Kevin McMullin is the founder and president of Collegewise, a private college counseling company. This is his blog. He also writes books and a free email newsletter, makes videos (not the music kind), speaks at high schools and conferences, and generally tries to spread the word about saner, smarter college planning. Email Kevin here.
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« June 2007 | Main | August 2007 »
The starting gate for the college application season is ready to open. Rising seniors are busily fine tuning their reach, target and safety schools. Word of caution...last year's safeties might just be this year's targets and reaches! According to the NY Times Education Life supplement from July 29, 2007, it might be time to rethink which schools could really be considered safeties.
As our most recent Collegewise alumni start packing their bags for freshman year, the notion of going to college is starting to become a reality. Along with this reality of the future comes the pressure of choosing what you’re going to do with your future, or as college students see it, choosing a major. A lot of incoming freshman feel the need to imminently declare a major because they think it will tell them what to do with the rest of their lives. Heck, a lot my high school freshman feel the same need! But this article by an editor at CareerBuilder.com proves that majors are incredibly flexible. Economics majors don’t have to become investment bankers, nor do Biology majors have to go straight off to med school. This funny and insightful piece outlines different options for several popular majors. So don’t go writing off your love of French just because you think you’ll end up jobless and begging for scraps of baguette by the Eiffel Tower. This article may turn your “Non” into “Oui!”
Road trip! Who doesn't love a great road trip? Many of our rising seniors are currently crisscrossing the country in search of the perfect college. How can they get the most out of these trips and make an informed decision about the college that is the best fit for them? Well, here are a few suggestions:
Summer is when prospective college students are supposed to be trekking through Africa on safari, teaching English to orphans in China, and studying nuclear physics with a Nobel Prize winning professor.
Sound a little insane? Colleges think so too.
In the eyes of colleges, summer is supposed to be spent doing pretty typical teenage activities, like this article points out. Isn't it nice to know that, both for college and for life, it's better to get your hands dirty scrubbing floors than to embark on a round-the-world disease curing tour? Admissions officers were teenagers themselves once as well. They flipped burgers, cleaned toilets, and pumped gas. They know that having a little extra cash in your pocket makes the summer all the better. And they also know that working hard for the money teaches you more valuable lessons than you'll amass on a luxury cruise to Antarctica to study glaciers.
I think we've all heard the story of Azia Kim...the Stanford attendee who never really attended Stanford at all. She was an impostor. And all because she couldn't handle telling her parents that she hadn't been accepted to the university.
You can read more about that story here, but the whole thing leaves me wondering just how bad the parental pressure cooker has become for students who are applying to colleges.
Continue reading "David Bowie Isn't the Only One "Under Pressure"" »
New faces in the Collegewise crowd
There was a time not that long ago when we used to imagine what it would be like to have admissions officers leave their posts and come to work with us. Then Arun joined us in 2004 from Caltech and Christina from the SUNY system in 2005. And this week, we were lucky enough to add the most recent additions to our Southern California offices--college counselors Allison Cummings from the University of Redlands and Jessica Schattgen from Whittier College.
Allison will join Collegewise - Irvine while Jessica will work with Arun in our Los Angeles office.
And Collegewise - NY's Alex Weiner has added a few more desks to his offices to accommodate his most recent additions--college counselors Carly Amodio and Breda Malfesi.
They're all smart, funny, and frankly, quite pleasant to be around. We're really excited to have them with us.
It’s summer. And you rising seniors deserve a little rest and relaxation. But while you're soaking up your summer, here a few college-related things you can do to make your upcoming application season much easier.
1. Aim to finalize your list of colleges by the end of the summer.
A lot of students wait until the fall to even decide where they want to apply. Why wait? Deciding where you're going to apply is much easier than deciding where you're actually going to go (which doesn't happen for most students until late in your senior year). So do your research, talk to your parents, and visit any colleges you can get to this summer. Remember, you can always alter your list this fall if a visit to a college (or the advice of your high school counselor) prompts you to rearrange the list just a bit.
Continue reading "Summer To-Do List for Soon-To-Be Seniors" »
I think we'd all agree that The Common Application is amazing. It has helped streamline the college application process, and we love when new schools decide to join "The Common App party." Well, a common website is about to make the research part of things even easier too.
A recent article by the New York Times looks at a new website that is currently in the testing stage. Any institution that decides to participate will be given a colorful, two-page site where they can share their information in the form of charts and graphics. Sweet!
Continue reading "College Research is about to Get Easier!" »
5 Tips to Maximize your Study Abroad Experience
Looking to take your studies to new heights-like onto a flight and into a college overseas? Follow these five tips, and you'll be on your way to a bellissimo study abroad experience!
1. Start your trip now by visiting the Education Abroad portion of college websites.
Here, you'll find information about available countries of study, pre-requisite courses, foreign language requirements, and how many people choose to study abroad at a particular school. (At Kalamazoo College, a whopping 80% of graduates choose to study abroad, and almost everyone has a passport by the end of their sophomore year.)
Continue reading "Study Here, Study There-You Can Study Anywhere!" »
Sarasota, Florida
Feeling the sand between your toes. Dancing till dawn. Ending the day with a sunset sail across a beautiful bay. Sound like your dream vacation? It's just the normal scene at New College of Florida in Sarasota, a place where 750 undergraduates kick off their shoes while soaking up rays and knowledge.
Don't be misled by this Sarasota school's moniker-New College wasn't born yesterday. In 1960, it opened its doors to academically accelerated students and became the official honors college of the State of Florida in 1975. Since then, students in search of innovative higher education have been flocking to Florida's west coast from across the country and around the world.
