NYT Article on Surviving College Admissions

I wanted to share with you this very powerful and well-written New York Times article on college admissions at the most selective colleges and how this can be a damaging process to students across the world, but it doesn't need to be. It explains how ridiculously competitive it is to gain admission to the top colleges in the country, but how students should not feel as if they have to attend the top 25 colleges in order to be successful. It shares personal stories about young men and women who were denied admission to the most selective colleges, went on to "second tier" schools, and were extremely successful at school and in their careers. These students turned the rejections into a learning experience and propelled them into taking full advantage of all of the opportunities that the school that did accept them offered.

I personally am a strong believer in finding the right fit of a college for each student, and the name of a college really does not mean much to me. Students should strive to find a place where they will feel comfortable and that will give them the chance to be happy and successful. Students don't necessarily need to go to the Harvards and Stanfords of the world to be happy or successful. I urge you to read through the entire article, and the end offers a great story of what two parents did for their son during the application process. The article can be found here, on the New York Times website. Enjoy!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher

Reviews on 3 Boston Area Colleges

As all of the seniors are in the busiest part of the college admissions process, I’m sure most people are counting down the days until they are finished with completing applications, writing essays, finalizing the college list, and paying for those application fees! Juniors most likely are just beginning to explore what colleges are out there and are beginning to think about what and where they want to study during their four years of higher education. Wherever you are in the college search and application process, I think it is always good to hear about more schools you may not have thought about. I recently was able to be part of a 2-day, 3-college tour with counselors from across the country. During the trip, we visited Wheaton College, Emerson College, and Providence College. These three very different colleges were an absolute joy to visit, and I want to share some information with you on all three of these schools. Trust me, there are some schools I would not recommend to my students, but all three of these are colleges I would strongly recommend for a variety of reason. Enjoy the following information and pictures, and as always, happy searching!

Wheaton College: This is a small liberal-arts college of 1,600 students in Norton, Massachusetts, which is a small town about 40 minutes outside of Boston and 25 minutes outside of Providence. It was originally founded in 1834, as an all-girls school, and only became co-ed in 1988. It is now pretty even with the amount of men and women that attend the school. Wheaton’s big theme is that they are a “connected” school. They are connected in many ways including the close relationships between faculty and staff and regardless of major; students’ courses are connected, as there are many interdisciplinary courses. Even their academic advising and career center housing is connected, with the idea being that career readiness begins day one of college, and Wheaton will work closely with all of the students throughout the academic and career process. Two courses that all students must take include an extensive freshman writing course and a ‘Beyond the West’ history course where students learn about history of countries west of the United States and Europe. Wheaton College also has a new Business and Management major, and all business majors must select a liberal-arts concentration to go along with the major.

Overall, I was impressed with Wheaton as a solid academic institution. They are very much a liberal-arts focused school, and their graduates have a variety of skills entering the work force. It is a small campus, but is beautiful. Wheaton is pretty much what I think of as a small, New England college. There is not a lot happening around the campus, but the school always has events going on for students to stay busy. The campus is also a short ride to both Boston and Providence, for students who want to visit the city on the weekends. Overall, this is a school where I know students are taken care of, guided in the right direction, and are given amazing opportunities, but they are also granted a great deal of freedom and responsibility. For students looking for a small school, with strong academics in the Northeast, you definitely want to give Wheaton College a look.

Here are some quick admissions facts on the school: Both Early Action and Early Decision (11/15 deadline) are available, and their regular decision deadline is 1/1. For students applying early decision, Wheaton’s financial aid office will do an early read for them. They are looking for students with a 3.4 GPA or higher (mid-high 80s) and 1100-1200 on the SATs or a mid-50% in ACTs of 26-31. However, Wheaton is a Test Optional School, so students do not have to send in their scores if they do not want to. They offer merit scholarships that range from $5,000 to $20,000 and $30,000 per year is given out in need based financial aid. The average student will receive about $32,000 in need based aid. Finally, about ½ of the students that attend Wheaton College are from New England, and 14% of their students are international, which is quite a big number for such a small school.




Emerson College: Emerson College is located in downtown Boston and is a very urban campus. The campus is comprised of 12 buildings in a 2 block radius; with many of the buildings having 10 floors or more of classrooms and production facilities. Emerson is comprised of 3,700 students and they are all about the communications and arts. Emerson is the only college in the country that concentrates on communications and arts in a liberal arts focus. They have a liberal arts core, which consists of 14 courses in addition to their major and electives. Their two main schools are School of Communications, which houses majors such as Communication Sciences and Disorders, Communication Studies, Marketing Communication, and Journalism and their School of the Arts, which houses majors such as Performing Arts, Visual and Media Arts, and Writing, Literature, and Publishing.  Emerson has an Honors Program, which accepts about 50-60 students each year, and they receive a ½ tuition scholarship. 

Emerson has amazing technology throughout the building, with performing arts studios, music and video production facilities and more. Students have access to the equipment from day one, and the opportunities they are given are hard to be rivaled from any other school in the country. Emerson also has a campus in LA, where many of their School of the Arts students will go for a semester or a year. Emerson is one of the few schools where some of their students have red carpet access at many of the most famous award shows in LA. Although there is not a lot of green space on the campus, Emerson is located right next to the Boston Common, which is one of the country’s oldest parks. It is an absolutely beautiful park, and many of the Emerson dorms have views of the park. Emerson is a great place for students interested in communications, journalism, or performing arts and those looking to be in a city setting. Although not as busy as New York City, this city campus has a ton going on, and is definitely worth a closer look for students.



Providence College: Providence College is a lovely liberal arts college located in Providence, Rhode Island. The school has about 4,200 undergraduates and is located about 1 mile from downtown Providence. The campus is beautiful with a ton of green campus spread throughout, but is very manageable to walk from one end to the other. Providence College has over 100 clubs and activities and intramurals are huge on their campus. Most students will say that winning an intramural champion t-shirt is the most coveted prize on campus. Providence is run by the Dominican order, and its Catholic identity is very important to the school. However, PC welcomes students from all faiths and backgrounds. PC has four important areas for students and staff to follow, which are contemplation & communication, cultural agility, integrated learning, and human flourishing. Volunteer and community service is extremely important at PC, with the majority of their students partaking in this during their time in school. Career education and preparation is also a big part of their culture. Career education starts at orientation, where students will do journal exercises to help with the planning of their future. Alumni are integral parts of their community with helping current students receive internships and jobs. Each year, Providence College hosts networking nights in Providence, Boston and New York City, and will be offering for the first time this year, a trip to LA for theatre students to network. The most recent numbers for the graduating class of 2013 produced that 6 months after graduating, 98% of the students were employed or in graduate school.

Although Biology is PC’s number one major currently, the business school at Providence is booming and is on the road to becoming one of the best in the country. It recently moved up 38 spots in the rankings for business schools. Ground will be broken on a new 60,000 square foot business building within the year, which will provide a beautiful space for all business students to learn. After touring the campus, talking with current students and staff, I feel that Providence College can be a hit for a variety of students. This is a school that obviously cares about its students and wants to make sure that all students receive an amazing education and are ready to be successful in their personal and professional lives, and make a real difference in the world.  


The following are just a few admissions facts and numbers: This year, PC’s early action applications increased 600 from the previous year, which is indicative of the ever increasing selectiveness of the school. Right now they have a 55-59% admission rate, and strength of schedule is very important to their counselors. Providence College is a test-optional school, and 35-40% of their applicants choose not to submit their scores. 




-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 1/5th 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

Thoughts about Test-Optional Schools


People often say that death and taxes are the only two things we can be sure of in our lives. Well for high school students, you can add one more to that list, and that is ‘standardized testing’. For some this is no big deal, and for others, this can be a very scary thought. There are tests to get you into high school, college, graduate school, professional schools, and tests to keep you enrolled in these schools. After that, there are tests to gain professional certificates and then to keep those certificates. As someone who was never a good test-taker, I wish tests didn't exist, but they do and we all better get used to that fact.

For high school juniors and seniors, the SATs and ACTs are a very important part of the college application process. Although some schools have started going test-optional, which means they do not consider a student’s standardized test scores for admission, there are still many questions about the effectiveness of this option. This is a very new process, and it is important for all students to research this option before applying test-optional to colleges. Please take a moment to read an article recently composed by Jennifer Karan, Executive Director of the SAT Program at the College Board, which talks about their view on test-optional schools:

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA


“Test Optional” May Not Mean What You Think It Means

Much has been made in the past few years about the ‘test-optional’ approach some colleges have taken toward admissions.  For those not familiar with the term, this means that these schools do not require students to submit a college entrance exam score.  At least, that’s what many of them would like you to think.
By making the admissions process appear a little easier or less cumbersome, higher education – and everyone else – knows students will be more likely to submit applications. To wit: in his 2009 report in The Journal of College Admission, Jonathan P. Epstein examined how dropping test requirements affects recruitment and enrollment. He said, “With colleges and universities engaged in intense competition to recruit ever more talented and diverse students… test-optional policies become alluring.”

Test-optional colleges often cite grades in core coursework and academic rigor as the most important factors on an application, and there’s no question that high school GPA is central to the admission process. What they don’t say is that the SAT actually serves as an objective validation of the factors like GPA. When test-optional colleges don’t require an entrance exam like the SAT from every student, they eliminate a fair and reliable predictor of how the applicant would perform at their institution.
Despite the label, test-optional schools still see the value in an SAT score.

College Board score-sending data indicates that 60 to 80 percent of applicants to test-optional schools still send SAT scores – and test-optional schools consider these scores when they’re received. Why?  Because students inherently understand that the SAT corroborates the other academic information on their application and colleges have seen that prove out time and again in their retention and graduation rates. 
Further, these schools often require scores to be submitted upon matriculation for course placement,  scholarship opportunities, and internal research, meaning that students who thought they didn’t need a college entrance exam end up taking one anyway, often on the fly.

As colleges work to become applicants’ dream schools, it’s important for students to remember that a seemingly easier application process – or the “alluring” path, as Epstein put it – isn’t always best.  College entrance exams provide critical information to students, parents and admission officers to help inform important decisions that will impact their future. 

By: Jennifer Karan, Executive Director SAT Program at the College Board

U-CAN...Visit One More Website!!

Although I am sure that the parents out there with children in high school have heard of all of the college search websites including CollegeBoard, Naviance, and College Prowler, and you may not want to see another option with even more information, but part of my job is to get AS MUCH information out there as possible…so here is another extremely helpful college search resource: U-CAN. U-CAN stands for University and College Accountability Network.

What makes U-CAN different from other college search sites is that it is exclusive to the nation’s private, nonprofit colleges and universities. Since there are far fewer schools this resource concentrates on, they are able to provide much more detailed and up-to-date information on independent colleges and universities. On the profiles for each college, U-CAN provides parents and students information points across the following areas:
  • ·         Admissions
  • ·         Enrollment
  • ·         Graduation Rates
  • ·         Most Popular Majors
  • ·         Price of Attendance History
  • ·         Financial Aid
  • ·         Loan Debt
  • ·         Specific class room size numbers
  • ·         And Others


The other really cool feature to this website is that each college profile provides around 26 links to specific pages on the college’s website. This is extremely helpful, as it is often difficult to navigate college websites and find the information you need. Finally, this site provides the latest news stories on choosing a college…which I encourage you all to read…as long as you continue to visit this blog too! Enjoy the site and visit it by clicking on the U-CAN website.

-Mr. Joseph D. Korfmacher, MASC