Choosing the Right College Fit

  • Quick College Breakdown
    These short prompts give you quick, honest answers about cost, safety, and support—no fluff, just what matters.

    Run Your Own College Check with ChatGPT — Onyx Guide to College Search©
    Use this customizable prompt to get a quick, honest look at any college. Add your major, cost, or financial aid offer (optional) to generate a personalized paragraph on academics, support for Black students, campus climate, and long-term value—beyond the rankings and brochures.

  • This one’s REALLY long.
    If you want everything—cost, safety, support, outcomes, and whether it’s actually worth it—this prompt gives you the full report.

    Run Your Own College Report with ChatGPT—Onyx Guide to College Search©
    Use this customizable template with ChatGPT to dig deeper into the colleges on your list. Add your major, cost, or financial aid offer to get a personalized report on each school’s academics, campus climate, support for Black students, and long-term value—beyond the brochure.

  • VIDEO: Choosing the Perfect Fit College with Counselor Alicia Oglesby
    In this video, I sit down with college counselor Alicia Oglesby to talk about what really matters when choosing a college. We cut through the hype, name some schools she loves, and share honest advice for students and parents ready to move beyond prestige and find the right fit—for you.

  • We Reranked the Top 30 Colleges—Onyx Guide to College Search©
    US News has their list. We asked a different question: Which top colleges are actually enrolling and supporting Black students? Using real data on Black enrollment trends, we reshuffled the rankings to reflect what matters to us.

  • The Sharpest Drops—Onyx Guide to College Search©
    After re-ranking the top 30 colleges based on Black enrollment gains, we turned to the other side of the data: which schools are losing Black students? These are the institutions with the steepest declines between 2019 and 2023—revealing trends worth paying attention to.

Black At College

Whether you’re deciding where to apply, navigating multiple offers, or already admitted and trying to figure out what’s next—this page is for Black students and families who want real, unfiltered insights, not just glossy brochures and marketing jargon.

We know this process can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’re here to provide clarity, context, and practical questions to help you make informed choices. Here, you’ll find tools like our college report template, advice on what to ask current students, and other resources to ensure you have the full picture.

Everything on this page is free to use and share. If it’s helpful, pass it on. You’re not in this alone.

Want to know what a college is really like before you commit?

This template breaks down cost, campus culture, safety, and what it’s really like to be Black on campus—no sugarcoating. It helps you ask the right questions, spot red flags, and make a decision that’s best for you.

Picking the Right College for You

These resources are for Black students deciding where to enroll. We’ll help you compare offers, break down financial aid, and look past the brochure to see how schools actually treat Black students. Because getting in is just the beginning. The real question is: Where will you be supported, safe, and set up to win?

Breaking Down Financial Aid & Maximizing Support

  • Quick Financial Aid Check — Onyx Guide to College Search©
    Use this version for a faster breakdown of your financial aid offer. You’ll still get insight into what’s free vs borrowed, scholarship displacement risks, repayment time, and key red flags—plus direct links to the College Scorecard, appeal guidance, and disscholared.org. Fewer inputs, but still sharp where it counts.

  • Detailed- Run Your Own Financial Aid Report with ChatGPT — Onyx Guide to College Search©
    This version goes beyond the quick breakdown. Use this customizable template to generate a more detailed report that includes free money vs risky debt, scholarship displacement risks, repayment time, work-study expectations, travel and relocation impact, and what to watch out for. It also includes linked tools like the College Scorecard, appeal guidance, and disscholared.org.

  • Run Your Own Financial Aid Report with ChatGPT—Onyx Guide to College Search©

    Use this customizable template with ChatGPT to analyze your financial aid offer. Input your costs, loans, scholarships, and work-study options to get a personalized breakdown of what's free money, what's risky debt, and what you should watch out for—beyond just the numbers.

  • Video: How to File a Financial Aid Appeal

    In this video, I sit down with Twink Williams Burns, Strategic Adviser for Admission & Financial Aid Community Engagement at Williams College, to discuss the process of filing a financial aid appeal. Learn how to make a strong case for additional support, why this could make a difference, and what steps to take to maximize your chances.

⚠️Important ⚠️

Warning About Scholarships

When receiving outside scholarships, some colleges may reduce your institutional aid through a process called scholarship displacement. This means that the amount of financial aid you receive from the school could be lowered if you win an outside scholarship.

We recommend checking out DisScholared, an organization we trust, to learn more about this issue and how it might impact your financial aid package.

Support This Work

This isn’t just a tool. It’s part of a bigger strategy to protect Black families from student debt, predatory admissions practices, and institutions that don’t invest in us.

For years, I’ve supported families through research, advocacy, and one-on-one guidance—including a pro bono practice that serves students who wouldn’t otherwise have access.

A sponsor who was supposed to underwrite that pro bono work backed out. That forced me to scale back, even though the demand hasn’t stopped.

Your support helps:

  • Keep the research free and accessible

  • Expand coverage to more schools and majors

  • Offset costs for low-income families

  • Sustain my pro bono work so families aren’t left behind when funding falls through

🖤 Venmo: @jennthetutor

🖤 Cashapp: $jennthetutor

🖤 Paypal: @jennjessie- https://www.paypal.biz/jennjessie

Thank you for investing in work that’s strategic, culturally grounded, and built for real-world impact.

3% Cover the Fee

This is original, copyrighted work.
You’re welcome to share or repost the template—but please credit Jenn the Tutor and link back to www.jennthetutor.com. Don’t copy, rebrand, or redistribute it without permission. This resource was created to protect Black students, not to be repackaged.