Mr. K's College Knowledge

Hey Everyone, Boy, it is cold out there, but the class of 2018 is really heating it up with their college acceptances (corny I know, blame it on the cabin fever)! If you missed the latest addition of the Xavier E-news, one of the articles highlighted the early college acceptances for our seniors. I wanted to re-post the article here, for all to see. Take care, and enjoy the read...hopefully under a blanket! Class of 2018 Shines in Early Round of College Admissions In this year’s early round of college admissions, Xavier’s Class of 2018 distinguished itself with great success. "With early admissions in the rearview mirror, the Class of 2018 now has their eyes set on regular admissions, where decisions most often come out in March and April,” said Director of College Counseling  Joseph Korfmacher . “In the meantime, it is important to celebrate the early successes of this talented class. Our seniors have already reported over 400 college acceptances and close to $9,000,000 in...

With the Holiday Season upon us, so is the early admissions notification season. Students have begun receiving many acceptances, academic scholarships, financial aid packages, and students are finally starting to see themselves at one or two specific colleges…reality is beginning to set in! A percentage of students have even been accepted to their Early Decision (binding) school and now know where they will be attending in the fall of 2018...how exciting!  However, even though there are a ton of good things happening now, many students also received unpleasant decisions from colleges in the early round with either denials or deferrals. From my desk, the trend continues of schools becoming more and more difficult to get into, even for the most accomplished students. With more young men and women applying to college within our country and across the world, many college application numbers continue to go through the roof, meaning more students will be denied or deferred than ever b...

Key Stats: ·           Location : Santa Clara, California (about an hour from San Francisco, and right next to San Jose) ·           Type : Private, Catholic Jesuit University, in a defined campus with a suburban surrounding ·           Size : Just about 5,500 total undergraduates ·           The total  cost of attendance  is just over $64,000 per year, but SCU does offer a good amount of financial aid and merit based scholarships .  Admissions Stats: Santa Clara University is a top ranked university in the country, and is a fairly selective school to get into. Last year, SCU had almost 16,000 applications and accepted about 7,600 students for an acceptance rate of 48%. Their average SAT score range for accepted students is: 1270-1450 and the average ACT score range for accepted ...

We are quickly heading towards February, and the college application season has been long, and draining. You most likely have put hours upon hours of your life researching, visiting, contemplating, and applying to colleges. This is a huge decision, and all the hard work will pay off. However, if you are not satisfied with your college list, you do not just have to settle with what you have now. There is still time to search for and apply to colleges across the country. Yes, January 15th was a big day for regular decision deadlines, but there are still hundreds of great colleges and universities that are still accepting applications. If you are not satisfied with your college list, or you have been accepted into a few colleges, but the the financial aid award letter doesn't offer as much as you like, keep looking. There are still a ton of schools that have deadlines in February, March, April, and even some that are rolling admissions and go into the summer. Below I will list a s...

January is a great time in college admissions. Most of the Early Decision and Early Action decisions have come in, and seniors’ college landscapes are starting to be filled in. The majority of students have finally finished all applications, and will be patiently waiting for those regular decisions to come in, most likely in March or April. Many students are receiving many acceptances, academic scholarships, financial aid packages, and students are finally starting to see themselves at one or two specific colleges…reality is beginning to set in! However, even though there are a ton of good things happening now, many students also received unpleasant decisions from colleges in the early round with either denials or deferrals. From my desk, the trend continues of schools becoming more and more difficult to get into, even for the most competitive students. With more students applying to college within our country and across the world, many college application numbers are going through th...

Hey Everyone, This is a post from last year that I thought would be good to recycle...enjoy! As seniors are waiting for and receiving decisions for their Early Decision and Early Action applications for colleges, I wanted to share some tips to help when receiving admissions decisions from colleges. Ø    If you have been accepted to a school through Early Decision, you should  withdraw  your applications from any other colleges you have applied to or were planning on applying to. Remember, with Early Decision, you, your parent, and school counselor all signed an agreement, that if accepted this would be the school you would attend. Ø    If you have been deferred from Early Decision or Early Action to regular decision, do not get upset, as you still have a chance. For ED, you are no longer committed to attending the school, even if you are accepted through regular decision, so more options have just opened up. To be deferred means the college lik...

Last weekend, I flew to Boston, and took a bus 30 minutes to Easton, Massachusetts to visit Stonehill College . I spent two days there, learning about their community, academics, and meeting students, administration, and faculty. It was a wonderful opportunity to truly engulf myself and get a true understanding of what Stonehill College is all about. While there, there were a few key values about the school that became very clear; the Stonehill community is a family, where students receive an incredible education, are friendly to others, and truly want to help others, while improving themselves along the way. Stonehill has a quintessential New England campus on over 400 acres, where students are genuinely happy to be and receive a top notch education. Here’s everything you need to know about Stonehill College, plus my personal perspective below. Key Stats: Ø   Stonehill is a Catholic, Private, Holy Cross institution (same as Notre Dame) Ø   Stonehill opened in ...

Students rejoice! Nearly 20 college admissions officers told the Washington Post's On Parenting section what they are actually looking for in the candidates they screen. A common theme? Letting your personality shine through in the essay. This should come as no surprise since I work with many of you on this exact idea. For example: "When you write your college essay, use your authentic voice. If you’re a serious person, write your essay with a serious voice. If you’re a funny person, be funny. If you’re not a funny person, your college essay might not be the best place to try on that funny writer voice for the first time". - Ken Anselment, Lawrence University dean of admissions and financial aid "I look for beautiful, clear writing that comes to life on the essay page and offers insight into the character and personality of the student. Beware of being someone you are not in the essay. Beware of outside influence. Editing by adults or professionals often ...

As seniors are waiting for and receiving decisions for their Early Decision and Early Action applications for colleges, I wanted to share some tips to help when receiving admissions decisions from colleges. Ø    If you have been accepted to a school through Early Decision, you should withdraw your applications from any other colleges you have applied to or were planning on applying to. Remember, with Early Decision, you, your parent, and school counselor all signed an agreement, that if accepted this would be the school you would attend. Ø    If you have been deferred from Early Decision or Early Action to regular decision, do not get upset, as you still have a chance. For ED, you are no longer committed to attending the school, even if you are accepted through regular decision, so more options have just opened up. To be deferred means the college liked what they saw in your application, but they need a little more information and time before potentially ac...

Well seniors are all definitely in the thick of things right now, as we blow through October, and head into November. Many Early Action/Decision deadlines are November 1st, and Regular Decision Deadlines are right around the corner. There is no slowing down now, and I wanted to  re-post a blog I wrote a couple of years ago. My hope is this will help students and parents to make sure they have everything covered.  For seniors who have applied to all of their schools, a few of their schools, or none of their schools, take a look at the following list of what you can be doing now for the college admissions process: ·          Revise your college list: Take a look at your college list and make sure you have 2-3 safeties, targets, and reaches in each category. Hopefully you have done your research on these colleges and visited some of them. It is imperative that you are happy with all of the colleges you apply to, not just the rea...

Hey Everyone, I cannot believe it, but we are actually close to the end of July, and it feels like this summer is flying by! I hope everyone has been utilizing their extra free time and traveling to a few colleges. There is still time, as most colleges will have information sessions and tours throughout August. Also, for you Xavier students, classes start late this year because of a late Labor Day, so you have even more time to visit colleges. Be on the lookout for open houses at schools across the country, as many of those occur in September and October, and most of them you will need to sign-up for in advance. Okay, with that announcement out of the way, I want to talk about my trip to Elon University earlier this month. As many of you know, I visited seven schools in Virginia and North Carolina, however, there was one that truly stood out to me, and that was Elon University. I honestly was shocked by their campus and what they have to offer to students. This is a school that is ...

General Information Another stop on my college tour was at Fairfield University , located in Fairfield, Connecticut. Fairfield is a private, liberal arts school with just under 4,000 total undergraduates. It is located on an absolutely pristine campus with views of the Long Island Sound. The 200-acre campus is in the suburbs, but students are only minutes from city life and the beach, and only about 90 minutes from New York City.   The campus has green rolling hills throughout, which creates a perfect place for students to study, throw the frisbee, or just take a nap. When I was there, I even saw the archery club setting up for a practice. Also, it is hard to miss the turkeys that call Fairfield home throughout the year, so watch out for them when walking the campus! To me, it is a perfect mix of nature, wide open spaces, but the campus is in close proximity to downtown and beaches, for students to have fun during their time at school. Fairfield University is one of the 28 Jesuit...