The registration deadline for the January 23rd SAT is coming up soon -- registrations need to be received by December 15th, and late registration (a $23 fee) runs until December 30th. Scores from the January 23rd exam are released electronically on February 11th. This is too late to meet application deadlines for many schools in the United States, but the January exam is a good choice for juniors or ambitious sophomores who want to see how they measure up. Registration can be done easily online at the College Board website.

More SAT Information

• What's a Good SAT Score?
• Does the SAT Writing Section Matter?
• Should I Use SAT Score Choice?
• SAT Scores for Top Engineering Schools
• SAT Scores for Top Universities

A couple weeks ago Mike Sexton, the Vice President of Enrollment Management at Santa Clara University, offered us 5 tips for a college applicant and 5 tips for a college applicant's parents. The advice was excellent, and it also got me taking a closer look at Santa Clara University. The school is definitely worth a spotlight.

Santa Clara is a Jesuit, Catholic university that ranks among the top master's universities in the country. The university wins high marks for its community service programs, alumni salaries, and sustainability efforts. The school also has pleasingly high retention and graduation rates. The 78% four-year graduation rate is three or four times higher than many of California's public universities, a factor that prospective students should keep in mind when calculating the cost of college.

Other notable features of Santa Clara University include the well-regarded Leavey School of Business, and an athletic program that competes in the NCAA Division I West Coast Conference.

If you'd like to learn more about Santa Clara University and what it takes to get accepted, visit the SCU Admissions Profile and the university's official website. If you have visited or attended the Santa Clara University, please share your experiences below.

Every week I spotlight a great college that might be off the radar of college applicants. If there's a college you'd like to see featured here, please post your recommendation in the College Admissions Forum.

Erin Lewis over at The Ivy Compass Blog recently fielded a question about a borderline SAT math score for a student applying for computer science at top universities. The student's critical reading and writing scores were phenomenal, but the math score was a little low, especially when the student indicated an interest in a math-heavy major. Erin, a former admissions officer at Yale and Barnard, offers some excellent strategies to the student for playing up his strengths. Erin's advice nicely compliments my recent post on SAT scores for top engineering schools.

If you're thinking of going to college for engineering, it's important to realize that the admissions standards for engineering can be different than those for other areas of study. At universities such as Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Cornell, the bar for admission to the engineering programs is higher than that for most other applicants.

Not all schools break down their admissions data by program, but this engineering SAT chart gives a fairly complete picture of what types of SAT scores are typical for admission to the best engineering schools in the United States.

Related Articles

• SAT Scores for the Ivy League
• SAT Scores for Top Liberal Arts Colleges
• SAT Scores for Top Public Universities

I just spent 90 minutes watching the web rebroadcast of "Inside the Admissions Office," a conversation with top admissions officers from eight highly regarded colleges and universities: Bryn Mawr College, Grinnell College, Marquette University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Vermont, Wesleyan University and Williams College. The presentation comes from Wall Street Journal On Campus. It's an hour and a half well spent by any parent or applicant who is anxious about the admissions process. Students applying to highly selective colleges will probably find the information in the video comforting, for the panelists clearly express the care and thoughtfulness that goes into the review of applications. A strong message that gets repeated throughout the broadcast is the idea that applicants need to be themselves -- there is no single mold for the perfect applicant.

One of the Deans on the panel may be familiar to About.com readers: Seth Allen, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Grinnell College, has written on this site about financial aid in the economic crisis. He also addressed the important question, "Are public universities really a better value than private colleges?"

Wellesley College has many distinctions: it frequently tops lists of the country's best women's colleges, and it often appears on lists of the top ten liberal arts colleges. The social and academic opportunities available to Wellesley women are further expanded by academic exchange programs with MIT and Harvard.

And while beauty is a rather subjective category, you'll often find Wellesley listed among the country's most beautiful campuses. I have to agree. To see some of the campus highlights, check this Wellesley College photo tour and view some photos I took a few months back.

More College Photo Tours

• Cornell University
• Ithaca College
• Alfred University

For students who want exciting Division I athletics and the low sticker price of a public university, the 9 schools in the Western Athletic Conference are worth a look. The universities span a huge part of the United States, from Louisiana to Hawaii. This article on the Western Athletic Conference includes information on each member institution and links to admissions data such as acceptance rates, test scores, financial aid and costs. You can also check out this SAT chart and ACT chart that compare test scores for students admitted to the WAC universities.

And be sure to explore other Division I athletic conferences: ACC | Big East | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac 10 | SEC

A couple interesting articles on community college have appeared in the news in recent days. Jaime O'Neill writes for Oregonlive.com about his experiences teaching writing to community college students. He comments on the challenges many of his students have faced overcoming drug-filled and dysfunctional environments. O'Neill values community colleges for giving students a second chance. As he notes, "college admissions personnel tend to value glee club participation over youthful scrapes with law enforcement as indicators of future college success." O'Neill's article is worth a read.

With the economic downturn, of course, more and more students are turning to community college for the perceived cost savings, not for that "second chance" that O'Neill eloquently describes. The finances connected to community college, however, may not be as straight forward as they seem. In the Missoulian, Jennifer McKee has an eye-opening piece comparing the debt students accrue at community colleges and public four-year universities. Despite the significantly lower price tag of community colleges, students attending Montana community colleges took on $7,754 of debt per year compared to $5,127 per year for students attending a public university. For a thoughtful discussion of this difference, check out McKee's article.

For students considering community college entirely for financial reasons, I'd recommend applying to a community college, a couple public universities and a couple private colleges. Once loans, grants and time to graduation are factored in, the four-year schools (even private ones) may end up being the bigger bargain.

Related Reading

• 5 Reasons to Attend Community College
• The Hidden Costs of Community College

One of the weekend's big football rivalries sees Georgia facing off against #7 Georgia Tech. Both are well-respected public universities. Georgia competes in the NCAA Southeastern Conference while Georgia Tech is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The data below shows how the schools measure up on the admissions front:

University of Georgia:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 55%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 560 / 650
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 560 / 660
• Middle 50% ACT Composite: 25 / 29
• Total Cost (In-State): $16,758
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $33,070

Georgia Tech:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 63%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 590 / 690
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 650 / 730
• Middle 50% ACT Composite: 27 / 31
• Total Cost (In-State): $16,234
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $35,376

Both universities are strong academically, although Georgia Tech will probably require a slightly strong high school record to win admission. Both schools are also excellent values, especially for in-state applicants. The University of Georgia made my list of recommended public universities, and Georgia Tech appears on my list of top engineering schools and top public universities. The University of Georgia was awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for its strengths in the liberal arts and sciences.

Related Links:

• University of Georgia admissions profile
• Georgia Tech admissions profile
• ACC, Atlantic Coast Conference
• SEC, Southeastern Conference
• SAT comparison chart for the ACC
• SAT comparison chart for the SEC

It's a great weekend for college football rivalries. On Saturday #14 ranked Virginia Tech is favored over the University of Virginia. Both universities compete in the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference. Both are also large public universities whose strong liberal arts and sciences programs earned them chapters of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. The data below shows how the schools measure up on the admissions front:

University of Virginia:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 37%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 600 / 710
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 620 / 730
• Middle 50% ACT Composite: 27 / 32
• Total Cost (In-State): $20,409
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $40,709

Virginia Tech:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 65%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 540 / 630
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 570 / 670
• Total Cost (In-State): $18,213
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $30,591

Both universities are strong academically. The University of Virginia made my list of the top public universities, and Virginia Tech is one of my top picks for engineering. Prospective students will find that the out-of-state cost at UVA is as high as many quality private colleges, especially once financial aid is factored in.

Related Links:

• University of Virginia admissions profile
• Virginia Tech admissions profile
• ACC, Atlantic Coast Conference
• SAT comparison chart for the ACC
• ACT comparison chart for the ACC