College Spotlight: Fairfield University

General Information

Another stop on my recent northeast college tour was Fairfield University, located in Fairfield, Connecticut. Fairfield is a private, liberal arts school with just under 4,000 total undergraduates. It is located on a lovely campus with views of the Long Island Sound. The 200-acre campus is in the suburbs, but students are only minutes from city life and the beach, and only about 90 minutes from New York City. The campus has green rolling hills throughout, which creates a perfect place for students to study, throw the frisbee, or just take a nap. When I was there, I even saw the archery club setting up for a practice. Also, it's hard to miss the turkeys that call Fairfield's campus home throughout the year, so be on the lookout if you choose to tour the school.

Fairfield University is one of the 28 Jesuit Universities across the country, and focuses on developing "the whole person" while establishing a sense of community for everyone there. The academics are strong and community service/helping others is an important part of life for Fairfield students. The vast majority of students on campus are from Connecticut and neighboring states, but Fairfield draws students from across the country and all over the world.

Academic & Admissions Information

The total cost of attendance at Fairfield is $58,625, which is high, but fairly common among private universities. However, four levels of scholarships are offered: Magis - $25,000, Bellermine - $17,000, Loyola - $13,000, and Xavier - $7,000. If covering the tuition is a concern, they are advised not to apply Early Decision. They are a test-optional school, meaning students do not need to submit test scores for admission (last year 30% of applicants applied Test Optional), and interviews are recommended for applicants. This past year, Fairfield had a 63% admission rate and right now the male to female student ratio is 37:63 and is looking to enroll a bigger percentage of males in years to come. The averages for accepted students are: GPA: 3.4; SAT: 1150; and ACT: 26. Demonstrated interest in attending is also a factor in Fairfield's Admissions' decision-making.

Fairfield University offers 41 majors and has the common ones that most students are familiar with. Their four main colleges are the College of Arts and Sciences, Dolan School of Business, School of Engineering, and the School of Nursing. At Fairfield, the majority of classes will be small, and students are guaranteed a hands-on learning experience and close relationships with their professors.

Fairfield University has always been a popular college for students on the east coast, and after visiting and learning more about their academics and community, I can see why it is a common destination. This is a great place for students who want to go away to college without being too far and have access to a beautiful campus and access to nature (hiking trails, views of the Long Island Sound, beaches, woods are all nearby). Students will be pushed academically, but supported throughout their time at Fairfield. 

As always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher

Senior Testimonial and Advice for the College Application Process, Part 2

I asked a number of Class of 2015 seniors to write about their experiences with the college process. This next one is by Gianluca Milea of NYC. Enjoy!

The college process can be very intimidating at times.  While it is very important to have numerous options, I found it difficult to apply to a limited number of schools.  Although Xavier does not put a maximum on how many schools to which you are allowed to apply, application fees are very expensive and at the end of the day you will only be attending one college. 

To begin the process, I visited a myriad of schools, some of which were unrealistic options for me.  After visiting four schools in two days, I decided to create guidelines for my potential college.  While academic rigor is essential, there are many other factors that go into a final college decision: food, campus life, off-campus life, greek life, religious affiliation, athletic programs, housing, location and possibly two of the most important things, tuition cost, and how comfortable you feel on the campus tour.  Ultimately, this will be your home for the next four years, and while it may seem like high school flew by, you want to make sure that you enjoy your time in college as much as you were fortunate enough to enjoy your time at Xavier.  These parameters allowed for me to narrow down my search and my college list to a comfortable number.

Something that I was unaware of before beginning my college process is that many universities give automatic scholarships for activities outside of academics.  For instance, Catholic University has a scholarship if you know someone that attended their university and also a Parish Scholarship for weekly churchgoers.  Many schools have similar scholarships and they can be a great way to estimate a tuition (as you will definitely receive some type of financial assistance) and make sure it is affordable before spending money on an application fee.

I would also highly recommend keeping the number of schools that you apply to without visiting to a minimum.  Getting a feel for a campus is essential in the process and should not be overestimated.  Personally, I visited all of my schools except for a couple of reach schools, and will eventually visit them pending my admissions decision.  After visiting I would suggest using Naviance; it is a great website to keep order during a hectic time.  Naviance allows you to make a list of “Colleges I’m Thinking About” and rank them in your order of interest.  Another helpful feature of the website is that it gives scattergrams, which give you the opportunity to compare yourself to past Xavier students.  Overall, Naviance is a great tool that Xavier offers its students and you should really take full advantage of it.

Finally, while the college process can be overwhelming, it is completely worth it.  Make sure that you do not miss out on the opportunity to apply to a school because you were too lazy to write a supplement.  It is a great feeling when you hit ‘send’ and all of your applications have been submitted.  All in all: do your research, visit schools, make a comprehensive list, do not wait until the night before to apply, and then relax and wait for the decisions to roll in.  Good Luck!

Senior Testimonial and Advice for the College Application Process, Part 1

I asked a number of Class of 2015 seniors to write about their experiences with the college process. The first student to share his story and give feedback and tips is senior, Krist Sokoli. I will continue to add blog posts from other seniors this week and next, so continue to check back to get inside information from those who just went through the process this year. Enjoy!

1.  What was your experience like through the college search and application process?
My college search and application experience was pretty laid back partially due to me starting my research and work during junior year. I had made sure to ask a lot of the seniors where they were applying to and why they had chosen those schools. I also made sure to ask what they thought about other schools. I found that most of the answers were honest and that no one was trying to “sell” a school to me like an open- house tour guide would. I then made a shortlist and made sure to run it through my family. 

I was lucky enough to attend Mr. Korfmacher’s summer program which allowed me to knock out my first draft and requirements list quickly. This was really helpful especially during the early action application process.

2.      Are there any tips you can offer students just beginning this process?
I would definitely advise talking to your parents about a possible career path or major. Knowing that I wanted to go into a medical program really helped me shorten my shortlist as I eliminated schools that did not offer the programs I was looking for.

3.      Did anything surprise you while searching for colleges and applying?
What surprised me during the process were the application fees and the fee waivers. Most colleges require a fee to be paid before applying to them. At this point of my application process, I was not checking my email because I was just receiving spam mail from colleges. But, in the midst of the spam, I did find some emails from my top choice colleges that contained fee waivers. Fee waivers saved me a ton of money and encouraged me to apply to some of my current top choice schools.

4.      What was your timeline like? Would you encourage students to follow this or do it differently?
My college process started during the first half of my junior year. I spent a lot of time asking the seniors questions about their colleges and their majors. I then started my application process that summer through Mr. K’s summer program, which really helped me kick start the tedious essay and resume. I started and finished my Common App as soon as possible when senior year started and I made sure to finalize my application list. I planned on visiting schools, but I held back until I received my acceptances. I wanted to make sure that I was applying to schools based on the quality of the programs. After receiving my acceptances, I then toured some of the colleges on non-open house days so that I could get a real feel of what the school’s environment would be.

I think it would have been a better idea for me to check out and visit some of the schools before applying. Campus and campus life make a big difference in the decision process and I definitely would not have applied to some of the schools that I did if I had seen them beforehand.

5.      Things to watch out for?
Accelerated programs! Some schools offer accelerated graduation programs, such as Saint John’s University. An example of this would be Saint John’s 6-year Pharmaceutical PhD program. This program and many of the other accelerated programs offered require a totally different application and many new requirements and supplements.  

6.      Advice?
Converse with your parents, seniors, and counselors. You never know what program or college you may discover that could offer you the better bang for your buck and the degree that you are looking for. 

Start as early as possible. Senior year at Xavier is just as hard as junior year and you will get a lot of homework. The last thing any student wants to another essay deadline to worry about. Finishing my essay in the summer really eliminated the stress from the application 

Thank you for reading Krist's tips about the college process, and stay tuned next week for another Xavier senior's journey through the admissions process. Take care, and as always, happy searching!

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Colleges Becoming More and More Competitive

January is a great time in college admissions. Most of the Early Decision and Early Action decisions have come in, and seniors’ college landscapes are starting to be filled in. The majority of students have finally finished their applications, and will be patiently waiting for those regular decisions to come in, most likely in March or April. Many students are receiving acceptances, academic scholarships, and are finally starting to see themselves at one or two specific colleges…the reality of leaving for college is beginning to set in! .

Invevitably, many students also received unpleasant decisions from colleges in the early round with either denials or deferrals. From my desk, I have seen a trend lately of schools becoming more and more difficult to get into, even for the most competitive students. Not only are more students applying to more colleges in general, but the business of college admissions has become increasingly focused on creating ways to bring in applications. Different marketing approaches have made popular colleges even more popular, and have put lesser known schools on the radar for many students. I have seen students this year who were deferred or denied from colleges that I know would easily have been accepted just two or three years ago. My hope is that students and parents understand this to not get too disappointed if they do not hear positive news from every school! Many schools that would have been a target for a particular student may very well be a reach school now. The need to find schools that students are very likely (safety) to get into, and are happy with, is more important than ever in today’s world of college admissions.

To get a true understand of the increase of applications and the selectiveness of colleges, I have three schools and their admissions numbers that I want to show everyone:

Northeastern University: NU received over 21,600 applications for Early Action, which was an increase of 7% from the previous year. Also, like many schools, NU has a desire to balance their admission opportunities for Regular Decision applicants, so they had to offer a small percentage of acceptances to Early Action applicants. Because of this, many capable and strong applicants were deferred to regular decision. Also, for Early Decision, NU received 775 applications and accepted 240 students (31%).

Dartmouth College: Dartmouth only has an Early Decision or Regular Decision option for their applicants. This year’s early decision pool was the largest in their college’s history. Their admissions received 1,859 ED applications, which was a 10.7% increase from the previous year. Of the ED applicants, only 483 were admitted (25%).

Boston College: Boston College had a tremendous increase in Early Action applicants this year from the previous year. This year, BC had nearly 9,800 applications, as opposed to 5,500 the previous year, a 56% increase. BC almost always tries to limit their Early Action incoming class to 30% of the total amount of students matriculating in the fall. Because of this and their increase in applications, they obviously became even more selective this year. BC went from a 40% acceptance rate for Early Action candidates last year to 27% this year…quite the difference!

Hopefully this gives some perspective to students and parents out there who were disappointed with early decisions. It is definitely competitive out there, but keep your head up…as long as you put effort into this process, you will end up at the right school; and as always, happy searching!

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Tips for Early Decision & Early Action Results

As seniors are waiting for and receiving decisions for their Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED) applications for colleges, I wanted to share some tips on next steps once you've heard from your schools.

• If you have been accepted to a school through Early Decision, congrats! After celebrating, the first thing you should do is withdraw your applications from the other schools you have applied to or were planning on applying to. Remember, with Early Decision, you, your parent, and school counselor all signed an agreement that, if accepted, this would be the school you would attend.
• If you have been deferred from Early Decision or Early Action to regular decision, don't worry - there is still a chance you will be accepted in the spring. For ED, you are no longer committed to attending the school, even if you are accepted through regular decision, so more options have just opened up! To be deferred means the college liked what they saw in your application, but they need a little more information and time before making a final decision. As such, you should be proactive in updating the school with additional information about yourself and your commitment to attending if accepted. You may send updated senior grades, new standardized test scores, a revised résumé and continue to demonstrate your interest with the school - perhaps take a visit and introduce yourself at the Admissions office. Most schools will note that you applied ED/EA when they review you again for regular decision, but it will also help your cause to continue to show how much you want to attend their school.
• If you have been accepted to any schools through Early Action, congrats! Lucky for you, you're not obligated to tell them whether or not you're planning to attend until May 1st. 
• If you were denied through Early Action or Early Decision, unfortunately you cannot apply again for regular decision. But take heart - there are over 3,000 colleges in the United States alone and there are likely many options where you can be happy and thrive! If your heart is set on the school you were denied by, you can wait until the following school year to apply again. 
• Make plans to visit the schools you have been accepted to, especially the ones you have yet to see in person!
• Keep track of the scholarships offered by each school you have been accepted to. It may be helpful to create an Excel document to compare the cost of each school after scholarships and eventually financial aid are factored in.
• If your college requires the CSS Profile, make sure you are getting that done as soon as possible. Also, remember the FAFSA is available on January 1, and complete that within the first few weeks of January if possible.
• Most of all, keep calm while decisions are coming out. You most likely will not be accepted to every school, and that's OK! You will end up where you belong and at the school that is a great match for you.

Have a fabulous and relaxing break, and Happy Holidays!

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

College Quick-Hitters: Le Moyne College

Le Moyne College is a small, liberal-arts Jesuit school of about 2,800 undergraduate students located in Syracuse, NY. Only 4 hours from New York City, Le Moyne is situated on a beautiful campus only minutes from the action of downtown Syracuse. They have many different majors ranging from business to psychology to engineering, and have some excellent partnerships with Syracuse University. They have a 3-2 Bachelors and Masters engineering program with Syracuse, a 4-1 Bachelors and Masters Forensic Science program with Syracuse, and a 3-3 Law School Program with Syracuse and Fordham. Students in this law program with a 3.65 of higher GPA after junior year can bypass the LSAT exam and go right into law school at Syracuse of Fordham. Specifically, at Syracuse, students will also receive a 50% discount on tuition for years 5 and 6 (students do not receive this discount at Fordham). Le Moyne also has a brand new business building and a 20 million dollar science complex was completed three years ago, as well. If students apply early action, they will be notified by December 15^th, and all online applications will have no fee. The average class size at Le Moyne is 20, with a 13:1 student to faculty ration, and there are 21 different D2 sports, not to mention countless club and intramural sports. Housing is guaranteed all four years, and 85% of the student population lives on campus. Demonstrated interest is very important in their admissions process, so make sure you get up there for a visit, and make contact with the admissions counselors!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

New Media Arts Major at USC

Today, the University of Southern California (USC) announced the creation of a new degree program for students thinking about pursuing the media arts field. See the message below from Dr. Harke, the Dean of Students at USC, and as always, happy searching!

“The Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts + Practice is for students interested in harnessing the power of digital storytelling and media design for uses in diverse fields, from business to education, from architecture to medicine, from urban planning to law.   The program combines the history and theory of 20th and 21st century media forms with hands-on production experience and research. This program is one of the most exciting programs to come to USC in many years.”

Visit MAP-USC for more information.

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

College Quick-Hitters

As a college admissions counselor and consultant, part of my job is to learn about new trends at colleges and help spread the word about interesting college programs and updates at schools across the country. As information comes across my desk and I listen to admission representatives speak to students during visits, I want to update families about the pieces of information I think everyone should know. These following “quick-hitters” should provide you with tips, trends, and general helpful advice about schools you may be interested in applying to.

Hampshire College (Amherst, MA): Will now NOT accept test scores as part of the admissions process. While there are many test-optional schools out there, Hampshire is one of the first colleges to be test-blind, in that they consider all parts of the applicant, but will not look at SAT or ACT scores.

St. Bonaventure (St. Bonaventure, NY): Fantastic business program, especially finance and accounting. In past years, 100% of accounting majors have been placed in job by graduation. School also has live trading floor for business majors. School was ranked best value school in New York State in 2014, with average amount student paying per year being $19,000. Families that file for the FAFSA will automatically receive $5,000 off from cost of attendance.

College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA): All students will come in with undeclared majors. School has a great pre-professional advisory program, and a solid 3-2 engineering program with Columbia. 91% of students are accepted into medical school and 100% of students are accepted into dental and veterinarian school. Holy Cross is a test-optional school and strength of curriculum is more important in decision process…interviews are also very helpful to show demonstrated interest. Early decision has a 65% acceptance rate, while regular decision only has a 35% acceptance rate. Offers year-long study abroad program

Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, CT): 22 students per classroom on average…great internship possibilities, especially business. School is surrounded by golf courses, and business students are given free lessons to help learn the game. School also offers etiquette class for business students. School is test-optional and applying early action and visiting can greatly help in admissions process.

Stay tuned for more colleges and more inside information. As always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher 

College Visit Questions to Ask

College visit season should be kicking off now for most juniors. Colleges are in session for only 2 more months, and it is best to visit while students are still on campus. As I have mentioned before, college visits (if possible) are one of the most important parts on the entire search process. Student cannot duplicate the experience of walking the campus, sitting in classrooms, eating the cafeteria food, and much more other than actually making the trip to potential colleges and universities. Most people would never think about buying a car without seeing it, taking it for a test drive, and asking the dealership questions. So if you wouldn't do this with a car, why would you even think about doing it with a college?

So it is obviously very important to see the schools first-hand, but make sure you have questions ready to go for admissions counselors, professors, and students…yes even current students! One of the best things you can do while visiting a school is to walk up to a random student and ask them about their school. Most students are happy to talk about their college, and those who aren't may be just as important, as it could be a bad sign about that school.

With all of this said, take a look at the following sample of questions you may want to ask when visiting a school:

·         What is the freshmen-sophomore retention rate?

·         What is the on-time graduation rate?

·         What is the job placement/graduate school admission percentage?

·         If applicable, what percent of student who apply, are accepted into medical school?

·         What percent of financial need is met for students?

·         Is housing guaranteed for all four years?

·         What percent of students commute?

·         Do you have campus police/patrol?

·         How is the food selection? How are the living quarters?

·         Is there a core curriculum? If so, what is it?

·         Do you have study abroad opportunities?

·         What do students do on the weekend?

·         What tutoring opportunities does your school offer?

·         What is the student to professor ratio?

·         Could you tell me some features of the school that makes it unique?

·         What percent of students are accepted from Early Action/ Early Decision?

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

January 1st has Passed...Time for FAFSA and More!

So seniors…you are beginning to hear back from the colleges you applied to and most are happy to hear that you have been accepted to many of the schools. However, in the majority of cases, that initial joy inside you and your parents goes away when you see the amount of merit scholarship you are receiving. Sure, $10,000 is a big amount of money to earn in merit scholarship awards and is a great start…but for numerous schools, this is just 1/5^th of the total amount it costs to attend. As countless private schools are reaching $40,000- $50,000 each year to attend, a $5,000-$10,000 merit scholarship just is not enough. So what do you do? Are you just expected to give up on a college that you think it a perfect fit? Well before you do that, check out these options that can help subsidize the total COA (cost of attendance) of college!

FAFSA  - January 1st is the official start date to complete and submit the FAFSA to colleges. Many colleges have deadlines (that are not that far away) to submit the FAFSA, so make sure this is finished soon! Most people have heard of the FAFSA, which stands for the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid; however some families choose not to take the time to apply because they do not believe they will receive any aid. Although this is a family decision, we really do urge all families to complete this form. This is one of the only ways a student can receive government aid (also check out the CSS Profile, which some colleges use to calculate financial aid.) Schools receive the FAFSA report that gives them the EFC (Expected Family Contribution), and colleges will decide how much financial aid they will give to families. So please, take the time to get this application completed and sent to all of the schools you apply to!

Naviance Scholarship Page-  All juniors, seniors, and their parents should have a Naviance account. Check this page out for additional college-specific scholarship, and organizational scholarships. Details on each scholarship, including how to apply, amount awarded, and due date are all there. This page is updated throughout the year, so please check the site regularly!

Online Scholarship Finder Websites- There are a multitude of online sites available to find scholarships to college. For many of these, all you need to do is put in your basic information, and it will find scholarships that match your criteria. The three that come highly recommended are: CollegeBoard, Fastweb, and FinAid. Also check out www.collegescholarships.org. Just click on the links, and start applying!

Loans- Although it is ideal to avoid loans, it is not always possible. Here are two websites that help out with understanding and getting started with federal loans: www.direct.ed.gov and http://www.studentloans.gov/

Project on Student Debt -  This has a list of schools that have made the pledge to limit or eliminate student loans from financial aid packages, which reduces cost of college for students and their families. It may be too late for seniors, but juniors should definitely look at this list and see if there are any schools of interest.

Call College Financial Aid Departments- Often families will receive financial aid reports from colleges and will feel that they are not receiving nearly enough of aid for their income and family situation. Since on the FAFSA you are using the previous year’s tax return, it is very possible that there have been some changes in parents’ job and income situation. Also, there may be some special circumstances that financial aid counselors at colleges are not aware of (i.e. high medical bills). You have every right to call the counselors at the colleges and explain your situation. Schools will respond differently, but some may very well give you more financial aid, so it is definitely worth a shot!

Also, please remember that every school is required to have a Net Price Calculator on their website. This can also be found on CollegeBoard. A Net Price Calculator will give families a better idea of what they may have to pay out of pocket or borrow for each college earlier on in the college search process. 

Finally, please check each college’s website in which you were accepted and see if there are any additional merit/need-based scholarships you can apply to. Remember to apply to as many scholarship opportunities as possible, because every dollar will help!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA