Mr. K's College Knowledge

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...

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 a college counselor, I have the privilege of hearing about the goals and aspirations of young men and women, and trying my best to launch them to the next level of their educational journey. I often hear my students say that they must major in engineering, accounting, or business to land a “good” job after college. While these majors may be the right choice for some, I want to make the case for a liberal arts education, and the importance it holds in the job marketplace today and will continue to for years to come. As a graduate of a liberal arts college, Saint Joseph’s University , I would not change anything about the courses I was able to take or the overall education I received. I have always loved learning about societies, groups of people, and how everyone interacts with each other, so I decided to major in Sociology, and it was an incredible experience. I am a strong believer in taking advantage of our fantastic American collegiate education, and that all students should...

Hey Everyone,  I honestly cannot believe it, but Thanksgiving is next week, which means two things: we will all soon begin to loosen our belt buckles, and many those Regular Decision deadlines are only a month away! As many students have applied Early Action, decisions will be coming soon, and there is always an opportunity to add a school or two through regular decision. One school students may want to look into adding for regular decision, is Franklin & Marshall, which I was lucky enough to visit earlier this week. I wanted to give everyone a brief look into F & M and what they are all about! Academics and General Information Let's get down to the basics. Franklin & Marshall is a residential, four-year liberal arts college located in Lancaster, PA. The school has about 2,300 undergraduates and the campus screams "classic college" with vast green space and beautiful buildings and facilities spread throughout. I haven't spent much time at all in Lan...

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting with two admissions representatives from Saint Anselm College for a presentation about their school. Saint Anselm College is located Manchester, New Hampshire, only about 4 hours from Manhattan. Saint Anselm, also referred to as Saint A's is a Catholic Benedictine Liberal Arts College with about 1,900 underclassmen. I will admit that I did not know as much about St. A's as I do with other schools, but after learning more today, this is a school I am eager to visit, and will recommend to many students in the future. Saint Anselm is situated in the beautiful city of Manchester , on a picturesque campus in New Hampshire. The school is only 1 hour from Boston and the ocean, and only 10 minutes from the airport. This is a place that embodies what a true college community is all about. It attracts students who are eager to participate in a liberal arts education where they will be challenged, but supported by peers, professors, and administrato...

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...

The next school I would like to highlight is the University of Portland . UP is in beautiful Portland, Oregon, surrounded by a picturesque river and mountain range. It is a Roman Catholic school, and is part of the Holy Cross congregation. The two other colleges that are Holy Cross schools are Stonehill and Notre Dame. Although UP is far from the east coast, this is definitely a school worth checking out. The campus was stunning, the academics are diverse and strong, and you get a real sense of a strong and vibrant community. This is a school I would feel very comfortable recommending to my students. Below are some “quick hitter” stats about the school, and I will have my final thoughts at the bottom. Enjoy! University of Portland Stats Undergraduate enrollment: 3,320 Middle 50% for  admissions : SAT: 1610-1940, GPA: 3.64, Percent Accepted: 66% Average Amount of Merit Scholarships Awarded per year, per student: $13, 420 Average Amount of Need Based Financial Aid ...

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 current juniors, the next year will be a whirlwind of activity during the college application process. There are numerous elements of a student’s application profile that will be scrutinized by admissions counselors across the country. The transcript, testing scores, résumé, and many others will all be submitted and reviewed. While the transcript and testing scores are important quantitative measures for students, the college essay is often the most important qualitative measure that colleges will look at while reviewing a student. Admissions counselors put a ton of emphasis on this part of the application because it gives them an inside look into who the student really is as an individual. Of course, it will help them see how the applicant is as a writer, but more importantly it hopefully will allow them to connect to the student on many levels. If the admissions counselors are impressed with the essay, it can often be the turning point for students being accepted i...

Football season is well on its way, the weather is getting cooler, and the leaves are beginning to change. This means two things…the November 1 st early action deadline is right around the corner, and there is still tons of time to visit college campuses! Unless you are accepted into an early decision plan for your college, you most likely will have 7 months to decide where you want to go to school. You should be visiting colleges now and once you receive your acceptance letters, if you still haven’t decided, make sure you get back to the campuses and do your due diligence in deciding which environment is the best for you. Remember you will be living at your college for at least 4 years, so you want to make sure it is the best all-around fit for you! Visiting colleges and universities is one of the most important parts of the college search process. Obviously academics, majors selection, internship opportunities, and reputation are important factors to selecting the right school...

‘The importance of fit’, when it comes to choosing a college to attend, is an expression that students and parents will be accustom to hearing during the college search process. But what does ‘fit’ really mean and why is it so important when choosing a college? As students in the college search process, you all want to find the   right college, but this is often harder than it sounds. There are a multitude of elements and factors that should go into choosing a college, but often students and parents will look over some or all of the factors that need to be addressed. Instead, students may choose a college purely based on ranking, how good their sport teams are, if there significant other attends the school, and many other reasons that should not be a part of a very important decision. 1 in 3   students who enroll into college will transfer at some point during their time at college. This is an alarming statistic and although in some cases this cannot be avoided, many tim...