January, February and some of March aren’t just dull months in terms of weather but also in the admissions process. After months of standardized testing, campus visits and arduous applications it feels a bit odd to sit and do nothing. But your applications are in – what can you do?! You can start by filling out the FAFSA. This first “to-do” ...

It's almost spring and you've got a lot on your mind as a senior in high school. Plenty of reports and projects are due, Prom may be coming up and you're beginning to realize that you'll be leaving your friends in a few short months. On top of all that, colleges are asking for deposits for enrollment. Your problem is you ...

A few months ago, I compared my actual application process to the “Inferno” of Dante’s Divine Comedy. However, in this phase of my senior year, I now find more parallels with the second canticle of Dante’s work, “Purgatorio.” Dante the Pilgrim now needs to wait and reflect upon his life to achieve perfection. For example, the envious must sew their eyes ...

When I picked up Dante’s “Paradiso” of The Divine Comedy a semester ago, I expected the souls in heaven to live the good life. I anticipated the stereotypical floating souls to eat endless buckets of fried chicken and live a carefree existence. Instead, I found Dante’s work very philosophically abstract and difficult to comprehend at times. Therefore, when I started comparing ...

What should you consider as you make the big decision on where to go? We asked high school and college students what they looked for in a college. Academic Programs "The thing I found most important in selecting a college was the types of programs available for my major. Were they accredited? Was the school known for their program in that ...

Families face tough choices when acceptance and rejection letters arrive. "Any parent who's shopped for a prom dress can tell you, window shopping is easy. It's the actual decision that's difficult," says Sally Rubenstone, co-author of Panicked Parents Guide to College Admissions. Rejection letters, expensive tuition, wait lists, reluctance to attend and an absence of acceptance letters are some of the ...

During my spring break last year, I felt a little out of place at the airport. Most people migrated south for the lovely delights of sun-kissed beaches, refreshing gelatos and flip-flops. However, I, the high school junior, headed up north with my ski jacket to visit some potential college choices. When my dad drove our rental car through the thick, snowy ...

I couldn’t understand how my friends could be so carefree. Didn’t they know it was almost spring? Didn’t they have college decisions to make? Mine took over my life - monopolizing my thoughts, afflicting me with insomnia and making my head spin. While I wandered dazed through each day, they were acting like there wasn’t a problem in the world. Out ...

Ah yes, the college admissions process can be considered a full-time job in itself. Between the deadlines, filling out the applications and deciding which school to go to — not to mention taking the SATs – prepping for college can be overwhelming to say the least. Surviving college is one thing. Surviving the college admissions and application process is a whole other ballgame. CampusCompare’s ...

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) studies and measures how students interact and engage with their colleges, specifically academic programs and extracurricular activities that can be found on campus. Drawing from their experiences in observing how students can get the most of their total college experience, NSSE has developed a series of questions to ask prospective colleges as you make ...

My dad and my uncle were born and raised in Los Angeles and spent their whole childhoods rooting for UCLA in sports and thus treating the University of Southern California as their mortal enemy. When it came time for my uncle (who was the older sibling) to go to college, he applied and got into both schools, but USC offered ...

The college you’re considering offers your major, a variety of extracurricular activities and the ideal social mix. You’ve done your research and checked out the school’s location, class size, teacher/student ratio and dozens of other factors. You’re ready to accept their offer to attend. However, before you mail the deposit, make sure you ask some questions that are frequently overlooked in ...

February and March are tense times for everyone involved in the college admissions process.  College hopefuls all over the country are waiting to hear from their top choices.  Angst is rising, and parents are helpless to end it.  And colleges are reading files and moving them through evaluation stages in the rush to “get the decisions out.”  This week, visiting blogger ...

Close your eyes. Picture yourself four years from now, standing in front of friends and family on your graduation day, waiting in line to receive your diploma. As you wait for the line to move forward, you begin to think about the four years you've spent at college, how much you've experienced, and you say to yourself, "My college experience ...

On one not-so-different Friday evening, I glared at the computer with my eyes wide open. Exhausted from a strenuous week, I sat with a deep exasperation and wondered why my computer must warm up so slowly. On that Friday, I would learn whether the University of Florida accepted me. Recently, the competition has skyrocketed for that college, and many students from my ...

Life can give you moments of various emotions. Personally, I tend to cherish my moments of happiness, inspiration and laughter. These emotions came to me when I first made a soufflé rise, single-handedly mastered a tough calculus problem, or laughed at a horrible movie with my friends. However, I often wince or laugh at my less-flattering moments when I felt sad, ...

Key West. Myrtle Beach. Yosemite National Park. A college admissions office. Maybe that last one isn't a top vacation destination but it's worth a visit. Just as you wouldn't waste precious vacation minutes sitting in a hotel room figuring out what attractions are in the area, some planning before you head for campus will help you maximize your visit. Pick Up ...

Time is such an ambiguous thing. At some times in life, it seems to go too slow (e.g., chemistry class). At other times it goes too fast (e.g., hanging out with friends). Right now, though, I am caught in an awkward mix of feeling as though time is going both too slow and too fast. On the one hand, I can't ...

College planning can be stressful for both students and parents. Long before they face the challenge of finding college funding, students face an equally important challenge - the college admissions process. Filling out college applications and waiting to hear from admissions committees can make for a nerve-wracking senior year. But now schools are taking steps to alleviate student stress by instituting ...

A personal account of how the student/parent relationship changes during the college application process The only time I have seen my mom so irate at my dad that she physically assaulted him was in December of my senior year.   My father had read an article stating that Harvard had rejected a high number of students who had perfect SAT scores.  My ...