Colleges That Meet Full Need – No Loans Required!

There are opportunities for students to graduate from college debt free, but they require some advanced research and a basic understanding of some financial aid terms. A small number of U.S. colleges have eliminated federal loans from financial aid packages, replacing them with scholarships and grants (which do not get paid back) and, sometimes, work study. But the details on eligibility vary greatly among colleges, so students need to look at the fine print. 

Over the past twenty years, tuition and fees have increased dramatically at almost all colleges and universities, as indicated by statistics from U.S. News & World Report. Tuition and fees at private national universities have reportedly jumped 132%, those at out-of-state public national universities increased 127%, and those at in-state public national universities rose 158%. 

To attract top students concerned about the financial costs of their college education, some schools are offering a “no-loans” financial aid package to all applicants regardless of financial need. But there are sometimes stipulations. Some colleges require a minimum contribution from students (expected to come from summer earnings or other sources); some have a no-loans policy only to students from certain demographics or with certain qualifications.

The Most Regretted College Majors

Some 44% of U.S. adults regret their choice of college major, according to a survey by Dreambound.com. If they could do it all over again, 13% reportedly would major in Computer Science while 8% would choose Business.

“STEM majors are most likely to be satisfied with their major,” reported Dreambound, “likely because of the higher salaries and job opportunities. It’s also no surprise that Computer Science is so popular given how the field has exploded in recent years.” 

Education majors, however, were found to be among the most dissatisfied, with 53% wishing they had studied something else.  Unhappiness among teachers peaked during COVID.

Almost half of humanities and arts majors regret their choice, and enrollment in those disciplines is shrinking rapidly, according to a report in The Washington Post.

These 5 Strategies Can Reduce College Costs

College debt is a hot topic, and for good reason. As of 2023, more than half of all students left college in debt. For New Jersey students, the average debt was $35,202. These students joined the ranks of 44 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.75 trillion in education debt, according to statistics by Forbes. A few strategies can help students avoid drowning in college debt:  

1) Students should consider the cost of attending academically comparable colleges.  While The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Villanova, Drexel, and St. Joseph’s are all highly regarded schools in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, the cost of attending each may vary dramatically. New Jersey students get “in-state” tuition at TCNJ, which is currently $17,980. Tuition (not including room and board) is $64,906 at Villanova, $60,663 at Drexel, and $51,340 at St. Joseph’s. Of course, students may receive “merit scholarships” that vary greatly.  

2) Students should avoid starting college “undecided” because, once they have chosen a major, they may find that many of their previous courses do not fulfill requirements of their field. Thus, they need to take additional courses, often delaying graduation and adding to their college cost. Also, undecided students miss out on the opportunity to apply for scholarships offered to students in particular fields. For example, hundreds of scholarships are available to students seeking an education in STEM fields. 

3) Students should seek part-time jobs with companies that offer tuition reimbursement. Chipotle and McDonald’s offer up to $5,250 a year to eligible part-time workers. Starbucks will cover the full tuition for employees enrolled in Arizona State University’s online program. Other companies that offer some type of tuition reimbursement include Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, UPS, and Walmart.

College Admissions Advantage by Early Decision

When students apply to colleges, early in their senior year of high school, they can benefit greatly by filing their applications prior to November 1^st.  That’s the typical cutoff to meet “early action” and “early decision” deadlines.  Students can apply “early action” to as many colleges as they like. The benefits are that they will hear back sooner than their peers who file regular applications while they are under no obligation to enroll. Often, the acceptance rate is higher for early action applicants. 

But the real advantage comes to students who apply “early decision” to any of a host of competitive colleges and universities. Early decision is binding, meaning students are expected to enroll if accepted, unless their financial need is not met. So, students should only choose this option when they are competitive applicants, certain of their first-choice college, and not too concerned about finances.  Many colleges strongly favor early decision candidates because it boosts their school’s “yield” – the percent of accepted students who enroll.

The End of an Era: No More Sharpened #2 Pencils

                       

The end of an era was marked by the December 2^nd SAT when students arrived, for the last time, with sharpened #2 pencils. For nearly 100 years, since June 23^rd, 1926, college bound students engaged in the time-honored ritual of taking the lengthy, paper and pencil exam that would impact their college prospects. 

While the SAT still exists, and is just as important as ever in gaining admission to many competitive colleges, it’s now a digital exam. The PSAT and SAT exams have embraced technology and are now adaptive, computer-based tests.  Students start out by working on a Reading/Writing module consisting of 27 short passages (typically one paragraph long), each followed by one question.  The questions test a student’s abilities in reading comprehension and grammar/punctuation skills.  Based on a student’s success on the first module, the second module consists of either easier or more difficult questions, which will ultimately impact one’s score.

After a short break, students then move onto their first Math module, covering a range of topics with the most difficult being in the area of Algebra II/Trigonometry.  There is no pre-calculus or calculus covered on the SAT, so students should not wait until they are in advanced Math classes to start taking the exam.  Here too, based on a student’s success on the first module, the second module consists of either easier or more difficult questions. Students are provided with an online calculator as well as a countdown clock, letting them know, as they progress through the test, exactly how much time they have left.  Students are allowed to bring their own calculator to use in place of the online one, and they are provided with scrap paper.

Top 4 Student Factors in College Search Process

There are a multitude of factors that influence students’ decisions as to where to spend their college years. In a survey, earlier this year, of undergraduate and graduate students, BestColleges.com found the top four factors to be affordability, student outcomes, flexibility and accessibility to specific programs, and college rankings/reputation.

Students are wise to focus on affordability, as more than half of graduating students this past year left college in debt; the average debt for New Jerseys students was $35,202. Cost conscious students often favor in-state public colleges and universities, such as The College of New Jersey and Rutgers, where annual tuition is currently less that $18,000 before any need-based aid. While most students seek to live on or off campus during their college years, those who choose to commute from home can avoid the additional expense of room and board which at times can even exceed the cost of tuition.

College Board’s New College Search Guide Features

A college investment is one of the largest expenses that most families will face in their lifetime.  So, the key is to do some serious homework to identify best-fit colleges where students can prepare for the careers of their dreams at a college that meets their academic and social preferences.  

College Board’s BigFuture website offers a free college search feature that is an ideal place for families to start their research. There they will find a college search database with information on more than 2,400 four-year colleges in the U.S.  As students select the specific criteria that are important to them, such as school size, location, availability of on-campus housing, choice of major, etc., the list of appropriate colleges starts to shrink.  

 

For example, if a student clicks on “location” and chooses New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania as options, the list shrinks to 191 potential colleges.  If the student then clicks “majors” and indicates that he/she is seeking Business and Management, the list reduces to 153 good-fit colleges.  If the student then identifies a preference for an urban setting, the list further narrows to 31 colleges.  Without leaving their computer, students can vastly narrow down the list of colleges worthy of further investigation.

The Actual College Graduation Rate Statistics

“What is your four-year graduation rate?” This may be one of the most important questions that college-bound students and their parents can ask when considering a potential college.  An article in Money stated, “the failure to graduate students in four years has become so commonplace that schools are now showing you their six-year graduation rate.” Unfortunately, that fact often is not very evident.

The “Best Colleges” Guide by U.S. News & World Report, considered a top resource of college information, lists the graduation rate as one of its key criteria in ranking hundreds of colleges and universities.  Readers may assume it indicates a four-year graduation rate, but it’s actually a six-year graduation rate.

A government website that provides a gamut of extremely helpful information to college-bound students and their parents is collegescorecard.ed.gov. One key category, addressing the graduation rate at U.S. colleges and universities, states, “The graduation rate for degree granting schools is the proportion of entering students that graduated at this school within 8 years of entry…”   Students and parents who are budgeting for a college diploma need to know, in advance, whether to multiply the annual cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, room, board, and books) by four or six or even eight!

Free College Planning Search Tool

Ten years ago, the government created “College Scorecard” to be used as a type of Consumer Reports for colleges. Ever since then, data has been collected on colleges throughout the U.S. regarding the costs of attending, the graduation rates, and the actual salaries that alumni were earning, based on specific degrees, four years after graduation.  Numbers don’t lie, so students and parents can now enter the college process wide-eyed, able to compare the cost of earning a particular degree at a specific college with the salary that its alumni are earning early in their career.

The website featuring this information is collegescorecard.ed.gov  

 

By typing in Rutgers, for example, then choosing the New Brunswick campus and bachelor’s degree, data appears showing that the graduation rate (within 8 years of entering the school) is 83% with an average annual cost of $15,000 after accounting for financial aid and scholarships.  By clicking Rutgers University – New Brunswick, and expanding “Fields of Study,” one can access the median earnings of alumni sorted by major four years after graduation.  By choosing Rutgers graduates with a degree in Computer and Information Sciences, for example, you will find median earnings of $114,399 four years after earning their bachelor’s degree, while those with a degree in Psychology were earning a median salary of $49,641.

5 High School Strategies to Boost College Acceptance

Students hoping to gain acceptance to a highly competitive college need a “proactive approach” and a “strategic mindset,” according to Forbes. The highly regarded business-oriented publication cites five steps that students should take, beginning in their freshmen year of high school.

 

From the onset, students should immerse themselves in a myriad of activities, both within and outside their school, that pique their interest. The purpose is to identify their field of interest and the activities in which they find purpose and will ultimately assume a leadership role.

 

Starting in sophomore year, students should narrow down their commitments to those that are most fulfilling and then deepen their engagement with these specific activities. Students, and their parents, often believe that colleges favor applicants who are involved in a wide range of activities. That’s a myth. Colleges seek specialists: students who have found their niche, contributed to their school or other community, and assumed leadership responsibilities.

Successful High School Students’ College Timeline

Students (and their parents) often wonder what they should be doing during each year of high school to avoid the stress of an anxiety-filled senior year. The truth is that much can be done, starting in the early part of freshman year, to set students on the path of success. 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. Or, students can get involved in an academic-oriented activity, such as Robotics, Model UN, or Science Olympiad. Or, they might join student government, the yearbook committee, the debate team, or the marching band.  
 
By sophomore year, students should map out a tentative four-year academic schedule.  If they hope to get through Calculus in high school, are they on track to do so? If not, they may want to double up on their math courses or take a course during summer study. Sophomores should also prepare for the October PSAT^® and actively pursue the activities they joined the previous year, gaining increased expertise.

Last Chance for Current SAT: Big Changes Ahead

The SAT exam, administered as a paper test since its inception on June 23^rd, 1926, is joining

the age of technology as of March 9^th, 2024, when it will launch as a digital, adaptive test.

Students have until October 24^th to register for the November 4^th SAT, and until November 21^st to register for the December 2^nd SAT.  High school students may want to take advantage of these final opportunities before becoming the first group to have to deal with Reading, Writing, Math, and technology all at the same time.

 

Students who take both forms of the test are allowed to pick and choose which scores to use on college applications. Colleges do not know how many times a student has taken the SAT, so students have unlimited “do-overs” and can ultimately control which scores they want colleges to view.

5 Misconceptions of the College Application Process

When it comes time to engage with the college application process, many students and parents struggle with common misconceptions. 

1)   Ivy League universities, and other elite institutions, are not beyond the financial reach of families. In fact, they are the most affordable. These schools have such incredible endowments that they are able to meet the full financial need of all their students, not requiring anyone to take out loans. The struggle is not how to pay, but how to gain admittance. Colleges and universities on this list include Amherst, Davidson, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Stanford, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Washington and Lee, and University of Chicago.

  

2)   College acceptance is not a “numbers game.” There’s a rhyme and reason as to who gets accepted where. So, applying to a greater number of colleges is not going to give a student an advantage over applying to a smaller number of target schools – colleges where one’s SAT scores and GPA are in line with those of current students.  If a student has not taken a rigorous course load, with a great number of AP courses on which they scored a “5” on the end-of-year exam, and earned impressive SAT scores while engaging in a “passion project,” the likelihood of gaining acceptance to Princeton is miniscule. Adding Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale or UPENN to the list is not likely to improve one’s outcome.

2023 Top 10 Most Popular College Majors

Students immersed in the college application process, as well as those looking forward to it, would do well to identify their major. That’s the field in which they will earn their college degree and, most likely, pursue their future career. Once a college major is chosen, it becomes much easier to identify “best fit” colleges as students can research the schools that offer the strongest program in their chosen field.
 
There are very specific fields attracting college-bound students.  Niche.com recently listed the Top 10 most popular college majors: (1) Business & Management (2) Nursing (3) Psychology (4) Biology (5) Engineering (6) Education (7) Communications (8) Finance & Accounting (9) Criminal Justice (10) Anthropology & Sociology. The number of degrees conferred for Business & Management (289,384) was more than double that awarded for the next most popular major – Nursing.
 
Students can use a multitude of resources to identify colleges with strong programs in their chosen field.  One popular resource is the “Best Colleges” annual guide published by U.S. News and World Report.

Top November Break College Tour Tips

 

The majority of public school students in New Jersey look forward to several days off, if not the entire week, in early November. That week, which includes Election Day and Teacher Convention Days, offers an ideal opportunity for high school students to visit potential colleges.  College classes, and the activities that surround them, are in full swing. So, visiting students can get the full experience of what life would be like on any particular campus.
 
It’s extremely beneficial for college bound students to tour the schools, to which they plan to apply, in advance of filing applications.  Sometimes, a campus visit will end up deleting the college from a student’s list as it may not be all that was envisioned. Other times, it may move the school to the top of the list, worthy of consideration for an Early Decision (binding) application. In addition to helping students prioritize their college list, such visits can actually increase their chances of gaining admission.  Colleges carefully track student visits as a sign of demonstrated interest, and they favor students whom they believe will actually enroll if accepted.  

2024 U.S. News “Best Colleges” Rankings Revealed

The highly anticipated “Best Colleges” rankings by U.S. News & World Report have been posted online, with the most elite schools retaining their rankings. (The printed guidebook is available for pre-order.) Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology held their place from the 2023 rankings as the #1 and #2 Best National Universities.  Yale, which last year tied Harvard and Stanford for third place, slipped down to the #5 spot.

While colleges often discuss opting out of the rankings – by not providing U.S. News with the statistical data they request – most find that it’s in their best interest to participate. 

In a recent N.Y. Times article, Why Colleges Can’t Quit the U.S. News Rankings, the impact of the rankings was undeniable.  “The rankings remain a front door, an easy way to reach and enchant possible applicants. And their reach goes beyond prospective students since proud alumni and donors track them, too,” reported the paper. 
 
In addition to ranking the Best National Universities, also listed are rankings for the Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, Best Regional Universities, Best Regional Colleges, and Top 30 Public National Universities. Perhaps most helpful to students, who know what field they plan to pursue in college, are the rankings for Best Business Programs, Best Engineering Programs, Best Computer Science Programs, and Best Nursing Programs.

2023 Top Paying College Majors with $100,000+ Salaries

The college years provide students with a multitude of opportunities for both social and academic growth.  Simultaneously, they are the years in which students prepare for what will hopefully be productive and lucrative careers.   

According to data released by CNBC, students seeking high-paying employment would do well to consider a major in the field of engineering, as eight of the Top 10 best paying careers are in this discipline.  Statistics from Bankrate placed Electrical Engineering in first place with a median salary of $110,000, followed by Computer Engineering with a median salary of $104,000. These were followed, respectively, by Chemical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering ($100,000), Materials Engineering/Materials Science ($98,500), Engineering Mechanics, Physics & Science and Mechanical Engineering ($95,000), and Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering ($90,000).   

 

Interspersed in these top paying careers were Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Administration, and Computer Science, both with a median salary of $100,000.

 

Students with an interest in engineering would do well to research potential colleges with a strong reputation in this field.  U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 issue of Best Colleges ranks the top programs at engineering schools where the highest degree is a doctorate, and those where the highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s.

Strategies for Writing Effective College Essays

Students have a perfect opportunity, through the Common App Essay, to share any “story” of their life. Other than the Activities section, which is tightly limited by word count, the essay is the only section where students can let colleges know about their special talents, interests, or some aspect of their life story, that makes them a great match for their potential college.  

The Valuable Role of a Private College Counselor

For $1,500 per hour, parents can hire Command Education in New York City to guide their child’s college application process, according to a New York Post article just weeks ago.

 

Fortunately, most parents seeking a private advisor for their college bound children are not paying anything close to that figure.

 

Why is there such a great demand for private college consultants? It’s mostly a numbers game.  The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) calculates student-to counselor ratios at public schools throughout the country using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Its recent report showed an average student to counselor ratio in New Jersey of 337 to 1. That’s more impressive than the national average of 470 to 1, but still quite alarming. (The ASCA recommends a ratio of 250 to 1.)

Attract College Acceptances by Highlighting a Talent

College bound students with a specialized talent are in high demand by universities with a revolving student body.  Almost every college hosts a gamut of sports teams, dance teams, bands/musical ensembles, and other academic and cultural organizations that require members with a particular skill.  As students earn their college degree and graduate, they need to be replaced with fresh talent from the incoming student body. 

High school students applying to colleges should highlight the specific skills they would contribute – and the more unique the better.  Athletes who excel at less popular sports, such as lacrosse, ice hockey, volleyball, water polo, fencing, and gymnastics, have a better chance of gaining acceptance, with scholarships, than those engaged in the more common sports where the competition is greater.

 

A similar scenario exists with music.  The “rarer” the instrument, the better the chance it will secure a college acceptance, often with scholarship money. College musicians in high demand are typically those proficient on the harp, oboe, tuba, bassoon, and French horn. According to campusreel.org, there are 1,534 scholarships totaling $42,500,000 available to Band/Marching Band member students.

Applying “Test Optional” Can Be a Risky Move

Among the multitude of lifestyle changes brought on by Covid was the opportunity to apply to colleges without SAT scores – known as going “test optional.”  Colleges adopted this policy as a lifeline to ensure that they continued to receive applications from many more prospective students than they could possibly admit, maintaining their reputation as being highly competitive.   

 

But the tide is turning, and current high school students who opt out of preparing for, and taking, the SAT are greatly limiting their options. The SAT (or ACT) is once again required by many of the most elite, and competitive, universities throughout the country including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Georgetown University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, University of Florida and Florida State University, and the United States Naval Academy, Military Academy, and Air Force Academy. Colleges realize that no student is currently prevented from taking the SAT due to Covid, so those who do not submit scores either did not bother taking the test or did not earn scores worth submitting.

Common Application Strategies and Updates

There’s a lot of talk these days about what colleges can and cannot consider on students’ college applications.  Affirmative action has long been debated; so too has Legacy preference.

 

Students need to recognize what is in their control and what is not, and make the most of the areas in which they have full power.

 

On the newest Common Application, which went live on August 1^st, there are still questions about place of birth and whether one identifies as American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or White.  Those who choose Asian are asked to be more specific. There’s also a “school specific” question asked by most colleges to identify which applicants have family members who are alumni. How this information is used is beyond any student’s control. For some, it may give their application a boost.

The Common App Honors Section Advantage

Students seeking to impress college admissions officers need to make the most of every section of their application. The majority of students utilize the Common Application, which is accepted by more than 1,000 colleges throughout the U.S. and more than 50 international universities. It includes an Honors section, giving students an opportunity to highlight their accomplishments.

The Common App prompt reads: Do you wish to report any honors related to your academic achievements beginning with the ninth grade or international equivalent?

 

There is space allocated for up to five honors, so students should choose carefully and place them in decreasing order of prominence.  National awards are typically listed first, followed by state, local, and school awards. 

Rutgers University Joins the Common Application

Life just got easier for college-bound students with Rutgers on their list. The New Jersey public university, with campuses in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden, has joined the ranks of more than 1,000 colleges accepting the newest Common App which goes live on August 1^st. 

The Common Application was first launched back in 1998 to help streamline the college application process.  It allows students to fill out information once -- including family information, high school data, SAT and AP scores (which are sometimes optional), and activities. Students list their colleges of interest on a “Dashboard,” and ultimately use this platform to submit their applications.

 

The Common App includes an essay that is required by the majority of colleges. Students have the option of choosing from among seven prompts, with one being “topic of your choice.”  Other prompts allow students to share a talent or interest, challenge they’ve overcome, accomplishment or period of personal growth, or a topic they find captivating.

Summer Activities of Top College Applicants

Students vying for acceptance to the most competitive colleges know the benefit of highlighting impressive SAT scores and GPA, ideally including a perfect “5” on a gamut of AP exams. While that will move them to the top of the pack, more needs to be accomplished to acquire a seat at one of the most coveted universities.   

The summer provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in meaningful activities that will demonstrate their commitment to a particular field of study and help them stand out from their peers.  This can be accomplished through participation in extracurricular activities, volunteer opportunities, or enrollment in specialized courses. 

 

Students seeking acceptance into a particular course of study – business, engineering, pre-med, physical therapy – are often asked to write a supplemental essay about their “experiences” that have led to their passion for the field.  Summer is the ideal time to shadow a mentor in the field, participate in an internship, or engage in some pre-professional program.

What’s an Acceptable SAT Score for College Admissions?

College-bound students often wonder what SAT score they need to reach their goals.  The answer is that it varies greatly.  It depends on the student’s aspirations and the competition from their peers.

 

Students should make a list of their colleges of choice, and then look up the “middle 50” range of SAT scores.  This information is included in the Best Colleges guide by U.S. News & World Report.  At Princeton University, for example, the 25/75 percentile SAT scores are listed as 1460-1570.  At Stevens Institute of Technology its 1370-1510, at Rutgers-New Brunswick its 1240-1470, and at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) its 1180-1430.

 

Students who not only want to gain acceptance but also be awarded scholarship money should aim for the upper portion of that range or exceed it.

Top Return on Investment Colleges in 2023

Students searching for their ideal college often consider many criteria, including location, campus life, and academic options.  But a key criterion that students should take into account is the college’s ROI – return on investment – which identifies the long-term financial value of a degree.

 

With annual tuition and fees at some colleges exceeding $75,000, it’s wise for students to consider what the likely payoff will be in terms of their future earnings.  They can turn to research conducted by The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, which identified the ROI at 4,500 colleges throughout the United States.   

 

A degree from the sixteen non-profit or public colleges/universities topping the list all had a 40-year ROI exceeding $2 million. These schools, starting with the highest ROI, are University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis (MO), Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences (NY), MCPHS University (MA), California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvey Mudd College (CA), Bentley University (MA), Babson College (MA), University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University (CA), Princeton University (NJ), Carnegie Mellon University (PA), University of the Sciences (PA), Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ), Georgetown University (DC), and Lehigh University (PA).

Hobby Based College Scholarship Opportunities

Spending time playing sports or a musical instrument, or engaging in a favorite hobby, may have an unexpected benefit.  It may end up being the source of a college scholarship.

Millions of dollars of scholarship money is available to students who have a particular talent or interest or are involved with a wide range of organizations.  The best way for students to access these funds is to make a list of all their activities and then search on free scholarship websites for relevant grants.

 

Discover.com, for example, offers a free scholarship search tool providing information on a wide range of scholarships in fields including aviation, band, business, choir, civil rights, community service, computers, cooking, dance, entrepreneurship, environment, esports, fashion, feminism, film/TV/radio, gardening, health, LGBT rights, literature, mock trial, music composition and performance, journalism, camping, performing arts, photography, playwriting, poetry, politics, robotics, scouting, debate, student government, technology, volunteer fire fighting, and youth ministry.

August SAT Exam is Extremely Popular

Students planning to take the next SAT, which will be offered nationwide on Saturday, August 26th, should register immediately, if they haven’t already done so.  There is a supply and demand issue that occurs each year in New Jersey, only with the August exam.  There are a limited number of seats at local test sites with an abundance of students wanting to take the exam before immersing themselves in the next academic school year. Students who wait too long to register often find themselves taking a road trip of several hours to a testing center with an available seat. 

Students get unlimited “do-overs” on the SAT, which they can take as many times as they like during their high school years.  It is offered each year in March, May, June, August, October, November, and December, and is available to freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.  When the time comes to file college applications and submit their scores to colleges, students can choose which scores to send and which to pretend never happened.  Colleges have no way of knowing how many times a student has taken the SAT.

 

Many colleges allow students to “super-score,” listing on their Common Application (which is accepted by more than 900 colleges) their highest Evidenced-based Reading and Writing score from one test date and their highest Math score from another.

5 Latest Trends in College Admissions Process

Students about to embark on the ever-challenging college application process would do well to know the latest trends, and use this knowledge to their benefit.

1. The volume of college applications has continued its upward spiral. More students are applying to college than ever before, and they are applying to a greater number of schools. The Common Application reports the overall volume of college applications increased by 30% over the past three years.

New York University (NYU), for example, received 120,000 applications from high school students graduating this year, and 85,000 applications from those who graduated in 2020 – an increase of 41%. As a result, the acceptance rate has fallen to record lows at many of the most sought-after universities.

2. Tuition and fees have also continued to rise. Over the past 20 years, costs for in-state students to attend public universities increased by 175%, while costs to attend private national universities increased by 134%, according to Forbes. Colleges and universities with a sticker price exceeding $80,000 per year (including tuition, fees, room, and board) include University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, Cornell University, Franklin & Marshall College, Tufts University, Brown University, Amherst College, Wake Forest University, and the University of Southern California. The exact figures can be found in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges.

SAT verse ACT: Which Exam Should Students Take?

There are two exams that are widely accepted for the purposes of college admissions and the distribution of merit scholarship money: SAT and ACT. While students throughout the U.S. know that they can choose whichever test they want, geography tends to play a major role in their decision.

 

In New Jersey, for example, 90.3% of students choose the SAT, while only 9.7% choose the ACT, according to statistics from Niche.com. This ratio of 9 to 1, or even greater, in favor of the SAT is also reported in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia.  

 

Local students find the SAT to be a natural progression from the PSAT which they typically take in the fall of both their sophomore and junior years.  Also, students often find the SAT to be an easier test as it covers fewer subjects and gives students more time per question than does the ACT.

15 Picturesque College Campuses Across The Country

College bound students have the unique opportunity of choosing a new home for the next four years of their lives, and potentially even longer. While many factors play into a student’s college choice, the appeal of its campus is likely one of those criteria.   

Students certainly need to consider their choice of major.  But many of the most popular majors, including business, nursing, psychology, and biology, are offered at hundreds, if not thousands, of colleges across the country. This gives students a great deal of leeway in allowing other factors to impact their decision. One of those factors is often campus beauty.

 

While beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, certain campuses have been particularly noted for their visual appeal. Fifteen colleges were singled out by U.S. News & World Report for touting such attributes as “stunning architecture, a picturesque setting or eye-popping landscaping.” The schools gracing this list, which represent twelve states throughout the country, are Baylor University, (TX), Flagler College (FL), Harvard University (MA), Indiana University: Bloomington (IN), Kenyon College (OH), Pepperdine University (CA), Salve Regina University (RI), San Diego State University (CA), Stanford University (CA), Swarthmore College (PA), University of Colorado: Boulder, University of Notre Dame (IN), University of Vermont, University of Virginia, and University of Washington.