College Quick-Hitters

Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY)

Total undergraduates: 6,900 students

Middle 50% for acceptance SATs: 1640-1890, ACT: 23-27, Acceptance Rate: 59%

This is a medium sized private school located on a suburban campus in Long Island, 25 miles outside of New York City. Campus is divided in two with the north side housing the residential halls (38 of them and 87% of students live on campus) and the south side housing all of the academic buildings. Hofstra has 143 different majors, with biology being their top major and business being one of their most popular. They have a state-of-the-art trading room, and internships are very big across all majors. They also offer a 5-year Journalism Master’s program. Class sizes are small with an average of only 21 students per class. 2014 will be the first year that Hofstra is going test optional in their admissions process. As long as the student has a good GPA, they are advised to not submit SAT scores below 1080 (Math and Critical Reading).

University of New Haven (West Haven, CT)

Total undergraduates: 4,700

Middle 50% for acceptance SATs: 1445-1715, ACT: 20-25, Acceptance Rate: 74%

New Haven is an up-and-coming university about 90 minutes outside of New York City. It is a residential campus, near the water, with about 25% of students participating in Greek life. They have Division 2 in sports and have over 170 clubs and organizations on campus. They have a focus on connecting students to careers, and all business students are required to do at least one internship. A recent survey of 2013 graduates showed 91% of them had a job or were in graduate school. Forensic science is their top major and most competitive one to get into. They are also very popular for their music industry major. Other top majors include engineering, music & sound recording, and marine biology. Finally, about 35% of their students reside in living-learning communities on campus.

Johnson and Wales University (Providence, RI)

Total undergraduates: 9,500

Acceptance Rate: 72%

This is a unique institution in the heart of Providence, RI. Once you are accepted, you are accepted to all four campuses across the county including Providence, Miami, Denver, and Charlotte. Students are encouraged to study at one of the alternate campuses at least once during their time at school, but it is not mandatory. Their top majors are culinary education, hospitality and management, and business. They offer a 5-year MBA/accounting program, which allows the students to quickly sit for the CPA exam. They also offer a sports and entertainment business major on all four campuses, which is very popular. They are very much a hands-on-learning institution, and résumé building is extremely important to the school. On day one of freshmen year, they start students with career advising, and work with them through graduation. Students that have a GPA of 84 and above and/or SATs of 1200 and above will receive a substantial scholarship. There are no classes on Friday for anyone, which helps students who have internships or need to travel, which is a great idea on their part.

Adelphi University (Garden City, NY)

Total undergraduates: 5,050

Middle 50% for acceptance SATs: 1520-1840, Acceptance Rate: 68%

Adelphi is a school with a ton of promise. Right now, only 60% of students live on campus, so there are a lot of commuters, but the school is working on improving their residential life. They are offering a new nursing program, and it is not a direct-admit program, meaning if you are accepted to Adelphi, then you can become a nursing major if desired. They offer a joint law program with the University of Albany, where they are given early assurance to the program. They also offer a highly ranked (#5 in the country) social work major, with an optional 5-year Master’s program. Finally, they offer a 4-2 program with Columbia, where the student would graduate with a BS in environmental studies from Adelphi, and a Masters in Science in a specific engineering degree from Columbia.

Feel free to email me with any questions, and as always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Wesleyan Now Test-Optional

Just a quick post here in alerting everyone of the new policy at the highly selective Wesleyan University. As we are seeing with many colleges each year, Wesleyan has decided to go test-optional in their admissions. This can be very helpful for the students who have performed well in the classroom, but just can't seem to showcase their best during standardized testing. Students no longer have to send in their test scores for the admissions process. For more specific information on Wesleyan's new policy, please click on their website link here. Enjoy, and as always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Summer College Checklist for Rising Seniors

So you are officially a senior...this is exciting right? Only one more year of high school and then you are off to pursue the major of your choice at hopefully the college of your choosing! Although many students would like the college application process to be over already, you still have many months left. Some of the more important months throughout this process are June, July and August. The summer is a crucial time to prepare, search, and begin to formalize your college application plans. It is definitely not a time to sit around and do nothing. So look at these following tips on ways you can best utilize your summer days to best prepare yourself for the fall when you finally apply to college!

Get Involved: Depending on the selectiveness of the colleges you are applying to, admissions counselors are looking for applicants who have done something positive during their time off. Whether it is traveling, taking a pre-college summer class, volunteering, or working, make sure you are doing something! It looks good on college applications and it is just good to stay active in a positive way!

Continue to visit schools: If you are able to get to college campuses during the school year, that is great, but it is not always possible. Although high school does not begin until September, many colleges start during the last week or two of August. Whether you can go in August, or the other summer months, visiting schools is a vital part of this process. Get to the campus, walk around, ask questions, and imagine if this is the best place for you. Make sure to contact the undergraduate admissions office prior to the visit, to see if they offer an information session or guided tour while you are there.

Begin narrowing down your college list: With many application deadlines beginning in November (some earlier), it is now time to eliminate some colleges from your list. You should end up with about 8-10 colleges on your list; all of which you would love to attend. Make sure to have at least 2-3 colleges that you are certain you will be accepted into, often referred to as safety schools. Safety schools should still be schools that you have investigated and would be happy attending. Your list should reflect hard work on your part, and you want to be completely satisfied with the final amount of schools you apply to in the fall.

Research school specific application guidelines: Colleges differ across the board on application procedures such as how to apply (Common Application or their own), deadlines for regular decision, early action/early decision, priority, and rolling decisions, and application requirements such as SATs, subject tests, and additional supplements. Be sure to have all of the requirements and deadlines organized in one centralized location to reference (i.e. your college list)

Work on your résumé for college: You are able to upload a résumé for many colleges, so you want to be prepared. Try your best to remember everything you have been involved in and accomplished during your time in high school, and get these down on paper in an organized template.

Make your plan for admission testing: You may be satisfied with your SAT and/or ACT scores, which is great! However, many students need to retake these tests in hopes of higher scores. For the SAT, there are testing dates in October, November, and December, which most likely are the latest ones you can take. For the ACT there are testing dates in September, October, and December. Also, if any of your colleges require subject tests (SAT II), remember to sign-up during one of these test dates. You cannot take the SAT and Subject test the same sitting, so please plan accordingly!

Begin the Common Application starting in August: The Common Application opens August 1^st. Feel free to create an account and begin working on the application. There is no need to rush this, but it will be helpful to get familiar with the application and see what other supplements are needed for schools. Also, if you haven’t done so already, start writing the main CA essay, and feel free to send it to your college counselor to help with editing.

Keep in touch with your counselor: If you have any pressing questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to your college counselor. Also, once school begins, make an appointment to see your counselor and talk about a plan to apply to schools.

-Mr. Joe Korfmacher, MA

SAT Changes-Starting 2016

As many of you know by now, the SAT is getting a facelift in the next couple of years. These changes most likely will only affect current freshmen and the classes after them, as the new SAT will not appear until spring of 2016. However, I wanted to give you a breakdown of the basics of the changes that are coming our way. Overall, the SAT wanted to create a test that is tougher to prep for and is more relevant to what students are learning in the classroom. Below are the big changes:

·         The SAT is going back to 1600 points coming only from math and critical reading (2400 points had a good run, but it will be no more starting in 2016)

·         The essay will be optional (as with the ACT, the essay will be optional, but I would imagine students will want to take this part of the SAT) The essay will also be a combination of reading, comprehending, analyzing, and writing.

·         As with the ACT, there no longer will be a guessing penalty. That means the student will not lose points for a wrong answer.

·         Math will focus on three areas: linear equations; complex equations or functions; and ratios, percentages, and proportional reasoning. Also, calculators will only be permitted for part of the math section.

·         The reading and writing sections will include source documents from a wide range of areas, even science.

·         There will be fewer questions with a greater focus on in-depth analysis of content

These are exciting times for the SATs and students who will be taking them. If you are a freshmen in high school (or younger), or a parent of one, these changes will matter and it’s never too early to start getting prepared!

-Mr. Korfmacher, MA

New Common Application Tips

The Common Application is new and there have been problems. This is no surprise. Hopefully, these following trips can help over the course of the next few weeks when many students are submitting their applications. 

Early Decision agreements and outside recommenders: If you are applying to a school via early decision, you, a parent, and your counselor must approve this through signing an electronic document. This is done through the ‘assign recommenders’ section of the member school part of the CA. You will indicate that you are applying ED to one school, and then you will invite a parent. Make sure you accurately input their name and their email address. Then when you are done, you must assign the parent. Both of these steps must be done in order for the ED agreement to be sent. As long as you do your part on the CA and indicate on Naviance that you applying ED, your counselor will be able to submit his portion of the agreement.

For additional outside recommenders, the same process is necessary. You must invite each one, and then assign them. If you forget to assign a recommender, they will not be able to complete the recommendation. If your school uses Naviance e-docs, you will not need to invite your counselor or teacher recommenders. You only do this for additional, outside recommenders.

Reporting test scores: A new addition to the Common Application is that if the student decides to self-report the scores, then he will need to indicate all test-date scores, which is contrary to College Board’s ‘score choice’. Self-reporting is optional on the Common Application, and regardless what you do here, it is mandatory to submit scores through College Board or ACT Student directly to each college. My advice here is to not self-report scores on the CA. It is unnecessary, and if you have a test date you do not want to send to schools, there is no reason to show them the scores on the Common Application.

Inputting the college essay:  Please do not type the essay in the text box of the writing section. Complete all of your edits and revisions in a Word document.  Keep the formatting simple and at the end of each paragraph, you should hit the ‘enter’ key twice. There also is no need to indent the essay. Once you input your essay, you can go through the text box, and make sure it looks good.  At times, you may need to move the first word in some lines to the end of the previous line. Before you submit the application, you can review a PDF of the entire application, including the essay. Make sure the essay looks correct in this PDF. If it doesn’t, you can go back to the text box and make the necessary edits.

Do not wait until the last minute to submit the CA: It is well known that there are many problems with the new Common Application. I cannot predict the future, but I am going to go ahead and guess that the millions of people around the world who will be waiting until 11:59 on the last night before the deadline to hit “submit” may encounter some technical difficulties. Do not be one of these people. Please give yourself at least a full 24 hours before submitting the CA. That means reviewing all of the information on the CA and for each of the member school supplemental questions, and assuring everything is correct. Also, many schools are pushing back their 11/1 deadlines back a week. Don’t think that you should now wait to apply on the 7^th. Give yourself time, and if any problems arise, then you will be able to fix them, instead of starting to freak out.

Pay once and SIGN your name: In order for the application to be complete and uploaded by colleges, the student must pay for each application (unless they have a fee waiver) and sign their name electronically. It is widely known that payment has been a problem with the new CA. For now, pay once and wait. It can take up to 48 hours for payment to be confirmed. If it has been 48 hours and you still have not received a confirmation for payment, then go to the Help Desk and inquire if there is a problem. Also, you MUST sign your name at the end. This sounds simple, but it is a step often skipped. Your application will not be reviewed unless you have signed it. When you are ready to submit applications, you do so through the Dashboard section on the CA. You must pay and submit each school individually. If you are unsure if the application has been received by the colleges, feel free to contact the admissions office and confirm that everything is in. 

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

SAT/ACT Information and Procedures

Testing season is back…for seniors you are taking final shots at the SAT or ACT in hopes to raise your scores, and juniors you most likely are just beginning to plan your attack on which tests to take and when. Although there are many schools that are test-optional (meaning they do not require SAT or ACT scores for students to apply), the majority of colleges do need to see a score report from one of these tests. I think it is helpful to give a few more helpful tips about each test, so you can decide which will be the best representation of you when it is time to apply to college!

For seniors, you have a few more opportunities to improve your scores. Test dates still available are:

SAT
October 5th (Late registration-9/20)

November 2nd (Register by 10/3)

December 7th (Register by 11/8)

ACT
October 26th (Register by 9/27)

December 14th (Register by 11/8)

If any of your colleges require subject tests, please make sure you register for them and get that taken care of! Some schools require up to 3 Subject tests. Usually, colleges will accept one ACT score in place of a Subject test, but you should follow-up with the college to be certain.

Applying Early

If you are applying early action or early decision (most often with 11/1 or 11/15 deadlines) and you plan on taking the November SAT/Subject tests to improve your scores, please alert the school of this. On the Common Application, you will be able to indicate future test dates. However, it is best to contact admissions representatives directly and alert them of this, so hopefully they will wait until they receive those scores to make a decision.

In case you are still wondering if you should take one of these tests, please read the following information:

SAT  (http://sat.collegeboard.org/home)

Length: Standard time of 3 hours and 45 minutes, consisting of 10 sections.

Format: The test is broken up into 3 math sections, 3 critical reading sections, and 3 writing sections. The tenth section is experimental, will not be scored, and will be either on math, critical reading, or writing. Although this section is experimental and will not be scored, students are unaware of which section is the experimental one. All sections are comprised of multiple choice questions, however, the writing section also includes an ESSAY and the math section also includes student response questions. The essay will always come first, with the rest of the sections to follow randomly.

Scoring: Each section is scored out of 800 points; therefore the highest possible score one can receive on the SAT is a 2400. The essay portion is scored 2-12 and is included in the overall writing score.

Guessing Penalty: There is a guessing penalty on the SAT, which means if you get a multiple choice question wrong; you will be deducted ¼ of a point. You will lose zero points for leaving a question blank. However, student response questions on the SATs should all be attempted, because you will lose points for either getting it wrong or leaving it blank.

Reporting Scores: Because of score choice, you can choose which test dates you report to colleges. You cannot choose an individual section to send (i.e. June math section), but if you send multiple tests dates, most colleges will super score the results, giving you the highest score possible for your report.

 ACT (http://www.actstudent.org/)

Length: Standard time of 3 hours and 25 minutes, consisting of 4 sections with an optional writing section (30 minutes long).

Format: The four sections are English, Math, Reading, and Science Reasoning. There is only one section for each subject area, so the sections are longer with fewer breaks than the SAT. The writing section is optional on the ACT, but some schools do require this part, when submitting the ACT scores.

Scoring: Each section is scored on a scale of 1-36 (36 is the best score one can receive). Overall, there is one ACT composite score, which is an average of all four sections.

Guessing Penalty: There is no guessing penalty on the ACT meaning you lose the same amount for an incorrect answer and a question left blank.

Reporting Scores: You have the option of sending or not sending any of the test date scores to colleges. However, because of the scoring methods, you cannot combine or super score ACT scores from multiple test dates.

 Quick differences between the SAT and ACT

Science section: SAT- NO / ACT-YES

Trigonometry in math section: SAT- NO / ACT-YES

Multiple choice: SAT-mixture / ACT-ALL

Guessing penalty: SAT- YES / ACT- NO

It is also important to know that although both tests will focus on what you have picked up in high school, the ACT is more knowledge-based. Therefore, one easy way to decide which test is best for you is to look at your GPA and PSAT scores. For those who have a high GPA and low PSAT scores, the ACT may be the way to go for you. Regardless of GPA, for those who did well on the PSAT, then you might as well keep going with what worked for you!

So, in the end, how will you choose which test to take? Well luckily you don’t have to choose, because you can take both as often as needed! My advice is always to take the SAT at least once in junior year, and see how you do. If you do not feel comfortable and your scores are low, then look into the ACT option. Although the two tests are similar in some ways, as you have read there are many differences and students may perform better on one than the other. All schools will take both tests with equal validity, so find the one that best suits you and show yourself off to the colleges of your choosing!

-Mr. Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

SJU Now Test-Optional

Because Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia is a popular school around here, I thought it would be helpful to alert everyone that they are now a test-optional school, starting for students applying for fall 2014 admission. This means you are not required to send in SAT/ACT scores as part of the admissions process. This is helpful for students who do well in the classroom, but struggle on standardized testing. If you go this route, college admissions counselors will only consider your GPA, strength of schedule, extracurriculars, and the rest of your general application and essay. However, if you have solid scores, then you should go ahead and submit the scores. It is a great idea to consult with your high school counselor before deciding on going test-optional or not. Also, please visit The Test-OptionalWebsite, for all of the current colleges and universities that do not require testing scores for admissions.

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

August Checklist for Seniors

With the start of senior year only a few weeks away, take a moment to review the following list to put yourself in a good position to begin the college application process!

Continue to visit schools: If you are able to get to college campuses during the school year, that is great, but it is not always possible. Although high school does not begin until September, many colleges start during the last week or two of August. It is best to see the school in session, and get the feel of the student body and what the school has to offer. Make sure to contact the undergraduate admissions office prior to the visit, to see if they offer an information session or guided tour while you are there.

Work on narrowing down your college list: With application deadlines right around the corner, it is now time to eliminate some colleges from your list. You should end up with about 8-10 colleges on your list. Make sure to have at least 2-3 colleges that you are certain you will be accepted into, often referred to as safety schools. Safety schools should still be schools that you have investigated and would be happy attending.

Research school specific application guidelines: Colleges differ across the board on application procedures such as how to apply (Common Application or their own), deadlines for regular decision, early action/early decision, priority, and rolling decisions, and application requirements such as SATs, subject tests, and additional supplements. Be sure to have all of the requirements and deadlines organized in one centralized location to reference.

Finish admission testing: You may be satisfied with your SAT and/or ACT scores, which is great! However, many students need to retake these tests in hopes of higher scores. For the SAT, there are testing dates in October, November, and December, which most likely are the latest ones you can take. For the ACT there are testing dates in September, October, and December. Also, if any of your colleges require subject tests (SAT II), remember to sign-up during one of these test dates.

Begin the Common Application: The Common Application opened August 1^st. Feel free to create an account and begin working on the application. There is no need to rush this, but it will be helpful to get familiar with the application and see what other supplements are needed for schools. Also, if you haven’t done so already, start writing the main CA essay, and feel free to send it to your college counselor to help with editing.

Keep in touch with your counselor: If you have any pressing questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to your college counselor. Also, once school begins, make an appointment to see your counselor and talk about a plan to apply to schools.

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Test-Optional Colleges

As mentioned in a much earlier post, there are many schools that are test-optional. What does this mean, you may be asking? The answer is certain colleges do not require that a student submits their testing scores (either SAT or SAT). If the student chooses not to send in their scores, then admissions will review the applicant and make a decision based on their transcript, extra-curriculars, essay, and support files (recommendations). Test-optional schools is a hot topic these days with discussions on the validity of testing in general in predicting college success, and the chances of students being accepted who do not submit scores. The first issue will takes years and years to truly understand, however, admissions consistently say that students will be reviewed equally who do or do not submit scores.

So who is the test-optional route really for? Unfortunately, if you are a student with low testing scores and a low GPA, this may not be the best way to apply. Admission counselors generally want to see a competitive GPA for students who do not send in their scores. Remember, if you do not send in your scores, then they are primarily focusing on the transcript to make their admission decision. So if you are a student with a good GPA, but you struggle on standardized testing, going test-optional may work for you.

Choosing what to do with test-optional schools can be a difficult decision, so please consult your college counselor before deciding to do this. It may be best to take this on a college by college basis, so please communicate with your counselor early enough to make an informed decision.

For a complete list of the schools that currently have the choice of going test-optional, please visit FairTest, which is a website with an up-to-date list. When you visit the site, please go to the top tab ‘University Testing’ and then click on ‘Optional List’. As always, please direct any questions towards your college counselor.

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA