Posts Tagged ‘choosing a university’

Majors in College, The College Admission Process, and Other College Questions: Answered!

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

When applying to college seems overwhelming, don’t forget about My College Guide’s awesome free resource: our College Admissions Guru! Straight and to the point, our Guru will answer your college questions. Did we mention it is free and anonymous? Here’s the latest from the Guru!

College questions? Get the college advice you need!

SMJJP

Latest Questions
Question: I am a high school freshman, and I am currently taking Japanese as a foreign language. I enjoy the language and hope to someday become fluent. However, I’ve heard that there could be issues with college admissions recognizing certain foreign languages like Japanese. Is this true, and if it is, what is the general range of languages accepted at colleges?

Answer: Don’t worry about it. Japanese is a wonderful language to pursue fluency in, and if you want to continue it, simply apply to colleges that offer Japanese as a language option to study. In one of our magazine articles, we even interviewed a school official who talked about how essential knowing Japanese or Chinese will be to new students studying…continue reading our Latest Questions!

College Admissions Process
Question: What do you write in college application essays? Can you write an essay about your experiences in extracurricular activities? Or do you list your extracurricular activities? Also, is there a limit to how many recommendations you can get from your teachers? If not, is it better to get a lot of recommendations from your teachers? Even if the recommendations are not well-developed, it’s better to have lots, right? Thanks.

Answer: Great questions! You can really do a lot with a well-written, interesting essay. If your grades are good but not fantastic, you could push yourself over the edge to acceptance with a great personal statement. And even if your grades and scores are great, presenting yourself in a poor essay could… continue reading the College Admissions Process!

SAT and ACT Tests
Question: Thanks for taking the time to read my question! I am currently a rising senior in high school. I scored an 1870 on the new SAT, have an unweighted GPA of 3.8 and am very involved in extracurriculars. For example, I am the president and founder of my school’s Young Democrats Club and am completing internships under the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and under the local teacher’s union. By the time I finish high school, I will have taken 6 AP classes along with 15 honors classes. I have a list of several schools I’m interested in. I was wondering, how many “reach schools” should I apply to? I’m working with a private SAT tutor to bring up the SAT scores. What other advice would you have for me to make my application more desirable to a school like Georgetown? Finally, would I be considered a legacy candidate at a school if my grandfather attended it?

College questions on your mind? Ask our Admissions Guru (it's free and anonymous)!

the.sprout

Answer: It sounds like you’re doing all of the right things! You have a strong record and should be in the running at a number of fine schools. In response to your specific questions, the only thing I can think of that you could do to possibly improve your chance of getting into a top school is to take the SAT again, as you mentioned. You have a very good score, but if you think you could…continue reading SAT and ACT Tests!

Majors in College
Question: What is the difference between priority and regular decision? Also, what are majors and minors? If I want a bachelor’s degree, does that subject have to be my major, or can it be my minor? Do colleges generally offer the same minors as majors? Should my minor be a more specific subject within my major…or at least related in some way?

Answer: Priority decision is just another name for early action or early decision. In other words, you apply to the school by an early deadline, and you hear back from them earlier than you would if you applied “regular” decision.

When you go to college, you will have at least one major…continue reading Majors in College!

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SMJJP (b and w –> the.sprout

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Posted in Choosing a College, College Admissions, College Applications, College Campus, Legacy Status, Preparing for College, SAT/ACT Test | 1 Comment »

What To Do If You Are Waitlisted or Is There Hope after Waitlist?

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

The dreaded waitlist.  Is there anything more agonizing?  Instead of a simple yes or a no, your school of choice instead puts you on (insert dramatic music here) “the waitlist.” You may be wondering what to do next and might be asking yourself, “Is there hope after waitlist?”

Are you "in" or are you "out?"

.mushi_king/Marcus Beard

Colleges sometimes use a waitlist because – they just don’t know how many students are going to decide to enroll when offered admission.  Sure, they can guess and they usually have some sort of general idea – but, just in case, they set aside a few students that were oh so close to getting in.

That way, if less than the expected number of accepted students choose to attend college somewhere else – they still have a pool of varied and talented candidates (like you) to choose from and fill in the gap.

Think of it like this: if you hold a spot on the college waitlist, you are the equivalent of a basketball player keeping the bench warm, just waiting to be called into the game.  Sometimes the coach lets you in, sometimes – s/he doesn’t. In the case of the college waitlist, it depends a lot on the college you applied to as to what your actual chance of gaining college acceptance really is – some accept a very large percentage of waitlist students while others – not so much.

It is also possible that college admissions simply wanted to review your application one last time before making the final decision (another reason why you might want to check out our tips to increase your odds of admission after sending in your college application).   At this point, it doesn’t hurt to send in a brief summary of your current achievements, have an updated version of your grades sent in, and be careful regarding your online image.

Where will your college tuition deposit go?

KTVee/Krissy

You should probably start thinking about sending in your (probably non-refundable) tuition deposit to your next college of choice, where you did receive a college acceptance.  If things don’t turn out the way you had hoped, that could be where you end up spending your first year of college but it’s not the end of the world: the first year of classes is usually pretty similar between colleges. That first year at your second choice college doesn’t have to turn into four.

After you have a year of college under your belt, you’ve done well, you’re involved, you can then choose to apply again to your original first choice college and transfer if you are accepted – although you might find that you like the friends you have made and the college so much you don’t want to leave!

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Posted in Choosing a College, College Admissions, College Applications, College Campus | 3 Comments »

8 of America’s Most Affordable Public Universities

Monday, January 25th, 2010
800px-UCBerkeleyCampus

brainchildvn

Public universities are often much bigger than private schools—but what they may lack in intimacy, they often make up for in resources, course options, and an ultra-low price tag. If the cost of college is a concern for you and your family (and when isn’t it?), choosing a public university could save tens of thousands over the course of your academic career. The key, as always, is choosing the right school for you. Here’s the run-down on eight public universities.

College of William and Mary. This school, located in the quaint historic village of Williamsburg, Virginia, has the size and character of a private school with the low cost of a public university. The college has less than 6,000 undergraduates, and offers a diverse range of liberal arts courses with world-class professors on the beautiful campus. The school, founded in 1693, is the second-oldest college in the United States.

Georgia Tech. Located in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia Tech offers world-class facilities, instructors, and research opportunities, particularly in the fields of science and engineering. If you’re a football fan, you’re in luck: thousands turn out to see the Division 1 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets play at the huge school stadium.

UC Berkeley. Located within an easy BART subway ride of San Francisco, UC Berkeley provides students with an Ivy-caliber education at a fraction of the price for in-staters. The school tops the academic charts in just about every field, and the town boasts an eclectic blend of hippie and student culture.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. With more than 30,000 undergraduate students, this school is big and bustling, but it’s got plenty to do. Students can choose from more than 150 unique majors, have access the largest school library outside of the Ivy League, and can cheer for the school’s 19 varsity teams.

University of Michigan Ann Arbor. This school has over 40,000 students, great sports teams, and top-notch programs in nearly every field. Choose from more than 200 majors, including unique fields like kinesiology (the study of movement, if you were wondering).

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. UNC-Chapel Hill is one of the least expensive of all public universities, but it boasts world-class facilities in a beautiful historic campus, Division 1 sports teams, and a friendly Southern college town. The school has a strong focus on sustainability, and requires all new buildings to be constructed to LEED standards.

University of Wisconsin Madison. Located between two lakes in the charming city of Madison, UWM is home to almost 30,000 undergraduate students. Students can choose from 135 unique majors, including human ecology, cartography, and—fittingly for a state known for its cheese—dairy science.

University of Virginia Charlottesville. UVA was established by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, and the school’s beautiful green lawns and historic architecture are reminiscent of his home, Monticello. The academic programs are some of the best in the United States, and with a $5 billion endowment, UVA is the wealthiest of all public schools in the U.S. And while secret societies may be a thing of the past at many schools, they’re alive and well here—see if you can score an invitation to Seven or Z.

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Posted in Choosing a College, College Campus | 1 Comment »