College comparison is not always easy. If you're beginning to plan your college trips this summer, you may start to realize that, after a while, all college websites and pamphlets start to look the same. You might start forgetting which is a college and which is a university, which has the lowest tuition, or which has the highest acceptance rate.
The StudentAdvisor College Compare tool is a quick fix for confusion when it comes to college comparisons. We break down the best way to use the College Compare tool when visiting colleges. Read more...
You have 7 days to write a college review and be entered to win a brand new George Foreman Grill.
The George Foreman "Next Grilleration", is one of the coolest items from our Dorm Essentials Guide. By writing a college review, you not only become eligible to win this week's college giveaway but your insight will help thousands of students and parents on their college quest.
Admissions stats tell students if they can get in. College reviews tell students if they can fit in.
One of the most valuable parts of finding a college is reading a college review from real students, alumni and parents who have attended the school. Learning about their personal experiences: the good, the bad, and the ugly - helps students decide where they can fit in.
In less than 5 minutes, you can positively impact a prospective college student and you might even win a brand new George Foreman Grill!
Please, write a review now!
As seniors send in deposits to their schools of choice, there's still something that they're waiting on: financial aid decisions. Often, your full financial package isn't confirmed until June, and students and parents can be waiting on edge - especially if they have confusing questions about stepparents, loans, and special financial circumstances.
StudentAdvisor talked to Jane Jordan, Associate Director of the Northern Illinois University Financial Aid Office. Jane gives some advice for students and families concerned about college costs. At Northern Illinois University, students have many specific questions about their financial aid situations. In our conversation, Jane breaks down some of the most frequently asked financial aid questions for students of Northern Illinois University and all colleges. Read more...
By Taylor Cotter
StudentAdvisor.com Staff
This Memorial Day, honor our heroes and earn some extra money for school by applying for the Voices of Democracy - Veterans of Foreign Wars scholarship. For students interested in government, journalism, political science or foreign affairs, the Veterans of Foreign Wars scholarship allows studentes to write and broadcast a three-to-five minute script on an annual patriotic theme. The 2012-2013 theme is "Is Our Constitution Still Relevant?" Applicants are judged on origniality, content and delivery.
Who is eligible?
- Students in grades 9-12
- Enrolled in a public, private or parochial high school or home study program in the United States and its territories.
How to Apply
- Applications are open now and will be accepted until Nov. 1, 2012.
- Applications and more information can be found on the VFW website.
Texas Christian University juniors are doing more than just thinking about their impending graduations. These students are reaching out to soon-to-be high school grads, and helping them with their paths toward college.
Marisol Sigala, a first-generation American and college student, founded the Junior-to-Junior program to expose high schoolers to TCU, and let current college students serve as their mentors. Want to learn more about Marisol's project? Read more...
You may be spending your summer catching up on cartoons instead of studying for your impending SATs - and that's okay! Our guest blogger, Rory Hatfield, knows that students might spend a little more time watching Family Guy than reading flash cards for the and has found that this is a great way for you to improve your score on the SAT Critical Reading section.
If you're having a hard time reading passages or retaining important information, Rory takes some advice from TV's most animated family, the Griffins, and applies it to best practices for the SAT Critical Reading section. Read more...
Full Sail University is a social media success story, jumping 16 spots on our Top 100 Social Media Colleges. The school has an incomparable social media strategy, an engaged student body, and many buzzworthy events. Full Sail University students and alumni have been writing reviews and talking about the university on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media platforms.
Full Sail University's Director of Social Media, Melissa Albers, speaks with us about the biggest social media successes on campus and how they have grown and maintained a thriving online community. Read more...
Write a review of your college this week and be entered to win. StudentAdvisor is giving away the coolest Black and Decker 5-Cup Coffee Maker, one of the most popular items from our Ultimate Dorm Living Guide. By writing a review of your school, you not only become eligible to win this week's college giveaway but your insight will help thousands of students and parents on their college quest.
Admissions stats tell students if they can get in. Reviews tell students if they can fit in.
One of the most valuable parts of finding a college is hearing from real students, alumni and parents who have attended the school. Learning about their personal experiences: the good, the bad, and the ugly - helps students decide where they can fit in.
In just 5 minutes, you can help impact a student for the rest of his life!
Please, write a review now!
For contest rules and Terms and Conditions
Misericordia University doesn't just offer your run-of-the mill comic book class. We've all heard about classes on The Simpsons or graphic arts, but these two professors take comic book studies to a new level.
Allan Austin and Patrick Hamilton teach "Race and Graphic Narrative in the Postwar United States," a combined English and history course that explores race relations through the lens of comic books. The innovative course combines popular culture and sociology, and is a hit with Misericordia students across disciplines. Want to know more about their course and why its so successful? Read more...
Wheaton College graduate Iraimi Mercado isn't taking her education for granted. When she finishes up at Wheaton this month, she'll begin an international service and research project on YMCA youth programs all over the world.
Iraimi was a student leader and community service advocate while at Wheaton, and we're excited to see her take on the world! Want to know more about Iraimi and her project? Read more...
Vocational high schools aren't just for future mechanics or carpenters anymore. With 80 percent of students taking some vo-tech courses, career training in high school has become the norm. By taking career courses, students have the opportunity to explore different industries, earn college credits, and have a better chance of being employed after graduation.
Interested in learning more about vocational high schools? Dean Tsouvalas, StudentAdvisor.com Editor-in-Chief talked to Fox 25 Boston about why vo-tech is crucial in high school education. Read more...
We've got the top 10 Graduation gifts that your college or high school grad wants this year. Chances are that you've racked your brain for the perfect gift, only to realize that there's no way of knowing what your new grad needs or wants!
The StudentAdvisor team searched all over for the best and most original graduation gifts. Most of these graduation gifts are perfect for any student who is looking to start their first year in college, in graduate school, or on the job.
Read the 10 Best Graduation Gift list...
Think we missed a great gift? Let us know by commenting or tweeting us @StudentAdvisor.
By Dr. Tara Keenan: For StudentAdvisor.com
Cache of Civilizations Under an Arch on Via della Lungara
I left New York at 34 because every bone in my body could feel that the window was closing. If my husband and I didn’t leave then, we would certainly remain stuck forever, twenty minutes from where we were born (in the same hospital, three months apart). At the time I worked as a community organizer and I taught at Fordham University but we needed change. So I quit and off we went to Rome, with no prospect of work and nowhere to live. For a couple of years I bounced around English language schools and by my third year, I found John Cabot University just under the Arch in Trastevere.
One of the first John Cabot events I attended as a composition instructor was a reading by Amara Lakhous from his book, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio. This unassuming little violet book sang to me with its sometimes witty and other times heart-wrenching stories of the lives of immigrants in the Esquilino neighborhood of Rome. And there was the author in front of us, talking about his writing process, his experience with language, and his life as an immigrant in Italy. At the end of his talk as he took his seat, I looked down, surprised at the pain radiating through my quads. I rubbed my legs and scanned the packed Aula Magna—there was Carlos from Texas and that nice student from Morocco I met earlier in the day, and the boy from Rome who helped me fix the computer during my last class. My legs began to cramp up. I rubbed harder. I had literally been sitting on the edge of my seat for the entire presentation and question period.
After Lakhous wound up I tripped through the little streets, across Piazza San Egidio, then through Piazza Santa Maria toward the park at Piazza San Cosimato. The way the moonlight hits the cobblestones never gets old but on that particular night, it was even newer than that. I passed Da Vittorio Pizzeria, as Whiskey, the golden retriever, regarded me from under the dinner table with his electric smile curling out from his under his nose. I kept on walking and waved at the Italian card store owner as he locked his door. He looked at me with eyes gleaming and bellowed: "Spillatrice!" "I punti!”"I fired back over my shoulder. About a year earlier I had walked in there looking for a stapler without knowing the word. Now every time I passed we went through this ritual. Tonight his laughter and the sound of his jingling keys were jewels in my ears. As I made my way up the hill toward Monteverde I replayed the night in my head. I looked back down the hill and at the piazza with its empty produce stalls gapped over the pavement like missing teeth in an aging smile. Tomorrow morning it would be bustling.
It had come, as I knew it would, as I gambled it would, when I left New York those three years earlier. I was finally where I needed to be. Mixing with exciting people, with ideas, passion, something to say! I was surrounded by students and professors from far and wide and while I could teach them, they could also teach me. It was this simple fact that set me on the edge of my seat and wrecked my quads that night. I was surrounded by a symphony of people, enveloping me with their harmonies. I was finally home.
Dr. Tara Keenan is a professor at John Cabot University
Danny Rivkin, a sophomore at Bard College at Simon's Rock, spent many summers working and vacationing on Catalina Island. When this innovative 18-year-old, learned that the students at Catalina High School desperatley needed SAT prep help Rivkin decided to make a difference in the under-served community.
Rivkin created an SAT Prep class that helped to change the lives of many Catalina Island students. One student in fact,
calculated that she received an additional $10,000 in financial aid as a result of her improved SAT scores.
Purvi S. Mody is one of our college advisors who always has excellent advice for high school 
graduates. Recently she was asked: I am graduating high school in a couple of months and am so lost about what to do next. I did not think that I could get into colleges so I did not apply. But now that graduation is coming up, I think I do want to go to college. Can I still get in?
Her answer surprised us but she quickly explained that some colleges are still accepting applications for the Fall. Mody goes on to explain that space is limited and the longer you wait, the fewer seats will be available.
However, if you are serious about applying to college, the first thing you need to do is...Read the complete answer with her advice for high school graduates who still want to attend college
By Dean Tsouvalas, Editor-in-Chief, StudentAdvisor
The University of Kentucky not only won the NCAA 2012 title but also ranked #7 in the Spring 2012 Top 100 Social Media Colleges list. To gain better insight into The University of Kentucky's social media winning formula, how the social media elements of their "see blue" admissions marketing campaign became a movement and how UK makes social media rule during the sports seasons, we spoke exclusively to Whitney Hale, social media guru at the University of Kentucky.
StudentAdvisor: Fresh off your win in the NCAA Final Four, how did the University of Kentucky’s social media play a part before, during and after March Madness?
Whitney Hale: Sports at the University of Kentucky, especially UK Men's Basketball, has had a special place in the heart of the UK community for more than a century. UK's social media accounts attempt to leverage that popular tradition as part of sharing the UK story. In the weeks leading up to the Final Four...Read the full interview "See Blue: Why University of Kentucky Dominates Social Media"
If you're on the fence about choosing a college to attend, there is a secret ingredient to making your decision that you use every day and may be overlooking. Dean Tsouvalas, Editor-in-Chief of StudentAdvisor, recently appeared on the NECN Morning Show to discuss how social media can help you decide on a college:
How can students use social media to their advantage when deciding on a college?
Almost all colleges across the country are using some form of social media. It's one of the best options that students can use when researching schools and making a final decision on the best fit for them.
What are some examples of how students can use social media in their college search?
You can monitor what schools are tweeting or chatting about; is it about crime or is it about a really great addition to the campus library? We've seen schools like Williams College set up designated Twitter chats their admitted students. But you don't just stop at browsing through the official school accounts. You can find a person who attends the school who is using social media and communicate with them about your last minute questions and concerns.
You can search Twitter or Tumblr to see what current students are talking about on campus. We've seen tons of high school students reach out to college students at the schools they're considering to ask them questions. More often than not they're willing to help!
For those who have already decided on a college, how can they use social media for that scary next step?
Colleges are doing a lot to help incoming students make connections on social media before they even get to campus. One of the biggest concerns among incoming freshman is who their roommate(s) will be. Social media offers a unique advantage to chat with your roommate online prior to starting school. At Saint Mary's College, one of the Top 100 Social Media Colleges, students used the entering class Facebook page to find potential roomies.
Today marks the third update to StudentAdvisor's Top 100 Social Media Colleges list. Harvard University (#1) has risen back to the top of the rankings displacing Johns Hopkins University (#2). Both schools have extraordinary social media communities and continue to innovate and execute their social media strategies exceptionally well. The biggest movers and shakers this time around? Full Sail University climbed 31 spots to secure the #19 position while M.I.T. bolted ahead 24 spots to claim #25.
Since the last update to our Top 100 Social Media Colleges list, so much has changed in the social media world! The use of image sharing social networks has exploded in popularity with Pinterest and Instagram. Google+ pages give colleges like Duke University the ability to answer questions live via video Hangouts.
Rising Stars in Higher Ed Social Media
Other notable movements include the University of Washington- Seattle landing a spot in the Top 10 and 13 colleges earning their first Top 100 placements. RISD, Caltech, Morehouse College, and St. John's University New York are just a few of the new additions to this list of colleges making big things happen with social media.
How Do We Do It?
StudentAdvisor's Top Social Media Colleges ranking compares more than 6,000 federally recognized colleges and universities and post-secondary schools in the United States in terms of their mastery of public social media methods, tools and websites. The top 100 of those schools are shown in the ranking list, which is regularly updated.
The StudentAdvisor research team continuously collects information on how active and effective each school is at engaging their audiences on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media tools, such as iTunes and podcasts. The ranking methodology also takes into account the size of each school's population, as well as other metrics, to gauge overall reach and effectiveness. The team then produces a strictly quantitative score for each school based on this information, and updates the findings regularly.