Category: College Search
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Jul
06
Eight Myths About College Admissions

Bad data and conflicting recommendations can make it difficult for students to make good decisions about college admissions.

For that reason—and to have a little fun, I created this list of college admissions myths and realities.

students with questions about college admissions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Myth or Reality?

Top Grades and Test Scores Will Get You Into at Least One Ivy League School     MYTH

Good Schools Are Now So Selective I Won’t Get Accepted at Any of Them     MYTH

To Have a Chance at an Elite College, I Must Apply Early Decision     MYTH

Legacies Are Often Denied Acceptance     REALITY

Forbes Rankings Are More Accurate Than U.S. News     MYTH

Parents and Students Should Assess a College’s Greek Life Together     REALITY

Attending a Private College Farther From Home Can Save Money     REALITY

There is no Reason to Submit the FAFSA If Your Family is High Income     MYTH

Most Merit Scholarship Awards Do Not Require a Separate Application or Essay     REALITY

Financial Aid Practices Vary Widely from College to College and from Year to Year     REALITY

First Impressions On a Campus Visit Can Be Misleading     REALITY

I Should Only Apply to Colleges that I Have Visited     MYTH

Large Universities Offer More Opportunities Than Small Colleges     MYTH

Any Student is More Likely to Succeed in College if the Classes Are Small     MYTH

 

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Jun
27
College Visits – Summer Considerations

The long summer break from high school offers opportunities for rising seniors (and juniors) to visit college campuses. For some families, summer college visits are a must. This may be the only time available to take a trip where the student can visit multiple colleges. However, it is important to keep in mind that summer college visits have disadvantages. To put it another way, there are limitations that you need to take into account when you evaluate the school.

Here are three important considerations:

  1. Students–You probably will not get a good feel for what the student population looks like. Most students I work with see this as important for being comfortable with a college. Perhaps more distracting is that many colleges effectively “rent out” the campus for the summer. They will use dorms, dining halls and facilities to host tennis camps, soccer camps, pre-college academic programs and more.
  2. Atmosphere–The campus and surrounding area may be very quiet all summer. You might find it virtually dead at some schools. Local shops and restaurants that depend on the college for most business may be open limited hours or be completely closed.
  3. Weather–Let’s assume you aren’t planning to be take many summer term classes. So your visit in July or August can give you a very unrealistic picture of what the weather will be like at college. If you are visiting Syracuse in central NY, you need to picture piles of snow and freezing temperatures for as much as half of the college year. If you are visiting Elon in North Carolina, it may be hot and humid. But you should probably imagine it as more pleasant from September through May.

Regardless of the limitations, I still recommend that rising juniors and their families use summer travel to visit a couple of colleges.  Summer college visits offer them a good opportunity to become aware of the differences between small colleges and large universities, urban and rural campuses, colleges close to home and those farther away, etc. 

Here are some suggestions for making the most of college tours:
This may be obvious. Bring a notebook and pen/pencil to record your impressions of each school. If taking notes during the actual tour seems awkward, at least be prepared to capture what struck you (good and bad) about the college in the car afterward.

This may not be so obvious. Don’t try to visit more than two campuses in a day. Give yourself time to wander before or after your tour. Also, plan to ask questions of students you see on campus. They are much more likely to be open and honest than admission tour guides. Be sure to check out the area surrounding the campus.

Make sure to learn as much as you can about what it may be like to live and study here for four years. Finally, get contact information for your tour guide and the admissions representative who covers your geographic area.

 

college visits tour group

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Jun
16
“Hamilton” the Musical and a Liberal Arts Education

Below you will find a link to a fantastic article by Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University in Connecticut. The article, really an extremely well written blog post, is provocative. Inspired by the critical and commercial success of the Broadway musical “Hamilton”, Roth makes an interesting connection between the show (and its creators) and the value of an education at liberal arts colleges. The article is well worth reading in my view. Of course, the only thing that would make this a better story would be if Lin-Manuel Miranda had attended Hamilton College, my alma mater, but Wesleyan seems to have prepared him well.

Scene from "Hamilton"

http://huff.to/1YrrNIw

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Jun
13
Net Cost and the College Search

I am going to make a strong recommendation for your college search. Let’s assume that paying for college is of some concern for you or your family. If so, you should not put any college or university on your list without knowing what the net cost may be. We use the term net cost or net price to mean the cost after financial aid is taken into account. I believe this is important even in the early stages of researching and visiting schools. The tools are available to make it fairly easy to do.

Your best approach is to run what is formally called a “net price calculator”.  All colleges are now required to make this tool available on their websites so you can get some sense of what the net cost may be . Some calculators are more accurate and reliable than others. Some will give you an estimate of merit aid, while others will generate a net cost based only on estimated need-based aid. In either case, it will typically take only 10-15 minutes to get an answer.

You should keep in mind that the calculated net cost is only an estimate based on a fairly simple exercise. Most calculators require just a handful of inputs. Using this tool provides good information for your college search. But it is not a substitute for completing the FAFSA and formally applying for financial aid when the time comes. In other words, you can’t challenge the financial aid offer you ultimately receive based on what the calculator told you before you applied.

Many colleges participate in the College Board’s net price calculator program, making it easy since you only have to enter the financial and other data once. Participating schools include Babson, Bentley, BU, BC, MIT, Northeastern, Providence, Rensselaer, Syracuse, Tufts and WPI.

Here are links to some website-only calculators for a sample of private colleges in the Northeast:

Colby College
Champlain College
Hamilton College
Quinnipiac
St. Lawrence
Roger Williams

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May
05
Core Requirements: Part of Finding Your Fit

In their efforts to find the right college fit, students often pay too much attention to dorms, student centers and campus setting. What may get lost is making sure you understand each school’s academic policies, in particular, requirements, if any, the college believes are necessary to expose students to skills and content outside of their majors. Described as core requirements, core curriculum, or general education requirements, you will find differences, sometimes substantial, in how your course of study may be affected.

Many colleges have established “distribution requirements” where students are asked to choose and complete courses from each primary field; e.g., humanities, lab sciences, social sciences, and the arts. At some schools, the requirements may be quite modest, perhaps one course in each of four areas, giving you considerable time to explore interests on your own or pursue two majors/minors. Other schools have greater, possibly more specific distribution requirements; examples include U Colorado (Boulder) and some other large public universities. Still others include in their core curriculum a sequence of one or more semester courses created specifically to serve as a foundation for all students. These courses typically take a multidisciplinary, or integrated, approach, with the instructors coming from multiple academic departments. For just one example, search for “core curriculum” among the academic requirements at Providence College.

At the other end of the spectrum, Amherst, Brown, Hamilton and a few others have an open curriculum where there are essentially no core requirements (there can be some “fine print”), relying on what they describe as a strong advising system, the availability of multidisciplinary seminars, and their belief in having students be responsible for their choices.

Having more freedom may not be the advantage it seems at first glance, or let’s just say it may not benefit all students. Many of us lack the foresight and discipline to always make the right choices and are more successful in structured environments. Before making any final decision on college, you should take some time to consider how a school’s core requirements, and its other academic policies, match your needs and interests.

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