College Spotlight: Saint Anselm College

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting with two admissions representatives from Saint Anselm College for a presentation about their school. Saint Anselm College is located Manchester, New Hampshire, only about 4 hours from Manhattan. Saint Anselm, also referred to as Saint A's is a Catholic Benedictine Liberal Arts College with about 1,900 underclassmen. I will admit that I did not know as much about St. A's as I do with other schools, but after learning more today, this is a school I am eager to visit, and will recommend to many students in the future.

Saint Anselm is situated in the beautiful city of Manchester, on a picturesque campus in New Hampshire. The school is only one hour from Boston and the ocean, and only 10 minutes from the nearest airport. This is a place that embodies what a true college community is all about. It attracts students who are eager to participate in a liberal arts education where they will be challenged, but supported by peers, professors, and administrators during their time there. Professors know their students very well and are always there to make sure they get the most out of their education. Below are a few facts about the school and the students that make up the Saint Anselm community.

• There is a 90% retention rate from freshmen to sophomore year.
• 92% of students live on campus all four years.
• 86% of students stay on the weekends.
• St. A's has a 75% acceptance rate and the average GPA for accepted students is 3.2. Average accepted SAT scores are 1080-1220 and the average accepted ACT score is 25.
• Test scores are not required to be submitted with application, unless the applicant is applying for nursing.
• St. A's is a top 20 liberal arts school in the nation for return on your investment.
• Although the sticker price is a little under $50,000, the average net price for families is only $23,000, signaling that merit scholarships and  financial aid are readily available for all students.
• One of St. A's most competitive programs is nursing, which has roughly a 35% acceptance rate. Unlike at some colleges, students will begin taking nursing classes freshmen year and will begin clinical work sophomore year.
• They have a 3-2 engineering program with multiple other colleges, including Notre Dame.

Finally, one very special aspect of Saint Anselm is their connection to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP). In New Hampshire, Saint Anselm is the premier resource for individuals interested in contemporary political issues. As found in their literature, Saint A's was founded "on the premise that an educated citizenry is vital for a healthy democracy...and they created the New Hampshire Institute of Politics to provide a vibrant, innovative and non-partisan forum where men and women can explore, debate, and participate in all aspects of the American political process"

Almost every major national political race goes through the campus of Saint Anselm, where candidates will present and debate, giving their students VIP access to major players in politics. Interestingly, every president since JFK has spoken or has been involved in a debate at Saint Anselm. Finally, the college has recently established a partnership with Bloomberg to create nationwide polling systems.

All in all, this is a small school in a beautiful setting, full of students and faculty who truly care about one another and of improving themselves and the world around them. I personally highly recommend it as a school that students need on their radar! I hope this information was helpful, and as always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

 

College Quick-Hitters # 2

Bentley University- This is a fantastic school right outside of Boston, which specializes in Business, but is not just limited to this concentration. Bentley has an extremely high-tech campus with seven officially high-tech buildings and they even have a 3-D printer accessible for student use. The student population of 4,200 allows for small class sizes and personal relationships with professors. Bentley is a very active campus with 80% of the students participating in varsity or club sports, and 80% of students choose to live on the beautiful green campus all four years. Their top three majors are management, marketing, and finance, and business students have access to one of the nation’s best trading rooms on a college campus. Business students are given real money from the college to trade with and learn from. With career preparation and readiness at the forefront of Bentley’s mission, they are happy to report that 98% of seniors in the past few years have been placed in jobs or are in graduate school after 6 months.

College of Mount Saint Vincent- Small, Catholic Liberal Arts School of 1,500 students located in Riverdale, NY right off of the 1 train. The biggest majors are nursing, business, and biology, and they have an excellent pre-med track program. They also offer solid business majors in areas such as marketing, finance, and business administration, where they offer a 5 year Master’s program. They are situated on a 70 acre campus right on the Hudson River. 65% of students live on campus and the majority of students come from the 5 boroughs and New England. To stay competitive with NY State schools, Mount Saint Vincent has actually reduced their total cost of attendance. They are now at $29,000 for tuition, room, and board, which is an incredible deal. This is before merit scholarships and financial aid which is available to most students.

University of Notre Dame- Notre Dame has five current colleges that include Architecture, Arts and Letters, Business, Engineering, and Science. Starting in the fall of 2017 they will open their 6^th college, which will be the School of Global Affairs, housing such majors as international relations, political science, international economics, and some foreign language program. Notre Dame in currently on an initiative to improve their engineering program to become one of the nation’s best and a ton of money is going into their program right now. Architecture majors spend five years at Notre Dame, where they spend their entire junior year in Rome and then finish their 4^th and 5^th year at Notre Dame where they complete their architecture license. The essay is extremely important to their admissions, so make sure this is done well! There is no Greek life at Notre Dame, but dorm life is very important to students, and dorms even have their own mascots. 100% of all family need is met by ND and on average, students leave ND with only $20,000 in loans. Finally, starting on October 27^th, Newark and LaGuardia airports will offer flights to South Bend’s airport. 

-Joe Korfmacher, MA

3-2 Engineering Program (King’s College & Notre Dame)

I want to bring to your attention a unique opportunity for students to obtain two bachelor’s degrees from two separate colleges, one being the University of Notre Dame. King’sCollege in Pennsylvania has collaborated with Notre Dame to offer this dual degree program. This is a chance to experience life at two different colleges, and is a remarkable chance for students to graduate from Notre Dame, who may not originally have been able to be accepted to the University.  Although different environments, both of these schools are part of the congregation of the Holy Cross, and each are committed to the same academic and personal values.

So how does this program work, you may be asking? Students should have at least a 3.2 GPA to get into this specific program, and they will complete three years at King’s College, earning a BS in fields such as Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Science or Computer Science. While at King’s, students will also take courses in the liberal arts to help with oral/written communication and critical thinking, which all employers want to see., Students will then transfer to the University of Notre Dame to complete a second BS in Engineering in fields such as Aerospace, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, or Mechanical.

This can be a great opportunity for many students, especially for those who are thinking about majoring in engineering, and have always dreamed of graduating from Notre Dame. Take a look, and as always, happy searching!

3-2 Program

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA