Colleges for Home-Schoolers

I won't pretend to be an expert on college admissions for home-schooled students, but wanted to share a helpful resources I recently stumbled across: a list of colleges and universities known to have accepted, or be open to applications from, homeschool students.

Connecting With Colleges at College Fairs

Are you a rising high school junior or sophomore just starting your college search? Or a senior still looking for a few good colleges to add to your final list? Attending a college fair can be a good way to get information about college options.

The premise behind a college fair is simple: make it easy for colleges and potential applicants to connect by bringing both together in a single meeting place. At a typical college fair, each college and university has a table set up with informational literature that is staffed by at least one representative of the school, usually an admissions officer. Some college fairs are huge events, with hundreds of college and universities in attendance. Others are much smaller events. Some college fairs also offer short seminars on admissions and financial aid topics.

It's best to think of college fairs as informational events, rather than a chance to impress a college rep with your qualifications. A college fair is not the place to expect to be interviewed or to have the college rep give you an estimate of your chances. At most, you will have a few moments to ask college reps a few questions about their schools, before they move on to another student. If a school sounds interesting, fill out the request for information cards at the school's table. (Tip: If you're going to a large college fair, print out your name, mailing address, phone number and email address on small self-stick labels beforehand. This will save time when you start filling out those request for information cards.)

To get the most out of a college fair, plan ahead. If possible, get a list of the colleges and universities who will be attending before the fair date. If any names grab your attention, do a bit of research by visiting the school's website and getting the basic facts. Because your time with the rep for each school is likely to be limited, develop a few key questions that you'll ask each rep. Then, put on your walking shoes and get ready to college hunt. Two great articles on how to get the most out of a college fair can be found here and also here.

How do you find out about college fairs in your area? Start by asking your high school guidance office if they know of any scheduled fairs. Some high schools and school districts even sponsor their own college fairs. Also check out these links for schedules of various college fairs:

The National association of College Admissions Counselors National College Fair is held across the country and is the largest college fair.

The Colleges That Change Lives College Fair features the small liberal arts colleges covered in Loren Pope's book of the same name.

NACAC Performing and Visual Arts College Fair focuses on colleges and universities offering programs for students planning careers in visual and performing arts.

National Portfolio Day offers prospective visual art majors a chance to have their portfolio reviewed by admissions reps from various art schools and colleges and universities with strong art programs.

The Lutheran Colleges Fair puts you in contact with the many excellent Lutheran-affiliated colleges.

The National Christian College Fairs focus on evangelical Christian schools.

Regional chapters of the NACAC sometimes offer their own smaller fairs focusing colleges and universities in the region, and sometimes in other parts of the country. You can find details about these smaller fairs, by checking the links to these organizations on this webpage.

Finally, several HBCU (historically black college and unversity) fairs are offered across the country throughout the year. One example: The Malcom Bernard HBCU College Fair of New Jersey and the Seattle HBCU College Fair. Others can be found by doing a google search.

Update on Higher Education Act Reform

Last week, the Congressional Committee on Higher Education voted to approve changes to the Higher Education Act, the main legislation covering federal student financial aid and loans. The bill will now go to the full house for approval in early fall. The Senate is working on its own proposal. Among the proposals approved on Friday, students and parents should be aware of:

1. Pell Grants for low income students would increase moderately over the next six years. The measure also would reward Pell Grant recipients who do well academically during their first two years of college with a slightly larger grant for their remaining education.

2. Students would be able to consolidate several student loans into one at either a variable or fixed rate, with the rate for both kinds of loans set at 8.25 percent.

3. Only students convicted of a drug-related crime while in college would be barred from receiving federal financial aid. Those convicted of a prior drug-offense while not in school would now be eligible. (See College Hunter July 22).

4. Colleges would be required to provide an intellectual environment that welcomes a wide range of views.

5. A new grant program would be created that would increase support for Hispanic Americans planning to go on to graduate school.

To read a detailed analysis of the proposed Bill reforms, read Imperfect (Yet Successful?) Bill on the Inside Higher Education website.

College Fairs

Are you a rising high school junior or sophomore just starting your college search? Or a senior still looking for a few good colleges to add to your final list? Attending a college fair can be a good way to get information about college options.

The premise behind a college fair is simple: make it easy for colleges and potential applicants to connect by bringing both together in a single meeting place. At a typical college fair, each college and university has a table set up with informational literature that is staffed by at least one representative of the school, usually an admissions officer. Some college fairs are huge events, with hundreds of college and universities in attendance. Others are much smaller events. Some college fairs also offer short seminars on admissions and financial aid topics.

It's best to think of college fairs as informational events, rather than a chance to impress a college rep with your qualifications. A college fair is not the place to expect to be interviewed or to have the college rep give you an estimate of your chances. At most, you will have a few moments to ask college reps a few questions about their schools, before they move on to another student. If a school sounds interesting, fill out the request for information cards at the school's table. (Tip: If you're going to a large college fair, print out your name, mailing address, phone number and email address on small self-stick labels beforehand. This will save time when you start filling out those request for information cards.)

To get the most out of a college fair, plan ahead. If possible, get a list of the colleges and universities who will be attending before the fair date. If any names grab your attention, do a bit of research by visiting the school's website and getting the basic facts. Because your time with the rep for each school is likely to be limited, develop a few key questions that you'll ask each rep. Then, put on your walking shoes and get ready to college hunt. Two great articles on how to get the most out of a college fair can be found here and also here.

How do you find out about college fairs in your area? Start by asking your high school guidance office if they know of any scheduled fairs. Some high schools and school districts even sponsor their own college fairs. Also check out these links for schedules of various college fairs:

The National Associaton of College Admissions Counselors National College Fair is held across the country and is the largest college fair.

The Colleges That Change Lives College Fair features the small liberal arts colleges covered in Loren Pope's book of the same name.

NACAC Performing and Visual Arts College Fair focuses on colleges and universities offering programs for students planning careers in visual and performing arts.

National Portfolio Day offers prospective visual art majors a chance to have their portfolio reviewed by admissions reps from various art schools and colleges and universities with strong art programs.

The Lutheran Colleges Fair puts you in contact with the many excellent lutheran-affiliated colleges.

The National Christian College Fairs focus on evangelical Christian schools.

Regional chapters of the NACAC sometimes offer their own smaller fairs focusing colleges and universities in the region. For example, the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling, the New England Association for College Counseling, and the Minnesota Association for College Admissions Counseling fair all run regional fairs.

Finally, several HBCU (historically black college and unversity) fairs are offered across the country throughout the year. One example: The Malcom Bernard HBCU College Fair of New Jersey and the Seattle HBCU College Fair. Others can be found by doing a google search.

Guaranteed Scholarships

Looking for college and university merit scholarships? My daughter's school guidance office recently turned me on to a great place to start the search, a website called Guaranteed-Scholarships.com. The site lists colleges and universities that automatically award non-need based scholarships to students meeting the criteria. Awards on this list range from full tuition to a few thousand dollars. Don't think you need to have a stellar GPA or perfect test scores either; some of the schools listed offer automatic scholarships to B students, and even C students, with SATs just topping 1000. Other colleges have unique requirements, such as the $10,000 automatic scholarship Washington College in Maryland gives out to members of the National Honor Society.

The site's owners note that some of the information on the site may not be the most current information, so be sure to verify each of the described scholarships and any application deadlines with each school.

By the way, the site is sometimes in the process of being updated. If you get an "under construction" notice, try back later.

The Admissions Race: A Guidance Counselor's View

Parents and students often complain to me that their high school guidance counselor "just doesn't get it" when it comes the college admissions race. An article in the Chicago Sun-Times, 'Boot Camp' Helps College Counselors Cope tells the other side of the story: how guidance counselors view the process and some of the parents and students they work with. According the the article, every guidance counselor's worst night mare are "high-maintenance parents" - the parents who will do anything to get their child into Prestige U and are not shy about letting the guidance counselor know it. Another high stress part of the job: finding "kinder, gentler schools" for students at the bottom of the class. Read this article and you may find yourself, as I did, wanting to write a little note of thanks to your guidance counselor for all they do and put up with each year.

Financial Aid for Convicted Drug Offenders?

Congress will consider today whether to drop a little known provision of the Higher Education Act which denies federal forms of college financial aid to convicted drug offenders. Under the current law, those convicted of a first offense for possession of a controlled subtance lose financial aid eligibility for one year, a second offense makes a student ineligible indefinitely. Under debate: whether to drop or ammend the provision. The revision on the House floor today would keep the rule but apply it only to students convicted of drug crimes while they are receiving federal aid. For more on this debate, see Student Aid Rule Put Under Review.

Edvisor.com: Internet Education Directory

It's obvious that the Internet shelters a huge amount of information about colleges and admissions. The problem is finding it all. Edvisors.com is a giant directory of education related information that can make the hunt easier. Once you've opened the link, click on "colleges and universities" to see links related to admissions, college life, and financial aid, among other topics. And, if you happen to click on "college admissions," please rate my site: College Hunter has just been added to Edvisor.com's list of links. Enjoy!

Financial Aid Primer

Steven Rosen, a nationally syndicated columnist, has writtttn another excellent article on college financial aid, The great financial aid quest: a primer. In his latest article, Rosen discusses how to negotiate for more money if your family's financial picture has changed since you filed the FAFSA and whether using a credit card to pay tuition is a good idea or not.

Gene Meyer's article in the Kansas City Star, There's still time to cram for college aid, offers tips on last minute ways to get more money for college. Among them: Negotiate, consider going to a less expensive in-state university or even a community college, and tighten your belt by cutting back on luxury items like pricey vacations. And, buckling down and prepping for the SATs if you're a rising high school junior or senior can pay off handsomely. "If you can increase a score 150 or 200 points, that's worth thousands of dollars [in merit scholarships]," says Kevin Colandro, a Dallas financial planner specializing in college funding in the article.

Weblog Looks Inside America's Universities

If you're looking for inside information about the goings-on inside America's universities, check out Mark Drozdowski's Universities Weblog. Drozdowski has been both a college administrator and professor and currently writes for the Chronicle of Higher Education. His far-reaching weblog looks at everything from college rankings to college administration. Of particular interest to college hunters: the excellent information on financial aid and in-depth profiles of life on various college campuses.

Smart and Low income? Elite Colleges Want YOU!

Elite colleges like Harvard, Yale and Princeton have been making noise for years about wanting to recruit low income students. According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, Elite college go after low-income recruits, these schools are using a variety of outreach techniques, combined with new approaches to financial aid, to identify and encourage qualified low income students to apply. Last year, for example, Harvard declared that it would waive parental contributions for students coming from families with annual incomes of less than $40,000. Yale has followed suit by recently announcing it will be eliminating required parental contributions for students from families earning less than $45,000.
However, low income students shouldn't rush to apply to these schools thinking that low income equals an admissions edge. The key word in all the hype is "qualified." In other words, while elite schools are eager to attract students from low income and even middle income families, they are still looking for qualified students, that is, students that fall within the general range of their admitted students in terms of test scores, grades, and intangibles like extracurricular activities. Therein lies the rub, of course: if you're a highly qualified student from a low income family, don't rule out the elite schools due to family finances. If you're a less qualified student from a low income family, however, don't count on your family's financial status to get you in.

Single Sex Colleges

Immaculata college in Philadelphia is one of the latest in a long string of single sex colleges to go co-ed, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer(registration is required to view the full article). Opening its doors to men has paid off for Immaculata: this fall the college will nearly double the size of its freshman class. Immaculata joins traditionally all-female schools like Wells College (NY), Chestnut Hill College (PA), and Lesley College (MA)that have also gone co-ed in the past two years. Several other all-female schools have shut their doors entirely or merged with nearby co-ed colleges in the past few years.

So, are single sex colleges a thing of the past? Not if you ask the member colleges of the Women's College Coalition. They note that graduates of all-female schools are more likely to major in traditionally-male fields such as math, economics and the sciences, and to be more likely to graduate than their counterparts at co-ed schools. Other benefits cited by the Women's College Coalition are more opportunities to hold on-campus leadership positions, greater exposure to female role models, and greater satisfaction with the college experience overall.

While there are currently less than 50 all-female four year colleges and universities, there are only three four year all-male colleges left: Wabash College in Indiana, Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and Morehouse College in Georgia. These colleges also cite benefits from single sex education similar to those claimed by all-female institutions.

Another benefit: Single sex colleges can make very good "admissions values." In many cases, admissions selectivity at single sex schools is less competitive than at co-ed schools of similar educational quality. So, don't automatically discount single sex colleges in your college hunt. As you search for schools of particular sizes or offering particularly strong departments in specific areas, include a few single sex colleges on your list. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

One last tip: Many formerly all-female colleges give an added boost in the admissions process to male applicants because they're trying to balance their male-female ratio as quickly as possible. In some cases, this also translates into greater merit scholarship opportunities. For this reason, male applicants would be wise to look closely at breakdowns of admissions stats by sex, instead of just overall admissions numbers when considering formerly all-female schools.

Honors Colleges

Many large universities - both public and private - now have Honors Colleges. The goal of these "colleges within colleges"? To give top students enriched resources and opportunities within the larger university setting. At many universities, this includes special housing, priority registration, extra consideration for merit scholarships, and other benefits such as special opportunities for internships and research projects.

Another important benefit of many programs, however, is access to smaller classes and a stronger sense of community within the large university setting. InPenn State's Schreyer Honors College, for example, honors scholars get to fulfill many of their general education requirements in classes with under 25 students instead of large lecture halls. Schreyer scholars also can choose to live in the Schreyer's honors housing complex, a living-learning community of students, staff and faculty. Guest speakers, cultural presentations and other special events in the complex foster both intellectual activity and social connections. The program - with roots going back to the early 1970s - has a strong success rate. Over 85% of Schreyer's Scholars proceed immediately to graduate school upon graduation.

However, not all "Honors Colleges" are created equal -- some schools offer more substantial programs than others. Therefore, as with everything in the college hunt, it pays to do your research and ask a lot of questions - both of the program and of students already participating. At a minimum, National Collegiate Honors Council says that a full honors college program should:

- Offer signficant course opportunities across all four years of study that are relevant to all undergraduate majors.

- Require an honors thesis or project.

- Provide residential opportunities for honors program participants to live together in a community setting.

- Require a separate application for admission to the Honors College in addition to the application for general admission to the larger university.

- Have its own Dean, operating and staff budget, and considerable control over its policies, admissions, curriculum and faculty selection.

How do you track down which schools offer Honors Colleges? A good place to start is the NCHC Membership List.

529 Plans Resource

If you have - or are considering setting up - a 529 Savings Plan for your child for college, the website Saving For College is an excellent resource. The site, run by an investment professional, gives the basics of 529 plans, but also delves deeper to provide updated information, a question and answer section, even a discussion board. You can also search for investment professional in your area to help you set up or manage a 529.

Parent/Child Relationships in the College Years

For this year's crop of college freshmen, it's almost time to say goodbye to their families and head off to school. Not surprisingly, many families will be dealing with changes in their relationships over the coming months. What should you expect and how should you cope? Here's an excellent article, written by a mother and daughter who are veterans of the process, The Changing Parent/Child Relationship.

Another college drops the SAT

Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, has just announced that it will no longer require the SAT for admissions. "Standardized tests don't measure the qualities we value most in our applicants - intellectual curiousity, creativity, and an eagerness for learning," says Paul Teenis, Knox's dean of admission. To read more about Knox College's decision, read Knox College Eliminates Standardized Test Score Requirement in Admission.

Knox joins a growing list of selective colleges that do not require the SAT or make submitting it optional. Other schools in this category include Mt. Holyoke, Holy Cross, Bowdoin, Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson, Lewis and Clark, and Lawrence University. A complete list of schools which no longer require the SAT is available from Fairtest

By the way, Bates College has conducted a twenty year study comparing the college success rates of students who submit SAT scores to those who do not. The study found that there is little difference between the two groups, a finding that is being used to justify the elimination of SATs in the admissions process at many colleges. Read more about the Bates Study by clicking here

Franklin and Marshall pictures

Franklin and Marshall College is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, about an hour and a half from Philadelphia. The town of Lancaster has an urban feel with many streets lined with red brick brownstown style houses. Restaurants and shops are within walking distance of campus.

Franklin and Marshall's campus is L-shaped, with a row of buildings extending down one avenue and the main campus quad in the bottom of the L-shape. A city park, complete with playground and art museum lies just above the L. Nice features of the F&M campus are the availability of several fast-food style restaurants right on campus. The center of campus feels very green but compact. You can see an old factory building from one part of campus however. The dorms we saw were in fair shape with built in furniture that could not be re-arranged. There is a huge and attractive sports facility across the street from the main campus.

F&M has just over 1800 students. Admission is selective and most students hail from the Northeast. Pre-professional programs are F&M's strength, especially pre-law and pre-med.

Swarthmore photos

Many consider Swarthmore to be one of the country's top liberal arts colleges. The beautiful campus is located in a small town just outside of Philadelphia. It is possible to catch a train into Philadelphia within a short walking distance of campus. Nearly all students live on campus. The small town of Swarthmore has several restaurants, a few shops, and a small grocery store. A large mall is about a five minute drive from campus.

Swarthmore has approximately 1500 students. Admissions is highly competitive, with 90% of students ranking in the top 10% of their high school graduating class.

Swarthmore is strong across the board academically, but particularly strong departments include biology, classics, economics, English and political science. Swarthmore is one of the few true liberal arts colleges to offer an engineering degree.

Goucher college pictures

Goucher College is located in Towson, Maryland right outside of Baltimore. Goucher currently has 1300 students but the administration plans to increase the size of the student body to 1500 in the next two to three years. Goucher's campus is very attractive with 200 acres of woods, a pond, and limestone buildings. There is even an equestrian facility on campus. Step off the campus, however, and you have a large mall, movie theaters and restaurants within walking distance. A free bus takes students to downtown Baltimore and to the other Baltimore area colleges --- Goucher students can take up to one class a semester at schools like Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Towson State and the Maryland Institute and College of Art. Students can also use the libraries at the other schools as well.

Beginning this year, all Goucher students must live on campus unless they commute from home. They school is completing a new dorm building. Older dorm buildings have large rooms and are generally well kept.

Goucher's strongest programs include dance, theater, art, and social sciences. However, Goucher also has a strong biology program with good medical school placement.

Summer Jobs & Financial Aid

As promised, I'll be posting more pictures from my college visits later today. However, I wanted to share a very informative and useful article just out from Business Week Online that discusses some of the ways earnings from a student summer job can potentially affect financial aid eligibility. The article, Fiscal Fitness for Teens, points out that sometimes alternative strategies for savings student income may be appropriate. Although the article does not mention it, keep in mind that when putting together financial aid packages, the FAFSA and colleges will expect a greater percentage of savings held in the student's name to be put toward college costs than savings held in the parents' names. As the aticle suggests, knowing the facts up front and planning for all possibilities can make a real difference when it comes time to apply for financial aid.

Earlham College

Hello and happy 4th of July to all! I just returned from a trip during which I visited Earlham College, Swarthmore College, Goucher College, and Franklin and Marshall College. I'll be posting pictures from all four schools over the next week or so. I'll start with Earlham College.

If you're not familiar with Earlham, here are some basics: Founded in 1847, Earlham College is located in Richmond, Indiana. Earlham is a Quaker school, and this connection definitely affects the campus culture --- Earlham puts an unusual emphasis on respect for others and community service. Earlham has just under 1200 students. The school's curriculum is writing and discussion intensive with strong programs in the sciences (Earlham has one of the highest percentages of chemistry majors going on to doctoral programs, for instance), the social sciences (Earlham was one of the first schools to offer a peace studies major), and languages (Earlham has an excellent Japanese and Japanese studies program).

Earlham's campus is quite pretty. All academic buildings and most of the dorms circle around the "heart," a green tree-lined expanse. The buildings are uniform in style: all red brick, not fancy but attractive. Some of the buildings need a bit of sprucing up, but in general the campus is well-maintained. Dorms range from older buildings to two new air-conditioned dorms. Dorm rooms are of decent size. One nice feature in each dorm is a full kitchen on each floor. Each room has their own lockable cabinet space in the kitchen to keep cooking utensils and apparently getting together with friends to cook and eat is common. Additional housing is available in college-owned houses surrounding the campus which include theme houses and what Earlham calls "friend houses" where a group of students can live together.
Earlham is officially a dry campus, but word from current students is that drinking does occur, but wild parties are not typical. There are no fraternities or sororities at Earlham.

Academic buildings and dorms occupy the front two hundred or so acres of Earlham's campus. The back campus, comprised of approximately 600 acres, includes woods with hiking trails, a student-run equestrian center, and the school's ropes course.

Richmond, Indidana is a town of approximately 40,000, located 35 minutes from Dayton and about an hour to an hour and a half from Indianapolis and Cincinatti. Richmond has the typical trappings of a small midwestern town: a small mall, a Wal-mart, a K-mart,two movie theaters with multiple screens, many chain restaurants, bowling alleys, etc. Within walking distance of Earlham are several small restaurants, a video rental store, and a supermarket. K-Mart and CVS drug stores are within a 3 to 5 minute drive. There is also an excellent regional medical hospital in Richmond. There are many attractive victorian style homes in Richmond and the immediate area surrounding the campus is a combination of older and newer homes.