you to connect with representatives at the colleges. As an attendee, you’ll have the opportunity to ask the representatives specific questions and take the handouts so you can continue your research at home.

6. Take College Tours

Before applying to a school, try to go on a campus tour to see what it’s all about. A college that has a great website or looks good on paper may not end up being the right fit once you actually visit it. While on the tour, ask your student tour guide and other students around about the pros and cons of the school to get a real feel for whether or not you’d like it there.

Some colleges may do interviews as a part of the application process. If you’re heading to campus for a college interview, make time for a tour too.

7. Meet With Your High School Guidance Counselor

Your high school guidance counselor can help you with preparing for college in a number of different ways. They can advise you on what classes to take and extracurricular activities you can enroll in to ensure you have a competitive college application when the time comes.

Your counselor can also help you determine what you want to major in and the kind of career you might enjoy by steering you towards career fairs and giving you a test that will show your strengths and reveal your talents. If you’re worried about paying for college, they can let you know your options and ensure you fill out all the right forms in time.

8. Fill Out a FAFSA Form

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) is the form you need to fill out to apply for federal financial aid. This includes federal grants, scholarships, work-study, and federal student loans. Some schools also use the information provided on the FAFSA to determine scholarship awards.

If you anticipate needing support to cover the cost of attendance in college, this is usually the place to start. The Department of Education is rolling out a new simplified FAFSA for the 2024-2025 academic year. It will be available in December 2023, a delay from the usual October 1.

9. Look Into Student Loans

Filling out the FAFSA isn’t the only thing on your financial to-do list when you’re prepping for college. You could also weigh your student loan options. As mentioned, the FAFSA puts you in contention for federal student loans — among other tuition subsidies like work-study or grants. Federal student loans have fixed interest rates, which means the rate will not change for the duration of the loan.

Each year, Congress determines what the fixed interest rate on federal loans will be — and interest rates vary across federal undergraduate loans, including PLUS loans for parents and grad students. While these loans can be an important resource when it comes to funding your education, there are limits to the amount you can take out each year. For example, first-year undergraduates currently have a federal loan limit of $5,500.

If federal aid and other sources of funding aren’t enough to cover the cost of tuition, you may consider looking into private student loans to fund the rest of your education. Private student loans don’t always offer the same benefits as federal student loans — like the option to pursue Public Service Loan Forgiveness — so they are generally considered only after all other options have been reviewed and exhausted.


💡 Quick Tip: Parents and sponsors with strong credit and income may find much lower rates on no-fee private parent student loans than federal parent PLUS loans. Federal PLUS loans also come with an origination fee.

10. Apply for Scholarships

Once you start applying to colleges, you may also want to search out and apply for private scholarships. Your school may offer specific scholarships you can apply to that will help you pay for your education. Online databases are another resource to check out. One option, Fastweb , a free national scholarship database that has a scholarship algorithm; it will match you to scholarships, internships, and grants you could potentially qualify for.

The Takeaway

There are many things you can do to prepare for college. Above all else, you’ll want to focus on your academics and make your college application as competitive as possible so that you can get into the school of your dreams. You’ll also want to think about what your education will potentially cost and work with your parents to come up with a plan for how you will pay for college. Your options include savings, grants, scholarships, work-study, and federal or private student loans.

If you’ve exhausted all federal student aid options, no-fee private student loans from SoFi can help you pay for school. The online application process is easy, and you can see rates and terms in just minutes. Repayment plans are flexible, so you can find an option that works for your financial plan and budget.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

SoFi Private Student Loans
Please borrow responsibly. SoFi Private Student Loans are not a substitute for federal loans, grants, and work-study programs. You should exhaust all your federal student aid options before you consider any private loans, including ours. Read our FAQs. SoFi Private Student Loans are subject to program terms and restrictions, and applicants must meet SoFi’s eligibility and underwriting requirements. See SoFi.com/eligibility-criteria for more information. To view payment examples, click here. SoFi reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at any time. This information is subject to change.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

SOIS0823015

A stock oscillator is an equation or software program used by traders to help them decide when to buy or sell a given stock. It works by identifying trends in a stock’s price along with other metrics, then using that data to help determine whether the stock is overbought — making it a good time to sell it — or oversold, in which case it might be a good time to buy.

Investors typically use oscillators at times when the trend for a stock’s price is unclear, either because it’s in a sideways trading pattern, or because the markets themselves are choppy. An oscillator will show underlying trends in other quantifiable aspects of the stock, such as its buying or selling volume, which may indicate if the stock is likely to move up or down in the near future.

Investors may have access to oscillators through their brokerage account or trading programs. Because oscillators are mathematical, it’s even possible for savvy investors to program them directly into a spreadsheet.

Stock Oscillators and Technical Analysis

Stock oscillators are valuable tools in technical analysis, an approach taken by investors to try to forecast the ways a stock might perform based on its current data and past movements. (Though it’s worth remembering that past performance is no guarantee of future success or failure.)

As a strategy, technical analysis involves looking at a wide range of data and indicators, such as a stock’s price and trading volume, to locate opportunities and risks.

But technical analysis typically doesn’t involve researching the underlying companies, their industries, or any macroeconomic trends that might drive the success or failure of those underlying companies. Rather, it solely analyzes the stock’s performance to find patterns and trends.

As such, these tools are mostly used by short-term traders who plan to hold onto a stock for days or weeks, rather than long-term investors who plan to hold a stock for periods of years.

Recommended: 5 Bullish Indicators for a Stock

How Do Stock Oscillators Work?

While every oscillator differs, they all tend to identify a normal range for a given stock, using specific criteria to determine if the stock is overbought or oversold based on that range.

Oscillators can help identify buying or selling opportunities. But they can also mislead investors if a stock undergoes a price breakout, which is when an event occurs that effectively resets the trading range of a stock higher or lower.

During a breakout, an oscillator may show that the stock is overbought or oversold for a long period of time. For this reason, many traders consider oscillators best used in sideways or choppy markets.


💡 Quick Tip: How do you decide if a certain trading platform or app is right for you? Ideally, the investment platform you choose offers the features that you need for your investment goals or strategy, e.g., an easy-to-use interface, data analysis, educational tools.

Types of Trading Oscillators

There are a number of different types of trading oscillators. Here’s what to know about them.

Relative Strength Index (RSI)

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) works by taking measurements of a stock’s recent price changes to determine if it’s overbought or oversold. It’s a popular tool for investors looking for entry and exit points of a given stock position.

The RSI measures the speed and size of a stock’s price movements, and calculates the momentum using the ratio of higher closing prices to lower closing prices. In this oscillator, stocks that have more frequent or larger positive changes receive higher scores. Investors typically chart RSIs over a 14-day timeframe, and rate stocks on a scale from 0 to 100, though they may create custom timeframes.

The oscillator selects a “horizontal channel,” which is a common RSI score for a stock, then marks out price bands above and below that band at which the stock may be considered overbought or oversold.

Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD)

The MACD is an oscillator traders use to understand the momentum of a given stock. It uses the moving average of a stock to determine where a stock is trading over a set period of time. Most investors prefer 12-day and 26-day time spans for their MACDs, but they can also create their own custom MACD measurements with time spans that better fit their own particular trading strategies.

The MACD compares the moving average of the short- and long-term moving average to see if those averages are getting closer (converging) or farther apart (diverging).

If the MACD of a given stock is positive, that means its short-term average is higher than its long-term average, which indicates that the stock’s price is on an upswing. A higher MACD indicates more pronounced momentum in that upswing. On the other hand, a negative MACD indicates that a stock is trending downward.

Recommended: What Is MACD?

Commodity Channel Index (CCI)

The CCI is a momentum-based oscillator that investors use to spot price extremes and possible price reversals, and to understand the strength of price trends for commodities, currencies, and stocks. The CCI measures the variation of a security’s price from its statistical mean.

So when the indicator goes above zero, that indicates the price is above the security’s historical average price. When it’s below zero, the price is below the historical average.

The CCI assigns scores that tend to fall between +100 and -100, but the indicator is unbound. CCI scores over +100 mean that a stock may be overbought, while scores below -100 indicate that a stock may be oversold, but there are no fixed points that indicate one condition or the other.

Stochastic Oscillator

A stochastic oscillator, or “sto indicator,” compares a stock’s average price levels to its current price levels to determine if a stock is overbought or oversold.

Specifically, a stochastic oscillator compares a stock’s closing price to a range of the security’s highest and lowest prices over a period of time that the trader can set. By changing the time frame of the oscillator, traders can adjust its sensitivity to recent market fluctuations.


💡 Quick Tip: Are self-directed brokerage accounts cost efficient? They can be, because they offer the convenience of being able to buy stocks online without using a traditional full-service broker (and the typical broker fees).

Pros of Using Oscillator Indicators

There are a number of potential benefits to using oscillator indicators.

•   Using multiple oscillators may help investors better understand how a particular stock is trading.

•   Oscillators may provide useful alerts that a stock is nearing a price at which an investor may consider buying or selling it.

•   Stock oscillators may be highly effective in helping investors identify overbought or oversold conditions in a specific stock.

•   Oscillators may be highly effective tools in sideways or choppy markets, where a stock’s trading price remains within a fixed range.

Cons of Using Oscillator Indicators

There are also potential drawbacks to using oscillator indicators.

•   While oscillators can be effective in helping investors identify overbought or oversold conditions in a specific stock, whether a stock is overbought or oversold is not necessarily a clear signal to buy or sell it.

•   In strong bull or bear markets, an oscillator signal that a stock is overbought or oversold may be misleading.

•   Oscillator signals only offer stock price information, and not the bigger picture of what’s happening with the company or its industry.

The Takeaway

Stock oscillators are one set of tools in technical analysis, which also employs close reading and interpretation of charts, as well as other technical indicators. Oscillators may help investors determine if a stock is overbought or oversold, even if the price of a stock isn’t giving clear indications.

Ready to invest in your goals? It’s easy to get started when you open an investment account with SoFi Invest. You can invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, alternative funds, and more. SoFi doesn’t charge commissions, but other fees apply (full fee disclosure here).

Photo credit: iStock/svetikd

SoFi Invest®