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COLLEGE ADMISSION GUIDE
College Admission : A Simple, No-Nonsense Guide by Dr. Droge
College Admission - click
College Admission
College Admission - click
BEST FINANCIAL AID - IVY LEAGUE
It used to be that a leading reason for not applying to Ivy League colleges was the cost. But many savvy applicants and their parents these days know that cost is no longer an obstacle, due to the generous financial aid philosophy that most Ivies have.
Granted, Ivy League institutions do carry big sticker prices. In fact, if students were to pay the full cost for a four-year degree - tuition, board, fees, etc., - the bill could total a quarter million dollars - or more.
But a fair number of students do not pay the full sticker price. Not even close. And many, indeed, pay zero tuition - repeat, zero.
Several years ago, with Yale and Harvard leading the way, Ivies began to offer free tuition to students whose family income did not exceed certain thresholds. In other words, simply put, if your family did not have more than, let's say, $100,000 in income, you received a free ride.
Thresholds vary from school to school, and the policy is not limited to just the eight Ivies in the East. Stanford, for example, has quite a generous package to offer. (IMPORTANT - Interested applicants and their parents should be sure to check with the individual colleges for the specifics of their financial aid policies - details may vary from institution to institution.)
Getting admitted to these very selective colleges, of course, remains a challenge. But these days cost should not deter qualified candidates from applying.
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For a more complete view of the college admission process, and strategies to use when applying to the Ivies and other institutions, see Dr. Droge's book: College Admission - click here
Granted, Ivy League institutions do carry big sticker prices. In fact, if students were to pay the full cost for a four-year degree - tuition, board, fees, etc., - the bill could total a quarter million dollars - or more.
But a fair number of students do not pay the full sticker price. Not even close. And many, indeed, pay zero tuition - repeat, zero.
Several years ago, with Yale and Harvard leading the way, Ivies began to offer free tuition to students whose family income did not exceed certain thresholds. In other words, simply put, if your family did not have more than, let's say, $100,000 in income, you received a free ride.
Thresholds vary from school to school, and the policy is not limited to just the eight Ivies in the East. Stanford, for example, has quite a generous package to offer. (IMPORTANT - Interested applicants and their parents should be sure to check with the individual colleges for the specifics of their financial aid policies - details may vary from institution to institution.)
Getting admitted to these very selective colleges, of course, remains a challenge. But these days cost should not deter qualified candidates from applying.
xxxxxxxxx
For a more complete view of the college admission process, and strategies to use when applying to the Ivies and other institutions, see Dr. Droge's book: College Admission - click here
WHAT TO DO IF DEFERRED
First, if you have been deferred from a college, here is
what not to do: nothing.
The advice is essentially the same for deferrals from "early" applications or wait-listed from regular applications.
This is no time to be sitting around merely worrying and
hoping. This is a time for action. It is not too late. The goal of every
college application should be to stand out in a positive way. That goal does
not change after a deferral. If your application is just sitting in a pile
somewhere, chances are that it is not going to stand out. You can do something
about that. Try one or more of the following:
-- It has been several months since you sent in your
application. Have you had any positive news since then? Have you won any
awards, or had a poem published, or become captain or editor? Let the
admissions office know.
-- If you have no news to share, make some. Sign up for an
elective term course. Submit poems to newspapers, magazines, and contests. Try
to get elected or appointed to a leadership position in an extra-curricular
activity. Volunteer for a charitable activity outside of school – at a hospital
or nursing home or Habitat for Humanity or the like. In some way, add another
activity or appointment to your schedule. When you do, let the admissions
office know.
-- Call the admissions office and let them know that you
care enough about your candidacy to get in touch and to update your
application. Tell them about what you have been doing and what good things have
happened since your application was submitted. Let them know what you have to
offer them and why they will be glad that they accepted you. Let them know that
they are number one, that if you are accepted, you will attend. Give them a
voice to attach to the name on your application, a personality, a life full of
good cheer, a basketful of reasons to put you in the “admit” pile. If possible,
speak with the representative who covers your area. In whatever way possible,
make that rep your advocate.
Again, the goal is to stand out. The overwhelming majority
of deferred candidates will do nothing. They will not call. They will not
update their application. They will not show in any conspicuous manner – other
than what they said in their initial application – that they care about getting
admitted. You can be different…you can stand out…you can show that you really
care. Start by sharing your good-news update.
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For more information about the college admission process,
see Dr. Droge's book, COLLEGE ADMISSION click here
USING TAX-EXEMPT 529 PLANS TO HELP PAY FOR COLLEGE
A “529 Plan” is a tax-exempt way to save for college. The
name “529” comes from the section in the IRS tax code that covers the details
of the plan.
Here are the basics:
Colleges, state offices, banks, and other financial
institutions can help to open a 529 account for you. Simply put, you make
contributions to the account, which you use for eligible college expenses, and
you need not pay federal taxes on the money earned in that account.
There are two variations of plans, but not all states carry
them both.
One type, available in most states, is more or less a
straight savings plan, with tax benefits.
The other plan locks in the current tuition at a selected
college, and prepays that tuition as the account builds with deposits. Any rise
in tuition over the years will not affect such a plan. A family may open a plan
well before the student is in college or even high school, which will insure
that they avoid tuition increases and that they know just how much the college
tuition for that student will cost them.
Please note - not all states have this type of plan available. Check with your state to determine.
The specific details of 529 Plans may vary from state to
state – for example, which colleges are eligible, and exactly which tax
benefits are connected, and which particular college expenses may be involved,
such as tuition, books, computers, and room and board.
SAMPLE TOPICS FOR THE COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY
In addition to the essays from the Common Application, individual college applications usually call for several essays of
different lengths. Here are a few
typical topics to consider for your practice writing, as well as the link for the essay prompts for the Common App.
“If you could go to dinner with
anyone, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be, why, and what would
you talk about?”
“If you knew that everything you owned was going to vanish tomorrow, but you
could save only one item, what would it be and why?”
“It is 25 years into the
future: how does your specific life fit into
the contemporary world?”
“Ask and answer the one important
question which you wish we had asked.”
“If you were to describe yourself
with a quotation, what would that quotation be and why?”
“Identify a person who has had a
significant influence on you, and describe that influence.”
Common App essay prompts: Click here
Common App essay prompts: Click here
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Read more about writing a great college essay in College
Admission – CLICK HERE.
THE COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY
THE COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY
When the moment arrives to actually write the college
application essay, successful candidates will have given it much thought and
preparation. Here is some information to
help kick-start the process.
Though each college may present its own, individual essay prompt,
applicants should know that one of the primary purposes of the essay for all
colleges is universal – to add to or to embellish upon a side of the applicant
that is somehow special or unique, a side that, if possible, separates him or
her from the pack.
A “good” essay need not be one that explains something
extraordinary – such as how the applicant has started a business by selling
heavy-duty excavation equipment to developing nations, and how he or she, at
the tender age of 17, has become a multi-millionaire. Rather, it need only present a special side
of the applicant that the rest of the application does not adequately
examine. And, indeed, every applicant
has a special side. The object of the
writing exercise is to discover and explore that side, and then to write about
it as effectively and as eloquently as possible.
Let’s take an example.
As you may expect, many applicants travel frequently. While the college would like to know where on
this earth the applicant has visited, the essay is not the place to list the
itinerary. On the other hand, the essay
could be the place to reflect about the travel experience or the places
visited, and it could be the place to talk about how the applicant views the
world – personally or globally – as a result of the travel. The question to be answered is not what travelling have you done, but how has your travel affected you? What, if anything, was unique about the
experience? How did the travel change
you? What separates your travel
experience from the hundreds of other travel experiences that the admission
officer will read about in his or her share of application essays?
It might be healthy to put yourself for a moment in the
place of a college admissions officer in the height of the season. Imagine, for example, it is winter; you are
somewhere in the northeast, nestled into your room on a cold and snowy
afternoon, with an enormous pile of essays on the desk before you. Understandably, after reading for a while,
the essays may begin to blend – different applicants but the same story, over
and over again. You can see how an essay that presents a different story – a
unique story – would be refreshing and well-received, and how it might put that
particular applicant into a select group.
Though travel experiences might be the foundation of great
essays, please know that many applicants choose that topic. If you have a unique travel story to tell
that describes a special side of you, by all means write about it. But before committing to a topic, travel or
otherwise, explore your likes and dislikes, your interests, your history, your
passions, and explore the possibility of writing about a topic that is at once
special to you and appealing to the admissions officer who will read it.
Most college admissions officers would agree that, while the
essay by itself will not be enough information to accept or reject a candidate,
a particularly good or bad essay certainly will be noticed, and could very well
become a “tip factor” in a case where the decision for admission could go
either way.
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Read more about writing a great college essay in College
Admission – CLICK HERE.
BEST COLLEGES - RANKINGS - STANFORD BEST VALUE
Every year there are several rankings of "best" colleges, each list using its own distinct set of variables to evaluate, analyze, measure, and rank. US News and World Report seems usually to get the most press when its list is released, though it also gets consistently criticized by scholars and journalists alike for its "flawed" criteria.
Many in the college admissions world choose to focus on rankings generated by other sources, like Forbes or Money Magazine. The theme for Money Magazine's rankings, for example, is, simply speaking, "best value".
Money Magazine has just released its rankings for 2015-16. They use a variety of measures - such as educational quality, affordability, alumni earnings, tuition increases, and length of time to graduation - to rank colleges for "best value for your tuition dollar". Here are the top five:
1. Stanford
2. Babson
3. MIT
4. Princeton
5. Cal Tech
For a look at the full list of rankings, click here
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