NACAC's List of Colleges Still Accepting Applications Available May 3
Posted on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 20:16NACAC's annual Space Availability Survey, a searchable list of colleges still accepting applications for Fall 2012 freshman and transfer students, will be available to the public begging Thursday, May 3 through Friday, June 29 on NACAC’s website. Colleges’ listings also will include information about the availability of institutional financial aid and housing. Counselors, students, and families are encouraged to check the results periodically. NACAC anticipates that many colleges will complete the survey after the initial deadline and will update their listings as space availability changes. In 2011, 370 colleges listed either freshman and/or transfer space availability.
Diversity: Best-selling Author Lalita Tademy's "Aha Moment"
Posted on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 18:39
Award-winning author Lalita Tademy joins us today for the second installment in our series featuring deans of admission, educators, and public figures and their personal “aha” moments on the subject of diversity.
As that subject receives renewed attention in the wake of the Supreme Court’s agreement to hear a case challenging the University of Texas’ admission policy, we wanted to examine the role diversity plays in college admission. Why do colleges value diversity? Is it a worthwhile goal? What are its implications – pro and con? It is a subject that is complex, sometimes divisive, and often not well understood by students and parents.
Lalita Tademy continues the discussion today with a remarkable personal story:
In late 1956, my family bought a plot of land in a suburban all-white town in northern California. Our potential neighbors were not pleased with the prospect of African-Americans living so close, and pooled their funds to buy the land back, adding in a profit for us, if we agreed not to move in.
A Q&A on Financial Aid at The Choice
Posted on Wed, 04/25/2012 - 08:19The Choice blog at the New York Times is hosting a Q & A on scholarships, loans, and financial aid all week, featuring the advice of expert Mark Kantrowitz, founder of FinAid.org. This is a great resource for families evaluating financial aid offers in the run-up to May 1st when all applicants must notify one college of their acceptance of an offer of admission. But even those families who aren't quite there yet should take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about how to pay for college. You can find Part 1 of the series here.
Resources on Financial Aid, Scholarships, Athletics and more...
Posted on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 19:21
We're have some terrific new resources for students and parents navigating the college admission process:
Loans: A roundup of expert advice
Posted on Wed, 04/18/2012 - 21:03
For families evaluating their financial aid at this time, here's a roundup of advice from some experts on the role of loans in funding a college education.
Jonathan Burdick, dean of admission and financial aid at the University of Rochester, has an excellent guest post at the College Inc. blog for the Washington Post -- Five steps to a prudent student loan.
For more insight from an expert, check out our own guest post from Jon Boeckenstedt, vice president for Enrollment Policy & Planning at DePaul University for his thoughtful look here at when and where borrowing is worth it.
Things We Love: A Video to Help You Get Over Not Getting In
Posted on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 19:53Whether or not you got into your first choice school, check out this video from Allison Singh, author of Getting Over Not Getting In - A College Rejection Guide. While we haven't seen her book, we love the video. It perfectly demonstrates one of our mantras -- it's not where you go to school, it's what you do once you get there and beyond.
No Double-Depositing
Posted on Wed, 04/11/2012 - 19:33May 1, the National Candidates Reply Date, is fast approaching. This is the non-negotiable deadline for formally notifying one college that you are accepting its offer of admission—and sealing the deal with a deposit check. For those who have a top-choice school, the decision about where to send that check is straightforward. For others, choosing may require further thought, return visits, or the comparison of financial aid packages. Do not be tempted, however, to double-deposit in order to delay decision-making. Double-depositing—sending a deposit to more than one college to keep your options open —is unethical and may result in both colleges rescinding your admission. Keep in mind that you have signed a certification on your application form promising you will send a deposit to only one institution. Your acceptance letter is conditional, and it’s easier than you think for the colleges to find out if you have deposited at more than one institution. You also have an ethical obligation. Double-depositing takes places away from other students. Waitlisted students should take care not to double-deposit as well. Suppose you are accepted at College A and waitlisted at College B, but your first choice is College B. You would enroll at College A and send a deposit. If you are later accepted at College B, you can also enroll and send a deposit there. This is not double-depositing provided you inform College A immediately and in writing that you will not be enrolling.
The College Road Trip
Posted on Fri, 04/06/2012 - 19:32Many of you are heading out on your first college road trips. Here coauthor Christine VanDeVelde remembers her first college visits with her daughter: A few years ago, my daughter and I ventured forth on a short tour. We managed to walk the Vanderbilt campus in Nashville, Tennessee, in the middle of what they call a “dogwood winter” – the trees are blossoming as temperatures plummet. We then flew north to Chicago, just in time for an epic snowstorm that closed O’Hare for a day and a half. After trudging along the campus on the edge of Lake Michigan in ballet flats, we holed up in an Evanston hotel, bundled in our new Northwestern sweats watching Pay-per-View movies. My husband took the next trip that summer – Lehigh, Yale, Boston University, Dartmouth, and Cornell -- where they had to buy new shoes to accommodate the amount of walking they did but enjoyed much better weather and a side trip to Legally Blonde on Broadway. Despite blisters, traffic jams and inclement weather, we found these road trips to be peak parenting experiences – some of the most memorable and enjoyable times we have spent with our daughter.
Tre Hadrick, Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy
Posted on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 21:39
This month's Counselor of the Month is actually not a high school college counselor. Ernest "Tre" Hadrick, III, is a guidance counselor at Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy, a middle school in Norristown, Pennsylvania. But one of his priorities is encouraging the students at Eisenhower -- many of whom would be the first in their families to attend college -- to strive for a college education. Such students have a different timetable for the college application process -- they must be extremely purposeful as early as middle school. And in Tre Hadrick, they have a lot of what is needed to achieve the goal of a college education -- a mentor.
Roger J. Thompson, University of Oregon
Posted on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 20:21
Roger J. Thompson, Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at University of Oregon, joins us this month to answer our questions about admissions and the state's flagship public university.
Founded in 1876, University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges, including Arts and Sciences, Architecture, Business, Education, Journalism and Communication, Music and Dance, and an Honors College. Located on 295 acres in the Willamette Valley, between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains, the Eugene campus hosts about 20,600 undergraduates.
Fun facts: