New Year’s Resolutions for College Bound Students

Students who are still choosing their New Year’s resolutions might want to consider some that could set them up for success when the time to file college applications rolls around.  As students prepare to embark on the first few days of the 2022 academic year they may want to resolve to:

Manage Time Effectively.  This is an important habit to develop before embarking on your college journey where good time management skills will have a major impact on your academic success.  Practice setting a schedule, indicating when you will start, and finish, working on each long-term assignment and studying for each exam. Be sure that procrastination is not one of your traits.  

Put Free Time to Good Use.  College admissions officers at every school look carefully at applications to assess which students have demonstrated a solid commitment to volunteer activities.  Colleges know that if you have developed the habit of helping others while in high school, you’ll most likely be a contributing member of your college community. An impressive list of extracurricular activities, both in and out of school, can boost applications. If you’re at a loss for ideas, check out Zooniverse.org which offers virtual opportunities for students to contribute to professional research in a gamut of fields.

Colleges That Produce the Most Grateful Grads

Students nearing the end of their high school years often search for information about the “best” colleges. There are many publications and online resources that provide this subjective data, often based on multiple variables. The U.S. News & Word Report Best Colleges guide, for example, gathers data from colleges on 17 indicators of academic excellence, weighting each factor differently.  The scoring breakdown includes such categories as Outcomes, Faculty Resources, Expert Opinion, Financial Resources, Student Excellence and Alumni Giving. That last category, Alumni Giving, is weighted at just 3%.

But Forbes believes that Alumni Giving alone may be the key to predicting a student’s ideal college. For the ninth consecutive year, Forbes published its version of a Best College listing based on only one criterion: Alumni Giving. The thinking is that the better one’s college experience, the greater the likelihood that he/she will show gratitude in the form of a donation. Hence, Forbes titles its listing the “Grateful Graduates Index.”

The Grateful Graduate Index measures two criteria: the seven year-median gifts per full-time enrolled student, and the average percentage of alumni who give back, regardless of the amount of the donation.

College Resume Essentials For High School Students

What’s the best way to make sure that college admissions officers know all about your accomplishments?  Compose a resume.  That way, you don’t have to worry about fitting in the important details of your activities and achievements on the limited space allocated on most college applications.  

The best time to first compose a resume is early in your high school years. Then you will have time to fill in the gaps that become evident when you put your life story in writing.  Resume categories typically include Education (listing your G.P.A., SAT scores, A.P. courses, and other academic accomplishments), Athletic accolades, Volunteer activities, Work experience, Extracurricular involvement, and, hopefully, details of a “passion project” where you are engaged in an activity that demonstrates a talent or interest not common among your peers which will ultimately help you stand out to college admissions officers. Have you launched a business, initiated a charitable drive, written and published a book, hosted an art exhibition, or developed an impressive skill or talent?

Factors to Consider When Making College Decision

For students who maximized the opportunity to apply Early Action and/or Early Decision to colleges, the decisions are coming in.  Now, the ball is in their court.  While many students go with their emotions when choosing which college to attend, there are several factors that should be considered.

Of course, the decision has already been made for students who, within the next ten days, find they are accepted Early Decision to their college of choice.  They can now celebrate and enjoy the holiday season. But for many students, especially those who are collecting acceptances to several colleges, there are important decisions to be made.

First of all, students need to remember the purpose of college.  It’s certainly intended to make students more educated, in general, and more aware of the world and the issues surrounding them.  But, more pragmatically, most students attend college with the goal of preparing for a career that will support them for the rest of their lives. So, the best choice college is often the one with the strongest program in a student’s intended field of study.  A little research will reveal salary information of alumni from each of the colleges under consideration, as well as the acceptance rate to medical and dental schools, law schools, and graduate programs.

Think Twice Before Deciding on “Test Optional”

What do the eight Ivy League schools have in common with M.I.T., Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins, and University of Southern California? Yes, they are all extremely competitive institutions. They are also “test optional,” meaning students are not required to submit SAT (or ACT) scores with their applications.  But before students toss their SAT prep book, there are a few points that need to be considered. 

The term “test optional” does not mean that a college will not look at SAT or ACT scores.  It just means that test scores are not required.  It’s notable that some colleges reporting to be test optional actually ask students, on their application, why they are not submitting test scores.

Applicants who submit impressive SAT or ACT scores obviously stand out. Those who don’t, and hope to gain admission to an elite university, need to have stellar grades in an extremely rigorous curriculum (perhaps 10 to 15 AP courses) and a remarkable “passion project.” One of my former students, for example, developed a medical app that was featured at a White House Science Fair.  She was accepted to MIT and seven Ivy League Institutions.

How Many College Applications Should Students Submit?

College bound students often wonder how many applications they should submit.  The answer is: it depends.  There’s certainly no need to submit a dozen or more applications if students are being realistic as to their qualifications and likelihood of acceptance.

Some students apply to all eight Ivy League schools, thinking it increases their chances of getting accepted to at least one. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The acceptance rate to Ivy League schools for the most recent graduating class was lower than ever, according to statistics from CBS News: Harvard 3.4%, Columbia 3.7%, Princeton 4%, Yale 4.6%, Brown 5.4%, University of Pennsylvania 5.7%, Dartmouth 6.2%, Cornell did not disclose statistics.  Even students with perfect SAT scores and a multitude of AP courses (with a perfect “5” on each exam) should consider the likelihood of acceptance to these schools a long shot.  They should apply to one Ivy “early decision,” guaranteeing that they will attend if accepted, and submit applications to other schools that offer a competitive program in their intended major.

Students Get a Second Chance at “Early Decision”

Many college bound students aim to avoid the stress of waiting all senior year to find out which colleges will accept them.  They apply Early Decision I, meeting a November 1st or November 15th application deadline, and then typically hear back from their college of choice prior to the December holiday break.  If they are accepted, the holidays are a joyful time as they and their families can celebrate that the anxiety-ridden college application process is over.

But, for those students who are turned down by their Early Decision I college, or those who failed to meet the November deadline, all hope is not lost.  Many colleges offer Early Decision II, with a January application deadline and notification in February – close to two months prior to the typical April 1st college response date.

The main advantage of applying early decision, in addition to getting an early response, is that colleges usually accept a much higher percentage of early decision applicants.  Because early decision is binding, colleges know that any students they accept will definitely attend – increasing their “yield” (percentage of accepted students who enroll).

Strategies to Boost Prospect of College Admission

The best way to get “Your Accepted” letters (or emails) is to present yourself as an ideal candidate for each college to which you apply.  If you’re a legacy, let them know.  Many colleges strongly favor applicants whose parents are alumni – especially if they’ve been donating over the years.  If you’re the first in your family to seek a college education, let them know.  Most colleges favor students whose parents are not college educated.  If your family can afford to pay the full sticker price and not seek financial aid, let them know.  Some colleges are “need blind,” and admit students regardless of whether or not they are applying for financial aid.  Other colleges are “need-aware” or “need-sensitive,” and may consider financial need when deciding whether or not to admit an applicant.  

Aside from the factors outside of your control, there are several things you can do in advance to help your applications stand out.  The first is to develop leadership skills, and then emphasize these skills on college applications. Graduates of elite universities often talk about having started a club during their high school years, having initiated a community event, or having launched a non-profit in some area of passion. They believe these leadership experiences helped to secure their acceptances to the nation’s top colleges and universities.

The Impact of “Legacy” on College Acceptance Rate

The recent announcement by Amherst College that it would end “legacy admissions preference” has made this a hot topic.  Legacy admissions is the practice of favoring the children (and often the grandchildren and siblings) of alumni in the college admissions process.  Its use is widespread.  

According to a Wall Street Journal report, as of 2020, more than half of the nation’s top 250 universities reported taking legacy status into consideration during their application review process.  All eight Ivy League institutions were included in this number, as were Georgetown, Duke, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Tufts, and scores of other elite colleges and universities.  

A small number of highly selective schools openly oppose favoring legacy students, including MIT, California Institute of Technology, Cooper Union, Johns Hopkins, Texas A & M, and now Amherst College.

The Valuable Role of a Private College Counselor

High school guidance counselors are the first resource of college bound students who need advice on so many topics: how to prepare for the PSAT and SAT, how to identify best-fit colleges, how to assess the likelihood of being accepted by a particular college, how to write an effective essay, and how to file successful college applications. 

While high school counselors typically address all these issues with college bound students, they are often stretched very thin. The average student-to-counselor ratio in New Jersey is 348 to 1, according to the latest statistics of the American School Counselor Association. To make matters worse, public high school counselors, with a multitude of other responsibilities, reportedly spend only 23% of their time on college admission counseling with the average student receiving 38 minutes of personal college counseling over four years.

Most Popular Undergraduate Degree of America’s Richest Graduates is Business

Collegebound students with a goal of someday finding their name on the Forbes 400 List of the Richest Americans will want to consider the latest statistics. There are twelve schools that collectively claim as alumni more than a quarter of this year’s Forbes 400 Richest Americans.  Harvard tops the list with 15 graduates on the list. (That doesn’t include two of its most famous dropouts: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.)  The University of Pennsylvania follows closely behind with 14 graduates on the list.  Yale and Stanford tie for third place, each with 12 alumni on the prestigious roster, followed by the University of Southern California (USC), Cornell, Princeton, Columbia and University of Michigan (tied for eighth place), and University of California – Berkeley, Dartmouth and Duke (all tied for tenth place).

Best College Towns Often Provide Lasting Home

Students searching for their ideal college may do well to look even farther on their horizon. Many popular college towns not only provide a great environment for students’ college days, but also offer an ideal location for their post-graduation life.

Research by Point2Homes.com identified the “Top 10 Most Dynamic College Towns” based on four categories: Human Capital, Housing, Economic Activity, and Earning Power & Equity. Once all the data was compiled, the “Top 10 Most Dynamic College Towns” were named with Princeton, NJ making the list in 10th place. Just missing out on the top rankings was Hoboken, NJ, home of Stevens Institute of Technology, which garnered 11th place.

October is an Important Month in College Process

October is crunch time for college-bound students who want to reap the benefits of meeting early application deadlines.

There’s a gamut of popular colleges that offer November 1st as an Early Action deadline. If students submit their applications by this date, colleges will get back to them early – frequently by the winter holidays.  A great way to relieve the stress of the college application process is to get accepted to colleges early and enjoy the rest of senior year, while maintaining grades, of course.

Universities popular with New Jersey students that offer Early Action include Northeastern, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, University of Rhode Island, Fairfield, Fordham, Hofstra, Pace, Penn State (all campuses), Temple, Villanova, Drexel, Ohio State, Case Western, University of South Carolina, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Monmouth, Seton Hall, and Rutgers.

Volunteerism Is Essential on College Applications

While college admissions officers focus heavily on students’ grades and SAT scores, they also take a careful look at their history of volunteerism. Colleges offer such a wide range of volunteer opportunities, both on and off campus, that they look favorably on applicants who will likely become actively engaged. 

The Department of Student Involvement at Rutgers University, for example, includes more than 450 student organizations. It offers students limitless opportunities to serve others, both nationally and internationally, through “Rutgers Alternative Breaks” service trips.

The College of New Jersey offers between 50 to 100 percent tuition scholarships to more than 80 students who make a substantial commitment to volunteerism by becoming Bonner Community Scholars.  These students choose to focus on a particular area of service and provide 300 hours of meaningful volunteerism over the course of a year, combining service with their academic experiences.

Five Strategies to Avoid or Minimize College Debt

When talking about college debt, statistics are never encouraging. Student loan debt in the United States currently totals $1.73 trillion and grows six times faster than the nation’s economy, according to statistics on educationdata.org.  There are reportedly 43.2 million student borrowers in debt by an average $39,351.

The key is to avoid being a part of these grim statistics by considering some highly effective strategies.

1) When choosing potential colleges, students should not necessarily reach for the stars. They will find that if they apply to colleges a tier below the level of school to which they could likely get accepted, the scholarship money will almost certainly be much greater.  Students planning to major in business, for example, often apply to NYU’s Stern School of Business where the annual cost exceeds $75,000. These same students could reasonably expect to be welcomed at St. John’s University in New York, St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and a host of other institutions with impressive business schools, substantially lower costs of attendance, and generous merit money (to attract strong students) which does not get paid back.

Latest Rankings Revealed in 2022 “Best Colleges”

The 2022 version of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” – often viewed as the bible to the college industry – has just been released.  New Jersey’s Princeton University is still in first place (for the 11th consecutive year) as the “Best National University.”  It’s followed by Columbia, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tied for second place, and Yale coming in fifth.

This guide, in addition to offering overall rankings, lists the “Top Programs” in specific specialties, including Business, Engineering, and Computer Science.  It even offers “sub-categories,” such as Aeronautical, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Industrial, and Mechanical in the field of Engineering.  A similar breakdown is offered for Business specialties.

This year an additional category has been added, Nursing, as it’s one of the largest undergraduate majors and has been recognized as an indispensable career during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Prepare to file FAFSA to Determine Financial Need

Families of college-bound students can find out how much the federal government thinks they can afford to contribute to their child’s college education.  The latest Free Application for Federal Student Aid, referred to as the FAFSA, went live on October 1st at FAFSA.gov. This is the one form that all parents must file if they hope to get any federal money for college in the 2022-23 academic year. 

The newest FAFSA uses financial information from a family’s 2020 taxes.  Most people are able to make use of a “shortcut” offered on the FAFSA, which is the I.R.S. Data Retrieval Tool.  As long as you have already filed your 2020 taxes, you can check off that you want the FAFSA to link into your previously filed taxes and automatically fill in the numbers on all of the financial questions.

Students Filing College Apps May Want to Choose ED

Students who are anxiously filling out college applications may do well to consider applying Early Decision (ED) to their college of choice.  Students who check off “early decision” on their college application and submit it by the application deadline (usually November 1st or November 15th) will typically hear back from the college prior to the December holiday break. Students are only allowed to apply early decision to one college, and they (and their parents) sign that they will definitely attend if accepted, unless they are not awarded their required financial aid.

Students who are hesitant to make such a big commitment can apply Early Action to as many colleges as they like and, if accepted, they are not required to attend. They, too, must meet the “early” November deadline.

Strategies to Score High on the SAT Exam

Students planning to take a PSAT or SAT exam in the fall should go into the test with knowledge of the key strategies so they can reach their potential on these all-important tests.  Many top public high schools in Central New Jersey report average SAT scores above 600 in both Evidence-based Reading & Writing and Math. A couple of high schools even reached or topped 1500 for combined scores. So the bar is set high for local students.

The current SAT exam focuses on three areas: critical reading, grammar, and math. A key strategy, that is relevant on all areas of the test, is for students to answer each and every question (whether or not they know the correct answer) as there is no longer a penalty for wrong answers.

Is A College Education Still Worth the Investment?

The average list price of a four-year public university, including in-state tuition, fees, room and board, is now about $22,000 a year, according to The College Board.  Average annual costs at four-year private, nonprofit colleges are well over twice that amount. The question many families wonder is whether their child’s college degree will pay off.  

A recent article in The New York Times, reporting on findings from a public policy group, stated that graduates from almost two-thirds of the 26,000 bachelor’s degree programs in the study were able to recoup their educational investment within ten years of graduation. Of course, a student’s field of study matters greatly. Students in higher paying fields like engineering or health care were able to pay off their educational debt quicker than those in the arts or religion.

Overall, the conclusion of the report was that the vast majority of students who earned bachelor’s degrees, regardless of their major, were likely to earn more money than they would have without a college degree.

Strategies for Writing Effective College Essays

 

Most high school students who are applying to college start out by completing The Common Application that is accepted by more than 900 colleges.  It requires one essay, and students can choose from a variety of topics or one of their own creation. 

A recent article in U.S. News & World Report offered essay writing advice from college admissions experts to help students get started on this somewhat intimidating task.  “Students should narrow their focus and write about a specific experience, hobby or quirk that reveals something personal, like how they think, what they value, or what their strengths are,” according to an admissions expert.

“Many memorable essays focus on ordinary topics, including fly-fishing, a student’s commute to and from school, and a family’s dinner conversations,” added another counselor.” Additional writing tips emphasize the importance of being concise, coherent, congenial, honest, and accurate.

It’s Time to Mentally Prepare for New School Year

Labor Day is rapidly approaching, and in many ways it’s similar to New Years Day.  It’s the start of a new year -- not the calendar year, but the academic year.  For students, it’s the perfect time to make mental (or electronic) checklists to be sure they’re on track to meet their future goals.

Students should carefully consider their class schedule for the new school year, to be sure that the courses they’ll be taking will allow them to complete all of the courses they want to have under their belt by graduation day.  For example, students with dreams of attending a top college to major in engineering should be sure to get through calculus while in high school.  If they’re not on track to do so, perhaps they should double up on math this year.

Strategies to Help High Earners Pay College Fees

As college costs continue to rise, it’s not only families with financial struggles that are worried about paying the bill.  Even high-income families can be caught off guard when they realize that the costs of many top colleges now exceeded $75,000 a year for tuition, room and board – not including expenses for travel, a social life, and other amenities.  Schools in this category include Amherst College, Brown University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania.

A recent Money article gave advice for families that are stuck in the middle, earning too much money to qualify for need-based aid but not enough to pay out-of-pocket. These families are encouraged to file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) even if they feel they will be denied need-based aid. The reasons are many. First of all, the FAFSA is the only way to access low-cost federal student loans.  In addition, to apply for many state and private scholarships that are not need-based, a FAFSA must be filed.  A completed FAFSA is also helpful if a family’s situation changes in the midst of an academic year due to job loss, medical expenses, or other sudden hardship.

An Organized Timeline Eases Student/Parent Stress

As parents and students plan for a new school year, it’s important to realize, even in times of uncertainty, that having a carefully organized timeline can help avoid the stress of an anxiety-filled senior year.

A student’s path to success actually starts during the early part of freshman year. Colleges admire students who show longevity in their activities, so the sooner students identify their clubs, sports, volunteer work, or other activities of passion, the longer they have to build a track record of accomplishments.  Freshman year is the perfect time to take on a new musical instrument or sport that might make a student particularly attractive to colleges.  A demonstrated commitment to volunteer work could earn a 50% to 100% tuition scholarship to The College of New Jersey which seeks “Bonner Community Scholars” and expects 300 volunteer hours each college year.

Vital to Gather Information and Ask Key Questions

As campuses across the country start to re-open, college-bound students once again have the opportunity to visit schools and gather vital information as they seek to make one of the most important decisions of their life.

The first step, before embarking on any college visit, is to educate oneself by reading information that is readily available on college websites and in reputable publications such as U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges guide. Students and their parents can easily access data for each college such as the acceptance rate, average SAT scores of accepted students, percent of faculty who are full time, percent of classes with fewer than 20 students, percent of classes with more than 50 students, and so much more.

Students Should Register ASAP for the August SAT

Registration is open for the August 28th SAT exam, and interested students should sign up quickly. If past years are any indication, there will likely be a shortage of available seats in Central New Jersey and families may have to embark on a road trip to get a seat for this extremely popular testing date.

The August SAT exam is being offered for the fifth consecutive year after being eliminated back in the 1970’s.  It’s extremely popular with students who view summer as the perfect opportunity to prepare for the exam without the pressures of school, homework, and afterschool activities.  By taking the exam in August, students have the opportunity to put their newly acquired SAT strategies and skills to the test without waiting for the fall SAT exams, which are offered the first Saturday in October, November and December.

In-State Universities Gain Favor With NJ Students

New Jersey has long been known for its “brain drain,” due to the vast number of students who head out-of-state for college.  But if recent statistics are any indication, local students are taking note of colleges and universities within the Garden State.

The most popular colleges, along with the number attending, from Hillsborough High School’s 2020 graduating class included many New Jersey institutions: Raritan Valley Community College (109), Rutgers University – New Brunswick (72), The College of New Jersey (21), Rowan University (17), Stevens Institute of Technology (8), Montclair State University (8), Ramapo College of New Jersey (6), and Drew University (6).

Those who left New Jersey tended to favor nearby state universities, including University of Delaware (15), Penn State University (9), University of Maryland (9), and University of Pittsburgh (7).

Never Too Early to Start Writing College Essay

Most high school students start their college application process by completing, online, the Common Application that is accepted by more than 900 colleges.  It requires one essay, and students can choose from a variety of topics or devise one of their own creation. 

Although the Common Application “goes live” on August 1st of each year, students can actually start working on it as early as they want as the vast majority of answers roll over onto the updated application when it changes in mid-summer. As for the 250-650 word required essay, some of the prompt options change from year to year, and some remain the same. This year, six of the seven prompts are identical to last year’s options and a new one has been added.

One of the most popular prompts states, “Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it.  If this sounds like you, please share your story.” This option allows students to write about almost anything of which they are passionate.

Universities Where Richest Grads Earned Degrees

The research firm Wealth-X identifies, each year, the universities with the highest number of “ultra high net worth” (UHNW) alumni.  To be included in that prestigious category, an individual must have a net worth greater than $30 million.

Of the twenty universities, worldwide, with the most UHNW alumni, 17 are in the United States.  The three complementing the list are University of Cambridge (ranked #7) and University of Oxford (#13), both in the United Kingdom, and INSEAD (#19), with locations in France, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and San Francisco.

To consider the information in context, it’s important to note that children from the world’s wealthiest families often enroll in the most prestigious universities. Also important to consider is that institutions are included on this list regardless of whether their alumni attended as undergraduate or graduate students.

Are Advanced Placement Courses Really Necessary?

Some 2.7 million students just finished taking 4.8 million Advanced Placement (AP) exams, according to The Washington Post.  These three-hour exams, offered in May of each year, mark the culmination of college-level courses offered to high school students. Currently, there are 38 AP courses in the Arts, English, History & Social Science, Math & Computer Science, Science, and World Languages & Cultures, although not all are offered at every high school. The curriculum for each of these courses is written by The College Board – the same folks who bring you the SAT exam.  Students who score 3 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) are offered college credits by many of the nation’s colleges and universities. 

Parents and students often ask, “Are AP courses really necessary?”  The answer is both yes and no –- depending on the student’s ambitions and college goals. When students apply to college, they are basically in competition with their peers.  Most colleges want a geographically well-rounded student body.  So college admissions officers will compare all applicants from the same high school and favor those with the most impressive academic record based on SAT scores, GPA, and competitive course load.  While there is no college in the country that outwardly states a requirement for AP courses, students are well aware that these higher-level courses, which indicate an ability to successfully complete college-level work, are viewed most favorably by college admission staff.

Most Important Factors on College Applications

A recent New York Times article reported that the most important factors on a student’s college application are grades, taking into account the strength of the curriculum (AP courses vs. college prep, for example), and standardized test scores (SAT or ACT).  These factors provide a numerical “pecking order,” allowing colleges to easily compare applicants from the same high school as well as from schools throughout the country and even the world.

Ranking next in importance are a few “soft factors:” college essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities.  These non-academic areas provide perfect opportunities for students to let colleges know what is special about them and how their presence on campus would enhance the college community. 

The college essay provides the ideal forum for students to “sell” themselves to each individual college.  Students should avoid the temptation to take the easy way out, writing one essay and using it for all applications.  Rather, students should personalize their essay to each specific college, stating the programs, courses, internships, study abroad opportunities, and any other characteristics that make the institution a perfect match for their college ambitions. This is referred to as showing “demonstrated interest,” and can greatly influence admissions officers who are trying to determine which students, if accepted, would likely enroll. Of course, students should exercise care to ensure that their essays are well written, grammatically correct, and offer information that is not evident in other parts of their application.

Strategies to Become a Successful Test Taker

Whether preparing for upcoming final exams, or SAT exams that are looming ahead, students should follow some time-honored study strategies.

First of all, students should always set a study plan in advance, and adhere to its details.  Setting aside specific dates and times to study, and keeping those times sacred, is key to staying on schedule.  There are absolutely no advantages to last-minute cramming, but many disadvantages including sleep deprivation and increased anxiety.

Students should have the material they are going to study easily accessible.  During the course of each semester, students should put their study notes for each chapter in a specific binder, folder or notebook that can easily be accessed when the time comes to review the material.  By having the key information at hand, students can focus on the most relevant material and not waste time wondering what the instructor had emphasized during the course. If the task is SAT test prep, have College Board’s Official SAT Study Guide with real practice tests on hand and schedule in advance the particular sections you will focus on during each study session.

Seek Your Passion: Golf, Sushi, Entrepreneurship

Students planning their college years are in a unique position to make their dreams come true.  By identifying what is most important to them, they can easily narrow down their college search and then live the dream – at least for their college years!

If the passion is for golf, colleges and universities with highly rated courses include Yale, Ohio State, University of Georgia, Notre Dame, Duke and University of Maryland. If the dream is all about skiing and snowboarding, there are two colleges in the U.S. that actually own their own mountain: Middlebury College in Vermont and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

Temptation to Over-Emphasize College Statistics

The truth of the matter is that no one knows in advance exactly which students will get accepted to any particular college.  There’s plenty of data providing students with an indication of their likely success, but often that information is misleading.

An article published in the New York Times, just days ago, warned students not to be misled by the lists posted by many high schools at this time of year announcing where their seniors will be heading off to college.  The reasons students ultimately choose to attend a particular college are complex.  Often, they revolve around money: some colleges may not offer a family sufficient need-based financial aid, others may provide more or less “merit aid,” rewarding students on their grades, SAT scores, and accomplishments.

Still Time to Apply to Colleges for Fall 2021

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has released a list of colleges that still have room for students seeking admission for the upcoming fall semester. May 1st is the national response deadline for most colleges in the U.S. By that date, students must choose the college they will be attending in the fall and pay a deposit. Since most students apply to a multitude of colleges, it’s impossible for colleges to know for sure how many students will actually enroll until the reply deadline rolls around.  After the response deadline, colleges that have not met their target enrollment are anxious to accept additional students in order to bring in the tuition money necessary to keep on budget.  

Often, even well-qualified students are not accepted to the college of their dreams.  Other times, students change their minds.  As the time to leave home for college approaches, students sometimes wish they had chosen a school closer to home.  Some students fall prey to basic procrastination and find themselves approaching high school graduation without a plan for the fall. This year, for the second time, there is an additional set of concerns as students make their college decisions without knowing for sure whether they will be able to live on their chosen college campus and attend classes in person. 

Importance of an Impressive Academic Schedule

 

A key criterion evaluated by college admission officers is the competitiveness of an applicant’s high school transcript. Colleges want to see students stretching to take more rigorous classes over the course of their high school years, typically advancing from the “college prep” level to honors and ultimately to AP (Advanced Placement).

When choosing the particular subject areas in which to take more competitive courses, students should certainly take into account their talents and interests. Students who plan to major in a Science-related field in college should strive to take AP Biology, AP Chemistry, or both while in high school.  It will ultimately boost their college applications and will impart knowledge that will later be helpful in their college studies.

Students planning to major in engineering in college often need to get through calculus in high school in order to have a chance of being accepted to many top tier schools.  Often, this means doubling up in math during one of their high school years.

Exceptional Students Take “Specialist” Approach

The highly acclaimed book, Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, famously proclaims that it takes 10,000 hours to gain mastery of a skill.  While children don’t have that kind of time to devote to a favorite activity, the premise is certainly thought-provoking.

When parents choose activities for young children, they often seek a well-rounded schedule balanced by sports, music lessons, and an academic activity such as coding or math club.  Early exposure to a wide range of activities is ideal in order for children to identify their natural talents and areas of interest.  But once that’s been determined, a popular school of thought recommends specialization. 

Specialization means choosing an activity where one is committed to putting in the effort required to becoming as proficient as possible. It’s a concept strongly recommended by Dr. Kuman Mehta, author of The Exceptionals: How the Best Become the Best & How You Can Too.

Role of Parents in the College Application Process

Parents walk a fine line when it comes to their children and college applications.  Getting too involved will earn the title of “helicopter parent.” Leaving everything to the student and hoping for the best – well that’s quite risky! There is a healthy middle ground. The ideal role for parents is to help with research, provide informational opportunities, and handle the financials.

Often students feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start the college process, so parents should help identify colleges that may be an ideal match.  The best way to start is by discussing what major might be of interest. Many students don’t know exactly what career they want to pursue, but they will likely know whether or not they are interested in science, business, engineering, education, or the arts, for example.  This knowledge alone will help to narrow down the research process. Together, parents and students can look up potential majors in College Board’s Book of Majors. Or they can visit collegescorecard.ed.gov which will identify every college that offers each major, as well as the average cost of attending the school and the average salary of its graduates in each particular field.

College Decision Day Is Fast Approaching

April 1st has passed. That’s the deadline for most colleges to let students know whether or not they’ve been accepted. Even the few colleges who postponed their response date, due to their overwhelming increase in applications, have now let students know the good or bad news.  The Ivy League schools gave themselves until April 6th to notify applicants, and Stanford pushed back their date to April 9th.Now the ball is in the student’s court!  Many students find themselves with a pile of acceptance letters (or emails).  How should students make this pivotal decision?

First of all, remember the purpose of college.  It’s certainly intended to make students more educated, in general, and more aware of the world and the issues surrounding them.  But, more pragmatically, most students attend college with the goal of preparing for a career that will support them for the rest of their lives.  So the best choice college is often the one with the strongest program in a student’s intended field of study.  A little research will reveal both the early and mid-career salary of alumni from all of the colleges under consideration, as well as the acceptance rate at medical and dental schools, law schools and graduate programs.

Five Key Strategies to Save Thousands on College

When talking about college debt, the statistics are never encouraging. In fact, the story gets sadder each year.  Statistics for 2021 indicate that 44.7 million Americans have student loans that collectively total $1.71 trillion in education debt. The key to avoid being part of this grim statistic is to consider some highly effective strategies.

1) When choosing potential colleges, students should not necessarily reach for the stars – unless it’s to a college with an impressive endowment. When students apply to colleges a tier below the level where they would likely get accepted, the scholarship money is almost always much greater.  Students planning to major in business, for example, often identify NYU’s Stern School of Business where the cost hovers around $75,000 a year. These same students could reasonably expect to be welcomed at St. John’s University in New York, Drexel and St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and a host of other institutions with impressive business schools, substantially lower costs of attendance, and generous merit money (to attract strong students) which does not get paid back.

New Jersey College Education Now Affordable to All

New Jersey college-bound students in households with adjusted gross incomes of $65,000 or less will have many options, starting this fall, to receive their higher education tuition free.

Rutgers, New Jersey City, Saint Peter’s and Stockton universities have all pledged to cover tuition and fees for students with family incomes below $65,000 or $60,000. These universities are providing new options to the “Community College Opportunity Grant Program,” which was signed into law just weeks ago, offering free tuition at all of New Jersey’s two-year community colleges for up to five semesters. This program, as well, is open to families with adjusted gross incomes of $65,000 or less. Full time undergraduates receive grants to cover 100% of their tuition and fees after other scholarships and federal and state grants are applied.

Cut Time, Money and Stress on the Road to Success

College bound students who know what they want to do with their life can often cut years of education, a great deal of stress, and a substantial amount of money from their higher education experience.

Many colleges offer dual degree programs whereby students move right into a Masters or Doctorate degree program upon completing their undergraduate education.  They often do not have to take entrance exams, eliminating the need to repeat the stressful process of preparing for, and taking, standardized tests.  Basically, as long as they meet certain requirements during their undergraduate years, they move right into the advanced degree program in their chosen field.

End of SAT II Means Greater Emphasis on AP Exams

Students eyeing the most competitive colleges and universities, until now, had to post impressive scores on two SAT II exams as well as on the crucial SAT. But College Board’s recent announcement that SAT II exams will no longer be offered has shifted the focus to Advanced Placement (AP) courses and the culminating exams.  

There are currently 38 AP courses in the Arts, English, History & Social Science, Math & Computer Science, Science, and World Languages & Cultures, although not all are offered at every high school. The curriculum for each of these courses is written by The College Board – the same folks who bring you the SAT – and there is an exam for each course in May.  Students who score 3 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) are offered college credits at many of the nation’s colleges and universities. The popularity of AP exams has steadily increased from 2010, when 3.2 million tests were administered, to 2019, when 5.1 million tests were taken. (The number decreased slightly in 2020, to 4.8 million tests, as Covid moved the exam online, in a condensed version, throughout most of the country.)

Personalization Is Key to Successful Applications

The existence of The Common Application, which is accepted by more than 900 colleges nationwide, has resulted in many high school students applying to ten or more colleges.  This has significantly impacted the college admission process.  Colleges and universities are all concerned with their yield – the percent of accepted students who actually enroll – as this greatly impacts their rankings.  It is therefore only natural that colleges will favor applicants who display a strong interest in their school and indicate, in some way, that they will likely enroll if accepted.

The key to standing out from the hundreds, or even thousands, of other applicants with similar SAT scores and GPAs is to personalize all applications.  Let colleges know exactly why you are particularly attracted to their school and the specific ways you would contribute to the campus community.

Common App Essay Prompts 2021-22 Now Revealed

Back in 1975, administrators from fifteen colleges got together and decided to create one application that students could use to apply to any or all of their colleges. This was the birth of “The Common App” which, as of 2021, is accepted by more than 900 colleges and universities across the United States.  More than one million students are expected to use this year’s Common App – which will go live with its latest updates on August 1st – to file about six million applications. But college-bound students can get started on the most time-consuming part of the application right now.

An integral component of The Common App is an essay of 250 to 650 words that is required by the majority of its participating colleges. Students have a choice of seven essay topics, one of which states, “Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.” So, the topic options are truly limitless!

High School Grades Can Earn a Huge Monetary Reward

“High School Grades Could Be Worth $100,000. Time to Tell Your Child?” That’s the title of a recent New York Times article, written by the prestigious newspaper’s “Your Money” columnist, Ron Lieber, who also penned a newly-released book, “The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make.”  

The focus is the huge impact that “merit aid” plays on discounting the price that students and families actually pay for their undergraduate education. Lieber compares college classrooms to airplane cabins, with people paying vastly different amounts for the same experience.

There are certain criteria that affect admissions and financial aid offers that are out of a student’s control, such as parents’ income, zip code, and other demographic information.  But there is much that is within a student’s power, such as high school grades (starting with the first semester of freshman year) and SAT scores. That’s the topic that Lieber recommends parents and their children talk about.

Attend Top College for Future “FAANG” Career

College-bound students who dream of working at one of the most prestigious tech companies after graduation should pick their school most carefully.  There are a few very specific universities favored by “FAANG” companies Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, as well as by other prestigious tech companies, when hiring recent graduates for lucrative positions.

The University of Washington greatly surpassed all other schools with regards to the number of graduates securing employment at major tech organizations, according to TechRepublic.com. When reporting “employee make-up” at the most elite tech companies, University of Washington ranked first at Amazon with more than 5,000 employees and first at Microsoft with more than 6,000 employees. It ranked fourth at Facebook with close to 1,0000 employees.

Stanford University earned the top spot at both Apple and Google, with 2,000 and 4,000 employees, respectively, at these two highly sought-after employers.

Be Sure to Know What “Test Optional” Truly Means

Students are often thrilled to hear the news of the latest college to join the “test optional” list that currently includes Harvard, Penn State, Villanova, Boston College, University of Virginia, and other elite institutions.

Students may make the assumption that gaining acceptance to these colleges and universities will now be easier, with one less hoop to jump through. However, the past admission cycle has demonstrated just the opposite. 

The majority of colleges went test optional for the high school graduating class of 2021, due to the mass cancellation of SAT exams last spring. These colleges wanted to continue attracting a vast number of applicants, in order to remain as competitive as ever. They more than succeeded at meeting that goal.

College Admission Testing Is Now A Little Easier

College Board has finally made high school students smile with its announcement, just last week, that there will be fewer hoops for students to jump through on their path to higher education. 

Effective immediately, Subject Tests, also known as SAT II exams, will no longer be administered. These one-hour long multiple-choice tests were offered in Math, Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. and Word History, and a gamut of foreign languages. They were recommended by admissions officers at Ivy League and other highly competitive schools, such as Georgetown University.   

College Board now says that the proliferation of AP exams in recent years makes Subject Tests unnecessary.  College Board writes the syllabus for Advanced Placement (college level) courses, and the exams that culminate the school year.  Students can distinguish themselves to college admissions officers, and simultaneously earn college credits, by earning high scores on these tests that typically run up to three hours in length.

Some Big Name Companies Help Cover College Costs

The latest statistics from Forbes indicate there are more than 45 million people who owe $1.6 trillion in student loan debt in the United States. Students who want to avoid joining this “club” should consider choosing an employer who will absorb some or all of the staggering costs of higher education.

After working just one year at the company, Amazon’s Career Choice Program will pre-pay up to 95% of tuition and fee expenses for employees who are seeking a degree or certificate for certain in-demand occupations, including nursing, aircraft mechanics, and computer-aided design. The classes are offered on site at Amazon and student-employees are also reimbursed up to $12,000 for textbooks and other expenses.