Mr. K's College Knowledge

The next student reflection on the college application process is written by senior, Sean Drennan. Enjoy! The college search and application process seems like a daunting task to many rising seniors. To myself it seemed like I had to get over a 10 foot fence. First researching and finding colleges that you would like to visit is a tough task. Getting down the location, size, and type of college you want to attend seems like an easy task but there's so many options that you don't even know where to start. After finding the list of colleges that you want to apply to, the application process comes into play. This was actually the easy part of the process for me. In order to make this part easier many schools that I applied to had rolling admissions or the deadlines were spread out from the months of November through January. This made the essays I had to write easier to spread out thus making them better for the admissions representatives. Another tip for college essays i...

The next student written blog about the college process is from senior,  Gianluca Milea. He has a ton of great advice and experience to share. Enjoy! The college process can be very intimidating at times.  While it is very important to have numerous options, I found it difficult to apply to a limited number of schools.  Although Xavier does not put a maximum on how many schools to which you are allowed to apply, application fees are very expensive and at the end of the day you will only be attending one college.  To begin the process, I visited a myriad of schools, some of which were unrealistic options for me.  After visiting four schools in two days, I decided to create guidelines for my potential college.  While academic rigor is essential, there are many other factors that go into a final college decision: food, campus life, off-campus life, greek life, religious affiliation, athletic programs, housing, location and possibly two of the most i...

     Hello everyone, I have decided to mix-it-up a little bit and have you hear directly from Xavier seniors about their experience throughout the college application and admissions process. The first student to share his story and give feedback and tips is senior, Krist Sokoli . I will continue to add blog posts from other seniors this week and next, so continue to check back to get inside information from those who just went through the process this year. Enjoy! 1.  What was your experience like through the college search and application process? a.        My college search and application experience was pretty  laid back  partially due to me starting my research and work during junior year. I had made sure to ask a lot of the seniors where they were applying to and why they had chosen those schools. I also made sure to ask what they thought about other schools. I found that most of the answers were honest and t...

We are all familiar with the high costs associated with pursuing a college education. But remember, there are many options out there to collect scholarships and financial aid. And some are more out-of-the-box that you may expect. Take Raise.me for example. I recently had the opportunity to meet with a Raise.me rep, a new organization that is partnering with colleges across the country to help families rack up "micro-scholarships" against the astronomical costs of higher education. Starting in 9th grade, students can accrue these small, conditional scholarships from colleges for accomplishments such as getting an 'A' in science class, making the Varsity swim team, being involved in community service, partaking in various extracurricular activities, and much more. If you wind up attending a school you've selected through Raise.me, the micro scholarships you've built up will be applied to your tuition. The process is very simple; go to their website , creat...

I have always stressed the importance of visiting college campuses. It is one of the most, if not the most important part of the college search process. Sure, you can research most of the information on the college websites and websites such as College Board and Naviance, but it is tough to get a true feeling for the school without walking the campus, sitting in on classes, eating in their cafeteria, or talking with current students and professors. It is essential to plan ahead during high school breaks and vacations to schedule campus tours at colleges across the country. However, sometimes families do not have the time or money to visit every college the student is interested in attending, this is just a fact. So the next best thing to physically walking the campus, is to "walk" the campus virtually. To my knowledge, the most comprehensive virtual college visit website is YouVisit . This website allows you to search for hundreds of colleges across the country, and when yo...