What are you looking for in a college?

There are all kinds of questions you should be asking yourself about what you are looking for in a college or university. Do you want to be in a city, do you want to study abroad, do you like small seminar style classes? Do you want to be among the top of your class in college, or does that not matter to you? Then there's Greek life, the weather, and athletics to consider. The questions are seemingly endless.  If you need some help however, here's a good list to get you started.  And, these are questions you need to keep asking yourself over and over again. What are the absolute criteria? What are you willing to negotiate? You'll find that sometimes what you're looking for in the beginnning is not necessarily what you want in the end.  Happy hunting!

Reporting Violence Against Women on College Campuses

Colleges are already required to report instances of sexual assault on their campuses, but they are not reuqired to report stalking and other broad instances of dating and domestic violence.  A new bill that has been introduced in the US Senate would require colleges to report that information as well.  As always, there are pros and cons, but we'll let you judge for yourself.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/03/30/senate-bill-would-expand-clery-act-include-dating-violence-stalking

The College Adventures of Mrs. Goldbach and Ms. McCarter, Part I

While many juniors were visiting colleges over spring break, so were we! I started my journey at a large state university, the University of Georgia.  Most of you are familiar with UGA, but I have to admit that I have always thought of it as just “too big.”  But in reality, it’s not, and I understand why so many students are attracted to it.  Things I would recommend: the Honors program, the Terry School of Business, the freshman odyssey program (actually required for all freshmen), and the food, at least in the dining hall I visited. They’re also adding civil engineering this fall and mechanical/electrical engineering in the fall of 2012.  Slowly but surely the student body is becoming more diverse, but it’s also becoming more competitive, regardless of whether you’re in-state or out.

I moved on to Miami University of Ohio, a public university with around 14,000 undergraduate students. Miami’s focus is still on the liberal arts and undergraduate teaching, and their top five majors are psychology, zoology (for pre-med), political science, English (writing), and communications, which includes journalism.  However, I got a chance to spend some time in the Farmer School of Business, a beautiful, state-of-the-art building.  It’s a very hands on program and expect to spend part of your time with group projects. They have a ‘China Business Program’ and students are encouraged to study abroad while at Miami. The School of Engineering is also outstanding, with lots of opportunities for undergraduate research, internships, co-op opportunities, and service learning. Computer science/software engineering is a fast growing major within the school, and I like the fact that like the entire university, the School of Engineering is a combination of technical and liberal arts education. Not to be missed is the School of Education and the School of Fine Arts. If you want to know more about those programs, feel free to come see me. I left able to picture a lot of GPS girls being very happy on this campus, and if you like UVA, SMU, Vandy, or even UGA, you should check out Miami University as well.

Finally, I visited the University of Dayton.  As I expected, this Catholic school of around 7,000 students is extraordinarily friendly and community and service minded. Students at Dayton want to be part of a larger world and want to be involved in that world, and the school focuses on making connections between the curricular and co-curricular and on building community among diverse peoples.  International Studies includes a human rights major; students in the School of Engineering, an excellent  program, have the opportunity to work on projects for real clients; the School of Education includes the applied health sciences for students interested in becoming things like physical therapists or physician’s assistants. The sciences are also very strong at Dayton, and students will have lots of opportunities for research.  The campus is beautiful, so it’s no wonder that 95% of students live on campus all four years.  Juniors and seniors and the opportunity to live in the ‘student neighborhood,” a group of houses owned by the university.  You don’t have to be Catholic to attend, and at least to me, the school seemed more open or progressive than some other Catholic schools I have visited.  I highly recommend you consider UD!

The Agony and Ecstacy of College Admissions

I had thought about writing something about this time of year in the college world - the thrill of an acceptance letter and the disappointment and sometimes heartbreak over a denial - but I think this blog post from another counselor says everything better than anything I could say. And, I think it adds some perspective to the entire process. 

New Security Measures for the SAT

In an effort to prevent cheating, beginning next year, students will be required to upload a photo when they register for the SAT. That picture will then be compared to the studen'ts ID when they show up for the test.  This also means that stand-by testing will no longer be allowed.  For more information, you can read the College Board's press release.  The ACT is installing similar security measures.

Rejection is a part of life

Rejection is never easy, but we've all been there. And as hard as it is to believe, it can be good for you. Here's one perspective that makes sense.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-joseph/college-rejections_b_1371480.html

Why should you go to college?

"The Choice," the education blog on the New York Times website, has had some interesting posts from high school students recently, but one in particular caught our eye.  "Why should you go to college?" they asked, and that reminded us of a question we have asked you, our juniors, this year. "Why are you going to college?" Do you know?

On another note, we hope you're having a good time on your college visits over the break.  I just recently returned from the University of Georgia (more on that visit next week), and both Mrs. Goldbach and I are headed to more schools this weekend (Hendrix, U. of Dayton, and Miami of Ohio).  We'll let you know what we discover.  Safe travels to all!

So you want to be a lawyer?

Is it worth it to go to law school?  Are graduates able to find jobs? Are law schools accurately representing their job placement percentages?  All very good questions, so here's a brief look at the state of law school admissions today.

Your Digital Footprint

For years we've been telling students that they need to be careful about what they tweet or post on facebook,   We just didn't know it might come to this!

http://www.fluency21.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=2538&utm_source=Committed+Sardine+Blog+Update&utm_campaign=88a3bd2517-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

Greek Life

Fraternaties have (almost) always had a reputation for drinking, but some colleges are encouraging (or perhaps strong-arming) them into cleaning up their acts!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/fraternity-rush-sobers-up-at-university-of-maryland-and-elsewhere/2012/03/01/gIQAQf6z5R_story.html

New AP Courses on the Horizon

Have you ever wondered which AP courses were the most popular and which ones are seeing the most growth?  Here are two great articles that will answer those questions and provide some information about new courses (designed to foster independent research skills) that are in development.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/02/22/21ap-popularity.h31.html

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2012/03/the_college_board_has_just.html

Quinnipiac University

Most of you may have never heard of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, but after my recent visit to the campus, I strongly encourage you to get to know this school.  Located only ten minues or so from New Haven (home of Yale University), this school of around 5,800 undergraduates is an outstanding place to go, especially if you are interested in health sciences (nursing, physical or occupational therapy,physician's assistant, sports medicine), business, or communications.  A medical school is set to open in the fall of 2013, and an engineering school is expected to open in the fall of 2014.  All in all, it's quite an impressive place!

Although the majority of their student body is from the northeast and mid-atlantic states, this is one campus where I think a GPS girl would be quite comfortable. In fact, I don't think it would be difficult to find your niche at Quinnipiac, whether you were interested in sports, religious organizations, Greek life, or anything else.

Quinnipiac is actually divided up into three campuses, but don't worry, it's not as bad as it might


Clark's Pond

The York Hill Student Center

sound.  The Mount Carmel campus houses all the academic buildings, a student center, and freshmen and sophomore dorms. There is quite an active social life on this campus, but remember, you're a short distance from New Haven as well, and there is a regular shuttle that will take you there. 

Juniors and seniors live on the York Hill campus, only a mile away.  In an effort to make it as convenient as possible, there is also a student center on this campus (it looks like a gorgeous ski lodge!), a cafeteria, and two gyms - one for basketball and one for ice hockey, a very popular sport on campus. Then there is the North Haven campus where all the medical facilities are located.  So, a senior might live on York Hill but will go to North Haven for her nursing clinicals, etc.  It is also where the new med school will be located.  I think it's time Quinnipiac University got some students from the southeast!!

Wesleyan University

If you're looking for a college that will challenge you academically and socially, you should consider Wesleyan University.  Located in Middletown, Connecticut, this college of around 2,800 students, is a strong liberal arts school and also has an excellent fine arts program (especially film studies). You might like that there is no core curriculum nor are there any distribution requirements, and it is possible to create your own major.  And as you can see from the pictures below, the architecture is as diverse as the student body!

   

The students at Wesleyan appreciate and embrace their diverse student body, tend to be social and political activitists, and tend to be on the liberal side.  All students live on campus, including seniors who lives in campus owned houses (so you'll have take your own trash out), and the food I tasted was really good! They also play Division III sports.

 

I think a good description of the typical Wesleyan student is that she (or he) is an individual, is curious and demonstrates a real love for learning, and wants to be part of a diverse student body.  Admission, however, is very competitive, so keep that in mind.