Getting Started with College Tools

1

Get Your Copy

Click the button below to make a copy of the College Tools spreadsheet template:

Copy Template
2

Get Your API Key

Sign up for a free College Scorecard API key:

  1. Visit api.data.gov/signup
  2. Enter your email and create an account
  3. Copy your API key
3

Setup in Google Sheets

In your spreadsheet:

  1. Go to College Tools → Quick Start in the menu
  2. Follow the prompts to create the API key sheet
  3. Paste your API key in cell A1
  4. Run the setup to create all tracker sheets
4

Start Adding Colleges

You're ready to go! Add college names to the Colleges sheet and use the menu to:

  • Fill current row with college data
  • Search for college names
  • Setup tracking sheets for applications, visits, and scholarships
5

Generate Your Task Plan

This is where the workbook starts working for you. Once your colleges and deadlines are in, College Tools builds the plan:

  1. Go to College Tools → For Students & Parents → Task Management
  2. Run Setup Task Management to create the Task Settings, Tasks, and This Week sheets
  3. Fill in Task Settings — your working deadline, who owns what, and which optional modules apply (testing, CSS Profile, athletic recruiting, visits, interviews, portfolio)
  4. Run Preview Task Plan Changes to see exactly what would be added or moved, without changing anything
  5. Run Generate / Regenerate Task Plan to write the plan

Check This Week whenever you want to know what's due now. Enter deadlines in the tracker sheets as they firm up and regenerate — your completed tasks, notes, and any tasks you added yourself are preserved.

Want to see these features in action? View screenshots and examples