Mr. K's College Knowledge

Hey y'all, I recently took a trip to Texas to visit 8 colleges and universities. I have never been to Texas, and was very excited to see what the environment was like there, and to learn more about some of their excellent landing spots for higher education. I honestly loved each school I saw, but today I want to briefly talk about my visit to TCU in Fort Worth. On Monday, I will write about my visit to St. Edward's University in Austin. These are two very different schools, but both are places I would feel more than comfortable sending future students. So I don't like playing favorites, but if I had to do it all over again (sorry Saint Joe's), I think I would enroll at Texas Christian University , most commonly known as TCU. It's important to know, that even though the 'C' in TCU stands for Christian, TCU is an independent school and is no longer governed by a Christian denomination. However, TCU does still maintain a strong relationship with the church ...

Last week, I visited 10 colleges and universities in Connecticut and New York. Over the next two weeks, I will discuss my thoughts on these schools, share valuable information, and post a few pictures from each school. The first school I want to share with you is Marist College, located in Poughkeepsie, New York. Located only 2 hours north of New York City, it is situated on a beautiful 200 acre campus on the banks of the Hudson River. As soon as you pull off the main road onto their campus, you are struck by the beauty of their surroundings. Lately, Marist has put a lot of time and money into their campus and buildings, and it shows. Most of the buildings are a similar color of gray stone, all of the Division 1 sports fields are located throughout the campus, and their center of school is a gorgeous lawn on a small hill facing the Hudson River. General Information Marist College has just under 4,800 students, which is a really nice size, and boasts a 16:1 student to faculty rati...

I wanted to share with you this very powerful and well written New York Times article on college admissions at the most selective colleges and how this can be a damaging process to students across the world, but it doesn't need to be. It explains how ridiculously competitive it is to gain admission to the top colleges in the country, but how students should not feel as if they have to attend the top 25 colleges in order to be successful. It shares personal stories about young men and women who were denied admission to the most selective colleges, went on to "second tier" schools, and were extremely successful at school and in their careers. These students turned the rejections into a learning experience and propelled them into taking full advantage of all of the opportunities that the school that did accept them offered. I personally am a strong believer in finding the right fit of a college for each student, and the name of a college really does not mean much to me. S...

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...

As all of the seniors are in the busiest part of the college admissions process, I’m sure most people are counting down the days until they are finished with completing applications, writing essays, finalizing the college list, and paying for those application fees! Juniors most likely are just beginning to explore what colleges are out there and are beginning to think about what and where they want to study during their four years of higher education. Wherever you are in the college search and application process, I think it is always good to hear about more schools you may not have thought about. I recently was able to be part of a 2-day, 3-college tour with counselors from across the country. During the trip, we visited Wheaton College, Emerson College, and Providence College. These three very different colleges were an absolute joy to visit, and I want to share some information with you on all three of these schools. Trust me, there are some schools I would not recommend to my stu...

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...

     Welcome everyone to the recently established Mr. K’s College Knowledge Blog! I hope to provide you with knowledge on everything to do with college admissions. The target audience for this blog is anyone going through the college search and application process. The blog is here to assist students and parents during the process with college admissions trends and updates, reminders, leading research on college admissions and just overall helpful information. I also would like to use this blog as a place to assist students and their families on the emotional and psychological transition into college. Leaving home for the first time and being away from family can often be a stressful time for everyone involved, and I hope to provide helpful tips and strategies to aid the entire family in dealing with this change. The goal of this blog is to simply get as much information out to you as possible on a weekly basis.      Before you start reading ...