Virtual College Fair - Sept 17 and Nov 4-7

Don't have time or the resources to attend a college fair? Check out College Week Live September 17, 2009 and November 4-7, 2009.

With hundreds of colleges and universities participating you can watch presentations from college representatives on college admissions and financial aid information. Don't forget to register! Best of all, it's FREE!

Here's what College Week Live is saying about this event:

CollegeWeekLive is the world’s biggest virtual college fair, with hundreds of colleges and universities from around the world exhibiting and tens of thousands of attendees. CollegeWeekLive events revolutionize college admissions, making the process easier and more cost-effective by bringing together students, parents, counselors and colleges online to interact, transcending time and distance. CollegeWeekLive is completely free to attendees.

CollegeWeekLive attendees can watch admissions experts speak on topics such as how to prepare for the SAT, how to write a winning application essay or how to pay for college and have questions answered via live chat. Attendees can also video chat with college students and learn what campus life is really like.

The event features scholarships and special promotions available only to those who attend.

Building a College List

One of the first critical steps in the college application is deciding where to apply. What are you looking for in your colleges? This is a very personalized process. Below are some examples of criteria that may help you decide what types of college area good fit for you:

- Public or Private
- Tuition
- Majors offered on campus
- Location of campus (rural, urban, suburban)
- Size of campus (large = 10k or more, medium = between 5k and 10k, small = 5k or less)
- Size of classrooms
- Student to Teacher ratio
- Demographic of campus
- Housing
- Clubs/Extracurricular Activities
- Collegiate sports or Intramural sports
- Academic Resources
- Research/Internship opportunities
- Financial Aid/Scholarship opportunities
- Religion
- Accessible transportation on/around campus
- Safety
- Liberal Arts or a specific type of training (such as Art school)
- Campus culture (liberal, conservative, traditional, non-conforming, etc)
- Single Sex campuses
- Distance from home (most of you are thinking as far away as possible but what if you want to come home for a weekend? Think about the logistics about getting to/from your respective college - especially if you're in a rural campus on the east coast in the dead of winter...)
- What are my chances of getting in? Be sure to have a balanced list of colleges, meaning some will be a reach, some will be right on target, and some you're confident you'll get an acceptance letter.

Obama's American Graduation Initiative

At Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, President Obama unveiled the American Graduation Initiative, a 10-year, $12 billion plan to invest in community colleges.

The President stated, "By 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. We used to have that. We're going to have it again. And we've begun to take historic steps to achieve this goal. Already we've increased Pell grants by $500. We've created a $2,500 tax credit for four years of college tuition. We've simplified student aid applications and ensured that aid is not based on the income of a job that you just lost. A new GI Bill of Rights for the 21st century is beginning to help soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan to begin a new life -- in a new economy. And the recovery plan has helped close state budget shortfalls -- which put enormous pressure on public universities and community colleges -- at the same time making historic investments in school libraries and classrooms and facilities all across America. So we've already taken some steps that are building the foundation for a 21st century education system here in America, one that will allow us to compete with China and India and everybody else all around the world."

To read his entire speech, click here.

Planning for Senior year

Senior year is difficult to manage with rigorous classes, AP exams, extra curricular activities, and college planning and applications. Here are four things you can do now to make your senior year less overwhelming:

1. Research colleges of interest and begin building a list. Not sure where to start? Check out this resource page for recommended books and websites.


2. If you have not taken your standardized tests, determine when you will take them in the fall. Click on these links for the 2009/2010 test dates SAT or ACT (be sure to tab over to the 2009-2010 dates).


3. Visit colleges. Even if your not sure where you want to apply, by seeing colleges, it will help you determine what type of campus fits with your personal and academic needs. Refer back to this previous blog posting and scroll down to "Visiting Colleges".
   
4. Begin developing essays. The Common Application, used by over 300 colleges and universities provides the following six prompts:

• Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.


• Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.


• Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.


• Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.


• A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an
  experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.


• Topic of your choice.
  

Changes to the Common Application

The Common Application, a universal college application used by over 300 colleges and universities is scheduled to "go live" on July 1st.

Click here to see the changes being made to this year's application. Yellow highlighting indicates changes to the paper (and online) application, and pink highlighting indicates new "dropdown menu" choices will be available online.

Seniorisits can cause rescinded acceptances

It's not uncommon for high school seniors to want slow their pace and let a grade or two slip now that college acceptance letters have been received. After four fast-paced years of studying, it seems fair to relax a bit.


Think again.


At the University of Colorado at Boulder, about 50 acceptances get rescinded per year. Click here to read the full article and watch the side video. And in case you're still not convinced, here's an article from the Washington Post

Standardized Tests: Which one to take? How about neither!

Not sure if the SAT or the ACT is more suitable to your learning and test-taking style? Check out this recent posting from Ellen Richards that charts out the key areas of the SAT and the ACT.

Did you know that there are hundreds of colleges that are standardized tests optional? One in particular is Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY (notable alumni: broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, producer/creator of "Fringe" and "Lost" J.J. Abrams, and fashion designer Vera Wang - to name a few). Here is a list of test optional colleges compiled by Fairtest.org