Browsing Archive: January, 2012

"POPULAR! You're Gonna Be Popular!"

Posted by College Connection on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, In : College Admissions

Hold onto your hats, boys and girls. Here's another list to add to your list of lists: The Most Popular Colleges In America.

Yes, U.S. News & World Report is at it again. Now it's a popularity contest. [Wasn't it always?]

It was Albert Einstein (though the quote is often misattributed to everyone from the late Senator Everett Dirkson to Muhammed Ali) who once said, “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.”

How very true!

So, a college that may be extremel...
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On Advice Of Counsel

Posted by College Connection on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, In : Paying for College

Just when you thought the paperwork that has followed you throughout your college career was over. More paperwork...

Seems this nation, and our beloved government, in particular, is enamored with paper -- even if it is electronic. Forms. Questionnaires. Surveys. Documents of every kind and of infinite duration. Endless, too often incomprehensible paperwork, rendering the Paperwork Reduction Act just another Congressional blunder, and the act of completing required forms more or less meaningles...
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College Prep 101 2.0

Posted by College Connection on Sunday, January 29, 2012, In : College Planning

As any student (or parent) who regularly visits Barnes & Nobles could tell you, books on college applications, admissions, paying for college, and the like are run of the mill. There's a "how to" for every step in the process, from choosing the college that's "right" for you to finding scholarship money to help foot the bill.

Then there's College Prep 101 (Second Edition), which, rather than "how to," is more along the lines of "what to do" and "when."

In fact, college-bound students (and thei...
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Upgrade For The Common App, 2013

Posted by College Connection on Saturday, January 28, 2012, In : College Applications

Dubbed Common App 4.0, the Common App is about to undergo changes for 2013, some significant -- such as only being able to view one question (or a few, at most) at a time and the elimination (possibly) of the troublesome truncation of essays and short answers.

The New York Times published an overview of the overhaul at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/common-app-4-0.html, and the article is well worth the read.

Whether the bizarre means of submission (i.e., submitting the Supp...
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Scholarships Are Not Just For High School Seniors

Posted by College Connection on Sunday, January 15, 2012, In : Paying for College

If you know a high school senior, well then, you are well aware of their hectic schedules applying to colleges, searching for scholarships, and biting their nails waiting for admission decisions. [High school seniors should also be preparing their financial aid forms, including FAFSA.]

But what about high school juniors?

Even though they are not applying, they should be preparing. That means lining up engaging courses to take in the senior year, embarking on those meaningful extracur...

"Best Values" In Public Colleges?

Posted by College Connection on Monday, January 9, 2012, In : Paying for College

Perhaps. Then again, "best," let alone "value," is in the eye -- and wallet -- of the beholder!

Yes, it's time to take that large grain of salt again, as those lists of "bests" are being compiled and disseminated.

Starting the year off is Kiplinger Magazine (because, we suppose, publishing lists sells magazines) with its Best Values in Public Colleges.

Dare we ask the question, Best for whom? Best programs? Best courses? Best endowments? Best in research? Best dining options? Best underground b...
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It's Not Too Late To Apply To College!

Posted by College Connection on Wednesday, January 4, 2012, In : College Applications

Ah, yes. The high school senior who, just now, is waking up to the realization that he or she actually has to apply to college in order to start classes in the fall! So much for Early Decision, Early Action and, in many instances, Regular Decision, the deadlines having come and gone.

On the other hand, look at it this way: by waiting to apply to college until later in the game, you unwittingly managed to pare down the list from nearly 4000 accredited colleges and universities to several hundre...
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