You've got your big envelope! You've been accepted to your choice school - awesome!
Now comes the the next big step: figuring out your financial aid package. It's important to understand the responsibilities of accepting different types of financial aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships. However, those financial aid award letters can be downright confusing.
Need a little help figuring out what exactly your letter says? Verified Advisor and financial aid consultant, Justin Munio, gives some insight on what your financial aid award is. Read more...
Photo: Christopher S. Penn
After weeks of waiting by the mailbox and franticly checking your email, the answer you've been waiting for has finally arrived! Whether you've been accepted, rejected, or waitlisted by your top choice colleges, you should understand that you still have plenty of options for having an incredible college experience.
While this time in your life can be equal parts joyful and heartbreaking, it's important to keep your cool when making this life-changing decision. It can be easy to let friendships get bogged down by drama or get overwhelmed from your family's pressure to go to a school you're not in love with. But in the end, this is your decision to make, and you should be relieved that the grueling application process is over!
But even after comparing colleges reading college reviews by students you may be having an even tougher time making up your mind than you originally thought! Those financial aid packages and merit scholarship offers can certainly throw a monkey wrench into things. Read more...
Worried about your web presence affecting your chances of acceptance? Well, you're right to be concerned! According to Kaplan’s most recent annual surveys, 20% of college admissions officers and 27% of business school admissions officers who have Googled an applicant; 24% of college admissions officers and 22% of business school admissions officers have visited an applicant’s Facebook page.
Thinking about going to law school after you graduate? 41% of law school admissions officers said they have Googled an applicant to learn more about them, while 37% have checked out an applicant on Facebook or other social networking site. Consider yourself warned!
While the majority of undergraduate admissions officers the StudentAdvisor team has talked to say they simply don't have the time to Google or Facebook every applicant, you wouldn't want your online presence impacting you in other areas. That flurry of tweets about how much you hate your roommate? It could be preventing you from landing an internship wanted! Those public party pictures on Facebook? You never know if they're what's keeping you from getting that first post-college job interview!
Click the infographic to enlarge.
Be Careful About What You Post
“Since Kaplan Test Prep first began surveying admissions officers on this topic in 2008, we’ve seen the growing influence of social media in the admissions process. While social media is primarily used for recruiting, rather than evaluation, and traditional factors like standardized test scores, GPA and personal essays are still by far the most important admissions factors, it’s no longer uncommon for schools to check applicants’ digital trails as part of the admissions evaluation,” said Jeff Olson, vice president of data science, Kaplan Test Prep. “Our overall message for all students: Since the Internet has a very long memory, use good judgment and be careful what you post."
Do you think admissions officers should be snooping on the web presences of their applicants? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Too big of a party school. Too far away. Too expensive. You worked so hard to find your best match colleges and all your parents can do is complain! This is supposed to be a happy, exciting time, but the rift between you and mom and dad is getting to be a bit much.
When your parents disprove of your decision to attend your dream college it just adds an extra layer of unneeded stress. So how can you move past arguing about the reasons why your top choice college is your top choice?
John Carpenter, author of Going Geek: What Every Smart Kid (and Every Smart Parent) Should Know About College Admissions, has some seriously good advice for how to handle this situation. Read more...
Have you ever had to worry if your last tweet compromised our national security? Or if the last picture you were tagged in on Facebook violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice?
As one of StudentAdvisor's Top 100 Social Media Colleges, The United States Military Academy at West Point has used social media to show the world what goes on at one of the nation's top military institutions. However, unlike other colleges in the Top 100, social media at West Point is done a bit differently.
At StudentAdvisor we wondered: How can West Point be such a success in social media without breaking protocol and sacrificing their strict standards? To find out, StudentAdvisor's Editor-in-Chief Dean Tsouvalas interviewed Major Olivia Nunn, West Point Public Affairs Executive Officer and Social Media Chief. Ready to learn about the team behind West Point's incredibly engaging social media presence? Read more...
Are you ready for the film adaptation of one of the best pieces of young adult fiction in recent memory? This Friday is huge for fans of Suzanne Collins' bestselling novel, The Hunger Games.
But while you're waiting at the box office for tickets, maybe you can think about "The Hunger Games" of life. Have you ever noticed how much the post-apocalyptic competition has in common with college admissions? Well, at least the StudentAdvisor team did!
So take some notes from Katniss and Peeta and find out what The Hunger Games can teach you about college admissions. Hopefully your college applications don't involve faking a love story and outliving the other tributes. Read more...
Did you know that several merit-based scholarships rely not just on your GPA, but your SAT or ACT test scores as well? So if you've been putting off cracking open those practice books, it's time to get hustling if you want to be in good shape for those June exams!
Not sure where to even start? Here's a great opportunity from Kaplan Test Prep to save money on the cost of getting ready for the June SAT or ACT:
Enroll in one of the following Kaplan SAT or SAT prep courses before March 31st, 2012 with the coupon code SPRING100 to receive $100 off:
- Complete SAT and ACT Prep
- College Prep Advantage featuring Unlimited prep for all tests
- Premier Tutoring featuring 1:1 support
Simply enter SPRING100 at check out to receive your discount. For more course information visit: http://www.kaptest.com/College/Home/prepnow.html
Don't Forget to Register for These Upcoming Test Dates!
SAT test dates: June 2 - Registration Deadline: May 8
ACT test dates: June 9 - Registration Deadline: May 4
Ask an SAT or ACT question on StudentAdvisor.
Here's some good news for all you Angry Birds addicts out there. Did you know that you can use the same strategies to win a game of Angry Birds to help you dominate the SAT? It's true! While being able to fly through the SAT Math and Critical Reading sections might not be as fun as slinging birds at pigs, it can certainly help you out when you're applying to colleges.
According to a recent NACAC survey, almost 60% of colleges consider SAT test scores to be one of the most important admissions factors after your GPA. So don't slack on getting ready for exam day! Learn how use Angry Birds strategies to save time while taking the SAT from StudentAdvisor's resident SAT prep guru Rory Hartfield. Read more...
Photo: Maureen McLaughlin
Being the parent of a teenager today is no cakewalk. It's an insane balancing act of knowing when to set the right boundaries and when to let them have their freedom. And when it comes to getting them ready for college it can get even more complicated!
Whether you're a college grad yourself or your child will be the first in your family to go, there's one thing everyone can agree on: it's important to understand what it takes to get in! That's why StudentAdvisor invited Katherine Cohen, CEO and Founder of IvyWise and ApplyWise.com, to share 4 things a parent must know about preparing a child for college. Read more...
Photo: PhoenixREGuy
Deciding on a college location can be rough. Do you want the academic rigor of a New England university? Would you prefer a small liberal arts school with many trees and libraries? What about a one-building campus in a big city?
Many colleges are beginning to offer satellite campuses, so you can choose one school and do a semester (or more) program at another campus anywhere in the country. The latest satellite campus to break ground is Boston's Emerson College, a small liberal arts and communications college. Emerson has recently decided to expand their program in Los Angeles by breaking ground a new 10-story facility. Read more...
Listen up, Junior. We know that prom and summer vacation are more at the top of your mind than finding your college match. But now is not the time to keep procrastinating on the whole "college" thing!
The beginning of your senior year of high school is going to be super busy with writing essays, getting letters of recommendation, and filling out tons of forms. Why not cut down the stress and start doing a bit of the work now? Read more...
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This Saturday, students all across the country will be franticly filling out little bubbles with number 2 pencils. The stakes are high. Everyone takes the SAT with hopes for scoring well enough to get into their dream college. No wonder students have SAT test prep anxiety!
Of course with these high hopes and last-minute efforts to prepare comes baggage. Lots of baggage. If studying for the SAT is making you a big ball of nerves it may be time to think of some ways to cut down on your stress. After all, you don't want to get "brain freeze" on test day because you're so overwhelmed!
StudentAdvisor asked Rory Hatfield, a veteran SAT tutor at Kaplan, what the most effective SAT Prep techniques were for cutting down the stress. Read more...
For some college students, saying goodbye to their four-legged friends when they go off to college is tough. But what if you could fill that void for quality puppy time and help a child with a disability? The 4 Paws for Ability University Program connects service dogs in training with student volunteers for a semester long fostering commitment. For 4 Paws student volunteers every day is take your dog to class day!
But with the fun of having a dog again comes a lot of responsibility. Students must take the dog wherever they go and attend regular meetings for training. And of course, there's that hard goodbye to make when the dog's fostering time comes to an end for service placement.
There are 5 different colleges in Ohio and Kentucky participating in the program with 36 dogs currently being fostered by students for the Spring 2012 semester. Since 1998, 4 Paws for Ability, based out of Xenia, Ohio, has placed over 600 service dogs with the majority being to children with Autism, seizure disorders, mobility impairments, hearing impairments, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Read more...
We know you've got 99 problems, but we're here to help your college roommate not be one. Learning how to live with roommates is a major part of on-campus college life. For students who aren't used to sharing the same bedroom it can take a major period of adjustment.
But even when you get used to living in close quarters, some roommate problems just can't be avoided. The recent news story about the Stonehill College student who is suing the school for not doing enough to help her when her roommate was engaging in sexual activity while she was present in their dorm room got us thinking. How can you deal with such strange roommate problem without resorting to an embarrassing lawsuit?
There might not be any magic fairy dust to help you and your roommate instantly become BFFs, but there are ways to tactfully work resolve your college roommate problems. It's important to remember: no matter how out of line you think your roommate is behaving, there are several options to work through your issues. StudentAdvisor Staff Writer Taylor Cotter, who paid her RA dues at Northeastern University, weighs in with "6 Steps for Dealing With College Roommate Problems." Read more...
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As the country mourns the tragedy at Chardon High School in Ohio, we can't help but reflect on ways students can safely respond to a potential shooting at their institutions. What should students do in the unforunate event of a campus shooting? The StudentAdvisor.com team reached out to Otterbein University's Director of Campus Police Larry Banaszak to find out.
Campus Police Chief Banaszak believes people need to take an active role to ensure they are prepared in the event of a shooting-related crisis. That’s why Otterbein University actively trains students, staff and faculty members on what to do in case there is an active shooting on campus.
Read more for advice on how to respond to school shootings and other ways to be prepared during an act of violence in a public setting. Read more...
Photo: Nrbelex