Mr. K's College Knowledge

The fall is a busy time for everyone involved in college admissions, and for me, part of my job is to learn about new trends at colleges and help spread the word about interesting college programs and updates at schools across the country. As information comes across my desk and I listen to admission representatives speak to students during visits, I want to update families about the pieces of information I think everyone should know. These following “quick-hitters” should provide you with tips, trends, and general helpful advice about schools you may be interested in applying to. Hampshire College (Amherst, MA): Will now NOT accept test scores as part of the admissions process. While there are many test-optional schools out there, Hampshire is one of the first colleges to be test-blind, in that they consider all parts of the applicant, but will not look at SAT or ACT scores. St. Bonaventure (St. Bonaventure, NY): Fantastic business program, especially finance and accounting.

New information just crossed my desk about two great Jesuit colleges, Saint Louis University (SLU) and Saint Joseph’s University (SJU) in Philadelphia. Saint Joseph’s University SJU has recently welcomed their largest freshmen class in the school’s history with over 1300 students. Their physical campus has nearly doubled in size over the past few years, and they are starting to fill-up some of that extra space! SJU has also implemented four new majors and five new minors including: Majors: Entertainment Marketing, Information Technology, Linguistics, Secondary Education, and minors in Creative Writing , Environmental & Sustainability Studies, Journalism, Justice & Ethics in the Law, and Medieval, Renaissance & Reformation Studies. Saint Louis University SLU has already started accepting applications for admission and will begin delivering answers out on a rolling basis beginning October 15 th . Although many of their application deadlines are late

Goucher College , a small, private liberal arts school in Baltimore has just come out with a new way to apply to their school. The traditional way to apply still exists using the Common Application, but they have created a very unique way to apply that may interest some students. We know that many schools are beginning to go test-optional , where they do not look at test scores, but put more focus on the academic transcript. However, Goucher is taking it a step further with their creation of the Goucher Video Application (GVA) . If you choose to go this route, test scores and transcripts are not required. Yes, you read that right…they do not consider test scores or high school transcripts for admission! If you are accepted to Goucher, you will need to eventually send your transcript to be considered for merit scholarships, but not to be accepted to the school. This is a great option for students, who have not done well in the traditional structure of high school and standardized tests

Anyone who is going through the college search process knows there are limitless factors to consider when choosing the right college. For students with learning differences, the quality of the school's support program may be near the top of that list of important factors. Colleges range in what they offer, costs, experience of support personnel, and overall effectiveness of the program. If you are a student or a parent of a student with learning differences, it is very important that you research these programs and ask a ton of questions when visiting the schools. There are many great schools across the country with excellent support programs, but the one I wanted to present to you today is Marist College. Past students have had great experiences there with their support program, and it is a school I can highly recommend. For those interested, Marist College is having an informational open house specifically about their learning disabilities support program. This program will tak