Recently, I compiled a list of online sites which offer you the resources to file applications electronically, either online via the internet, or by completing an application and then sending in a print copy.

Here are the services I found to be fairly popular, therefore more dependable.

CollegeEdge. Some 75,000 students used this company's common form last year to apply to more than 300 schools. Duke University and New York University are among the colleges that accept applications produces by CollegeEdge. You log on to the Web site at www.collegeedge.com, register, and fill out the forms. The service is free to applicants; as is typical, CollegeEdge makes its money from the schools that participate. Fifty percent of the 300 schools, including the seven Boston-area colleges that chartered the service in 1996, accept applications electronically; the other schools require printouts.

Xap. More than 200 schools, most of them in the Western states, accept applications through this Los Angeles-based service (www.xap.com), and nearly half will take them electronically. The service, which works much like CollegeEdge, is free of charge.

Peterson's College Quest. The college-guide publisher entered the electronic applications market last fall and already offers a "universal application" at www.collegequest.com that is accepted at more than 1,000 schools. There's no charge.

CollegeLink. Students can apply to more than 800 schools at www.collegelink.com. First, you have to either download the application program or obtain it on a free disk. Once the questionnaire is complete, you log on to the Web site, and the information is inserted into the application forms. You get paper copies, which you send off to your schools. The first application is free, and each additional one costs $5.

Apply! Students who apply using this CD-ROM service must either request a copy of the free CD from their guidance counselors or download applications from the Web site at no charge. The CD contains copies of the paper applications for more than 500 schools. Once an application is complete, you print it out or save it on diskette to send to the school.

Admissions staffers insist that all applicants are given equal consideration no matter how they file. On a personal note, I applied to The University of Georgia online at their website and received my acceptance letter three weeks after I sent them the application fee.

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