Mr. K's College Knowledge

As many of you know, the SAT will be drastically changing in the spring of 2016. This will mainly affect current freshmen and anyone younger. I personally see these changes as positive and I look forward to seeing how all of this works out. If you are a freshmen, parent of one, or just interested in the changes, please take a look at the changes from Kaplan Test Prep . Enjoy! -Mr. Joe Korfmacher

Recently, I have had the pleasure of traveling to nine colleges in Seattle, Portland, and Saint Louis. Visiting schools across the country give me great perspective and insight on the different programs and environments available to all students. Since I have always worked with students in the NYC area, I have noticed that most students and families are “stuck” in the 3-5 hour bubble of schools. Of course, there are hundreds of terrific colleges and universities in this part of the country; I hate to see students limit themselves. Traveling around the country has opened my eyes to some incredible places, and I am excited to share these experiences with all of you. In the coming weeks, I will highlight the schools I visited, and I hope that you will take a closer look at these schools and others, that you may not have thought about before. The first university I would like to highlight is Saint LouisUniversity , most commonly referred to as SLU. Here are a few SLU ‘quick-hitters’:

For those who do not know, a GAP year is when a student does not attend college right after graduating from high school. Instead the student uses this time to intern, do research, travel, or anything else with the plan to matriculate into college the following year. GAP years are becoming more and more popular, and if done correctly, can be a great experience. A GAP year definitely is not for everyone, and it can be tough to get yourself back in student mode and attend college, but if done right, it can be an incredible experience. I wanted to share this following GAP year experience available through American University in Washington DC that recently came across my desk. “With over 70 years of experience developing and teaching experiential courses through the successful Washington Semester and Washington Mentorship programs, we are expanding our curriculum to focus on recent high school graduates who are taking a year off for experiential endeavors before starting college. The A