Mr. K's College Knowledge

Hey Everyone! With Thanksgiving only two days away, the Christmas music will be starting in just three days. It is hard to believe, but we can now see the end of the college application season, with January 1st being one of the biggest college deadlines. January through the end of April will be filled with a lot of joy as acceptance letters roll in, and seniors begin making their plans for collegiate life in the fall of 2018. January, into the early months of spring also mean another thing in the world of college admissions: the cycle begins again for current juniors, as this will be the time the majority of juniors begin taking the standardized college entrance exams: ACT and SAT. Although a growing number of colleges are going test-optional , which means they do not require (really!) SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admissions or scholarship money, the vast majority of colleges still use scores as a major part of the admissions process. Below, I will first give you a f...

For the first time in recent memory, College Board is changing the months that they offer the SATs. Through this year, they have always held the SAT during the months of October, November, December, January, March, May, and June. However, starting this summer, there will be an August 26th SAT for students to take. They will continue offering 7 SAT dates, and will be discontinuing the January SAT . I think this is a great decision by College Board for a couple of reasons. For one, it gives seniors another opportunity at the beginning of the school year to take the SAT before college applications. Also, more importantly, the August date will give seniors more time , and will eliminate the rushed feeling and the anxiety that comes with the fall test dates. Many early application deadlines for colleges are November 1st. For many students, this only leaves them with the early October SAT. While this test date is usually fine for early application deadlines, there is always the worry that...

Hey Everyone, As November 1st nears, seniors (and counselors) are officially in the thick of it all...sending out applications, getting back the latest SAT and ACT scores, and finalizing the college lists. It is a very exciting time, but a little scary as well...take a breath though, we will all get through it! For juniors, you are just beginning to think about potential colleges, and starting to line up your own SAT and ACT schedule...the possibilities are endless right now, so enjoy this time! I think at times we imagine admissions counselors to be these mythological people that live in a far away play, deciding the fate of our youth. In reality, admissions counselors are real people, with similar lives to all of us...some even have their own children going through the college application process! The New York Times recently interviewed a few admissions counselors from colleges across the country to ask them the type of advice they are giving their own teenagers who are applying ...

Most people associate USC with the University of Southern California, but people in the south will tell you the real USC is the University of South Carolina . I mean it was founded 79 years before Southern California, so I could see why some people get fired up about who gets to call themselves USC. Regardless, the University of South Carolina is one of the finest and oldest public institutions in the nation, founded way back in 1801. U of South Carolina is located in the Capitol City of Columbia, South Carolina and educates just under 25,000 students. When I toured the school a few weeks ago, I was extremely impressed with the layout of the campus, and the very strong academic profile of the school. This is a place we are seeing more and more students go to and I can definitely understand why it is so appealing to our students. Academics and Cost The University of South Carolina is growing at a rapid pace, with new buildings popping up all over campus, such as their brand new, sta...

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to visit 5 colleges and universities in South Carolina. I saw Furman University, Clemson University, University of South Carolina, College of Charleston, and Wofford College. Each one of these schools were different, but they all had amazing qualities, and I would be happy to send any students to these 5 schools. I want to first talk about Furman University , which is located in Greenville, South Carolina. Greenville is located in the Northwest region on South Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and is one of the most charming small cities I have seen. There is a beautiful small river that runs through the town, it has one of the most admired Main Streets in the country, and is consistently ranked as one of the top places to live. Furman is about a 5 minute ride to downtown Greenville, and is also right next to another smaller downtown area, giving students a ton of off campus options. A Few Quick Stats Furman itself is locat...

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....

Just a quick post here in alerting everyone of the new policy at the highly selective Wesleyan University. As we are seeing with many colleges each year, Wesleyan has decided to go test-optional in their admissions. This can be very helpful for the students who have performed well in the classroom, but just can't seem to showcase their best during standardized testing. Students no longer have to send in their test scores for the admissions process. For more specific information on Wesleyan's new policy, please click on their website link here . Enjoy, and as always, happy searching! -Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

So you are officially a senior...this is exciting right? Only one more year of high school and then you are off to pursue the major of your choice at hopefully the college of your choosing! Although many students would like the college application process to be over already, you still have many months left. Some of the more important months throughout this process are June, July and August. The summer is a crucial time to prepare, search, and begin to formalize your college application plans. It is definitely not a time to sit around and do nothing. So look at these following tips on ways you can best utilize your summer days to best prepare yourself for the fall when you finally apply to college! Get Involved: Depending on the selectiveness of the colleges you are applying to, admissions counselors are looking for applicants who have done something positive during their time off. Whether it is traveling, taking a pre-college summer class, volunteering, or working, make sure you ...

The Common Application is new and there have been problems. This is no surprise. Hopefully, these following trips can help over the course of the next few weeks when many students are submitting their applications.  Early Decision agreements and outside recommenders: If you are applying to a school via early decision, you, a parent, and your counselor must approve this through signing an electronic document. This is done through the ‘assign recommenders’ section of the member school part of the CA. You will indicate that you are applying ED to one school, and then you will invite a parent. Make sure you accurately input their name and their email address. Then when you are done, you must assign the parent. Both of these steps must be done in order for the ED agreement to be sent. As long as you do your part on the CA and indicate on Naviance that you applying ED, your counselor will be able to submit his portion of the agreement. For additional outside recommenders, the s...

Testing season is back…for seniors you are taking final shots at the SAT or ACT in hopes to raise your scores, and juniors you most likely are just beginning to plan your attack on which tests to take and when. Although there are many schools that are   test-optional   (meaning they   do not   require SAT or ACT scores for students to apply), the majority of colleges do need to see a score report from one of these tests. I think it is helpful to give a few more helpful tips about each test, so you can decide which will be the best representation of you when it is time to apply to college! For seniors, you have a few more opportunities to improve your scores. Test dates still available are: SAT October 5th (Late registration-9/20) November 2nd (Register by 10/3) December 7th (Register by 11/8) ACT October 26th ( Register by 9/27) December 14th (Register by 11/8) If any of your colleges require subject tests, please make sure you register for them and ...

Because Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia is a popular school around here, I thought it would be helpful to alert everyone that they are now a test-optional school, starting for students applying for fall 2014 admission. This means you are not required to send in SAT/ACT scores as part of the admissions process. This is helpful for students who do well in the classroom, but struggle on standardized testing. If you go this route, college admissions counselors will only consider your GPA, strength of schedule, extracurriculars, and the rest of your general application and essay. However, if you have solid scores, then you should go ahead and submit the scores. It is a great idea to consult with your high school counselor before deciding on going test-optional or not. Also, please visit The Test-OptionalWebsite , for all of the current colleges and universities that do not require testing scores for admissions. Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

As mentioned in a much earlier post, there are many schools that are test-optional. What does this mean, you may be asking? The answer is certain colleges do not require that a student submits their testing scores (either SAT or SAT). If the student chooses not to send in their scores, then admissions will review the applicant and make a decision based on their transcript, extra-curriculars, essay, and support files (recommendations). Test-optional schools is a hot topic these days with discussions on the validity of testing in general in predicting college success, and the chances of students being accepted who do not submit scores. The first issue will takes years and years to truly understand, however, admissions consistently say that students will be reviewed equally who do or do not submit scores. So who is the test-optional route really for? Unfortunately, if you are a student with low testing scores and a low GPA, this may not be the best way to apply. Admission counselors ...

Whether you are a potential DI/D2 student-athlete, a parent of one, or you know someone who might participate in college sports, this information will be important for you. In order to play a sport in college (D1/D2 only), the student must be eligible. Eligibility is measured by a sliding scale, with the lowest possible GPA being a 2.0. With a 2.0, the student must achieve a 1010 (Math and CR only) on the SAT's to be eligible. From there, the higher a student's GPA, the lower their SAT needs to be in order to be eligible.  However, starting with high school class of 2015 (current sophomores), it will get just a little harder to become eligible to participate in Division 1 sports right out of high school. The NCAA eligibility center has decided to increase their eligibility standards for Division 1 athletes. These new rules will go into effect starting August 1, 2015. Whereas students prior to 2015 needed a minimum core GPA of 2.0 and 1010 SAT (Math and Critical Reading) or ...

People often say that death and taxes are the only two things we can be sure of in our lives. Well for high school students, you can add one more to that list, and that is ‘standardized testing’. For some this is no big deal, and for others, this can be a very scary thought. There are tests to get you into high school, college, graduate school, professional schools, and tests to keep you enrolled in these schools. After that, there are tests to gain professional certificates and then to keep those certificates. As someone who was never a good test-taker, I wish tests  didn't  exist, but they do and we all better get used to that fact. For high school juniors and seniors, the SATs and ACTs are a very important part of the college application process. Although some schools have started going test-optional, which means they do not consider a student’s standardized test scores for admission, there are still many questions about the effectiveness of this option. This is a ver...