The Hidden Costs of Transferring
Thousands of students aren't 100% happy with their current college and are contemplating transferring. In my lists of good reasons and bad reasons to transfer, I name finances as a potential good reason to transfer. Some schools cost much more than others, and financial aid packages can vary widely from college to college.
However, you shouldn't assume that a public university with a low price tag will actually cost less than a private university. Private colleges and universities often have more resources for financial aid, especially given the condition of many state budgets. Perhaps more significant, a government study showed that a transfer adds an average of nine months to graduation time. That's nine more months of paying tuition and nine fewer months of earning income from a job.
A transfer doesn't need to take more time, but you'll want to make sure classes you've completed will both transfer to the new school and fulfill general education and/or major requirements. To learn more, read this article on the hidden costs of transferring.
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The Most Selective Colleges in the United States
If you want to increase your chances of getting college rejection letters, these 20 schools are a good place to start your college search. You can probably guess that Harvard and Stanford are on the list. Some of the other schools may surprise you. This list presents admissions data for the country's 20 most selective colleges. All have acceptance rates below 20%, and several are below 10%. You'll find a mix of small colleges and large universities. I just updated the list with 2011 admissions data.
Princeton University
_Gene_ / Flickr
I've included just those colleges that have an enrollment of over 200 students, and I have not included places with an audition- or portfolio-based application process (schools such as Julliard). I've also left off schools that have low acceptance rates but SAT and GPA numbers that are significantly lower than the colleges on the list.
Realize that selectivity should mean little in your college search. You want to find colleges that are a good match for your interests and aspirations, and a school's acceptance rate is a measure of neither.
More Top Colleges and Universities:
12 Facebook Photos You Should Delete Now
We may like to think that only our friends are looking at our Facebook accounts, but anyone who wants to know more about us is likely to investigate our online identities. It shouldn't be surprising, then, to learn that college admissions officers sometimes turn to social networking sites to get more information about their applicants.
Underage Drinker
Drawing by Laura Reyome
To improve your chances of getting an acceptance letter, clean up your online identity. If any of these 12 problematic photos appear in your Facebook account, get rid of them now.
Realize that the best approach to social networking isn't always to tighten up your permissions so no one can view your account. Instead, think about ways to make Facebook work in your favor.
Top New York State Colleges and Universities
New York State's colleges and universities have a lot of depth: the state offers Ivy League universities Cornell and Columbia, strong SUNY colleges like Geneseo and Binghamton, top liberal arts colleges like Hamilton and Vassar, and some real bargains within the CUNY system.
Colgate University
bronayur / Flickr
My list of the top 12 New York State universities and colleges includes small, large, public and private schools. If there's a school I've omitted that you think should be on the list, share your opinion below.
More Top Colleges and Universities:
18 Scholarships with March Deadlines
Don't get too complacent as you wait to hear admission decisions from colleges. There are billions of scholarship dollars out there, but application deadlines are constantly passing us by. Expiring soon are these 18 scholarships with March deadlines.
More Scholarship Lists:
- 15 Scholarships with February Deadlines (some have expired; some have not)
- 25 Scholarships Worth $5,000 or More
- 23 Unusual Scholarships
- Learn to Identify Scholarship Scams
Should You Use SAT Score Choice?
The College Board allows students to send scores from a single test date to colleges. In the past, students needed to send all scores from all exam sittings. The Score Choice option sounds great. You should simply send the scores from your best testing date, right?
The reality, in fact, isn't quite so simple. You'll want to see what the SAT policies are for each college to which you apply. Some colleges require you to send the scores from every SAT you have taken. Other colleges create a "superscore" -- that is, they will take the highest score for each of the exam sections (math, reading, writing), even if the scores come from different attempts at the exam. In other words, it is quite possible that submitting all of your exam scores will result in a superscore that is higher than the score from your best single exam attempt.
To learn more, read this article on the pros and cons of SAT Score Choice.
More SAT Information
Good Luck on the February 11th ACT
Best wishes to all of you who are taking the ACT this Saturday. The February 11th ACT is the first offering of the exam in 2012.
Try to keep the exam in perspective, and don't lose sleep over it. Most of the country's highly selective colleges have holistic admissions and evaluate the whole applicant rather than relying on simple numerical data. You can partly compensate for less-than-ideal test scores with a strong academic record, glowing letters of recommendation, a winning essay, interesting extracurricular activities, compelling demonstration of interest, and a good interview.
Also remember that about 850 colleges are now test-optional. A strong student with horrible standardized test scores still has a lot of excellent options for college.
More ACT Information
Reminder: Register Now for the March 10th SAT
Just a quick reminder -- if you're planning to take the March 10th SAT, you'll want to register now. The regular registration deadline is February 10th. You have until February 24th if you don't mind paying a $26 late fee. To register, simply sign up on the College Board website.
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Spotlight on St. John Fisher College
Today's college spotlight takes us to Western New York where we find St. John Fisher College. The attractive 154-acre campus sits in a residential neighborhood on the eastern edge of Rochester. Nazareth College is just a mile away to the south. Fisher's location gives students easy access to the museums, performances and restaurants in Rochester, and the wineries and other attractions of New York's Finger Lakes Region.
St. John Fisher Lacrosse
jpglive2 / Flickr
Despite its name, this Catholic institution is really more of a small comprehensive university than a liberal arts college. St. John Fisher offers 32 majors, 9 pre-professional programs, 12 master's programs, and 3 doctoral programs. Among undergraduates, business, education, and health fields are the most popular. Academics are supported by a healthy 13 to 1 student / faculty ratio and small classes. This fact, combined with generous financial aid, has resulted in Fisher having higher retention and graduation rates than most schools with similar student profiles.
Sports are popular at St. John Fisher College, and the Cardinals compete in the NCAA Division III Empire 8 Athletic Conference. The college fields 10 men's and 11 women's intercollegiate sports.
To learn more about the school and what it takes to get in, check out the St. John Fisher College admissions profile as well as the school's official website. If you have visited or attended Fisher, please share your impressions with prospective students below.
I regularly spotlight great colleges 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.
Princeton Review's 2012 Best Value Public Colleges
I recently posted The Princeton Review's top ten best value private colleges for 2012. On the public side, the 2012 top ten includes seven of the same names as last year. Knocked out of the top spots are Hunter College (CUNY), University of Michigan, and North Carolina State. Taking their places are the University of Wisconsin, University of Washington, and University of Texas. Note that the Princeton Review does not consider military academies (they're free) such as West Point and Annapolis when making the ranking.
For public colleges and universities, The Princeton Review's top ten best value colleges for 2012 are the following (click on a school's name to learn more):
- University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
- University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
- New College of Florida (Sarasota)
- Binghamton University (SUNY)
- University of Wisconsin (Madison)
- College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia)
- University of Florida (Gainesville)
- University of Georgia (Athens GA)
- University of Washington (Seattle)
- University of Texas (Austin)
For the third year in a row, California, which has the largest public education system in the country, didn't make the top ten. The state has struggled more than others to hold down costs in times of budget crisis.
To see the entire list of 2012 Best Value Colleges, check out the list at The Princeton Review.
If there are schools you think should or should not have made the list, please share your opinions below.