Any Student Can Study with a Princeton Professor

Students who dream of taking courses with professors from the most elite universities around the world can make their dreams come true – at no cost.  The most prestigious universities in our country -- including M.I.T., Georgetown, University of Chicago, Notre Dame, and every Ivy League institution -- offer online courses for free.  So, too, do many prominent international institutions including the Sorbonne in France, Oxford in England, and the University of Hong Kong.

Two of the most notable sites for online education are edX and Coursera.  Seven years ago, edX.org was founded by Harvard University and M.I.T. as an online learning destination to offer high-quality courses from the world’s top universities. It now offers more than 1,300 courses, offered for free, and has students from every country in the world. Those seeking a certificate (to boost college applications or resumes) are charged a fee ranging from $40 to $160.

Still Time to Apply to College for Fall of 2019

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) releases a list, in early May of each year, 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 send in a deposit to reserve their seat (and room and board, if they are planning to live on campus).  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 May 1st, 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 colleges 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.  For these reasons, and others (basic procrastination!), students may find themselves approaching high school graduation without a plan for the fall.

Summer is Ideal Time for Student Volunteerism

Volunteerism is alive and well among young people in New Jersey, which comes in very handy when it’s time to apply for college admission.  Students who have not yet become engaged in “giving back” have a perfect opportunity this summer to find an activity that suits their interests and provides a needed service. 

The Jersey Cares website features activities to suit almost any personality.  For example, “Earth Keepers” is seeking volunteers at Island Beach State Park, the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside, and Liberty State Park. “NJ Seeds” offers tutoring opportunities in Martinsville, Madison, Livingston, West Orange and Morristown. Pet therapy volunteers are in need at “Care One” in Hamilton Township, Morristown, Hanover, and Wayne.

Students’ commitment to volunteerism is not only good for their communities, but it is also a great boost to their college applications.  Although SAT scores and G.P.A. are still the two most important criteria impacting college acceptances and scholarship awards, community service is of growing importance.

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, when to take theses standardized tests, 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 guidance counselors typically address all of these issues with college bound students, they are often stretched very thin. An article in this month’s “Education Week” cited that, in high schools nationwide, the average student-to-counselor ratio is 482 to 1. 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.

The True Value of Advanced Placement (AP) Courses

High school students throughout New Jersey are preparing for the high-stakes Advanced Placement (AP) exams that will be offered from May 6th through May 17th.  These tests are offered at the culmination of AP courses – which are college level courses with curriculums written by The College Board – that often allow students to earn college credits while still in high school.

AP courses are offered in more than 30 subjects in Foreign Languages (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin and Spanish), Math (including Computer Science), History & Social Sciences (including Macro and Micro Economics), Art (including Music Theory), and Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science). College Board statistics from 2017 cited that close to three million high school students took nearly five million AP exams, and the number reportedly rises each year.

How Many Times Should a Student Take the SAT exam?

By the time students reach high school they are tired of taking standardized tests. But this is just the time when students need to be most diligent.

Standardized tests in students’ earlier years are most important for their school and school district, to determine if educational goals are being met and to rank how the school/district compares to others in the state and nation.  But when it comes to the SAT exam, things get personal.  

The SAT is a standardized test that is marked on a curve, placing college bound students in competition with each other.  Students get two scores, each in the range of 200 to 800.  One is for “Evidence-based Reading and Writing,” and the other is for “Math.”  (There is also an optional essay, scored in the range of 6 to 24 points.)  In order to get a median score of 500 on either of the two main categories, a student needs to correctly answer approximately half of the questions.

Six Years is the New Four, Students Sadly Find Out

“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.  The failure to graduate students in four years has become so commonplace that even U.S. News & World Report, in its highly regarded 2019 “Best Colleges” guide, reports the six-year graduation rate of colleges throughout the country.

Sometimes there’s a good reason for students to take six years to earn a diploma.  Perhaps they switched majors and many of their credits did not carry over to their new course of study. On the other hand, perhaps it was out of their control.  Maybe some of their required courses were not readily available, requiring a longer than expected college stay in order to meet graduation requirements.  Either way, 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, room, board, books and fees) by four or by six!