Antioch College-Free Tuition for All Students

If you are a student who doesn’t mind a small school…and I am talking about a very small school, you may be interested in a college that is offering free tuition for all four years, for the incoming freshmen classes of ’12, ’13, and ’14. The college is Antioch College in Yellow Spring, Ohio, and estimated at $26,500 a year for tuition; students will be saving $106,000 in college tuition over four years!

What’s the reason for the free tuition? Well in 2008 Antioch closed its doors due to financial problems and poor management. However, alumni were appalled with the closing, so they put big bucks up to re-open the doors. The school now believes their finances are settled, and are offering free tuition as an incentive for students to apply. Right now, Antioch is offering 12 majors, and they still offer a strong co-op program for many of their majors.

Last year their freshmen class had a total of 35 students. Moving forward they are looking to accept 65-75 students within each freshmen class. So again, if you are looking for a school with thousands of students, historic sports teams, and hundreds of majors, Antioch definitely is not your school. But if you like the idea of an intimate setting where you would know basically everyone, you are interested in co-op programs, and you like the idea of building a school back up, take a look into Antioch. It certainly is worth a look!

The regular decision deadline for applicants this year is February 15^th, and the free-tuition incentive will last for the next three freshmen classes. Please click the following link to the school’s website: http://www.antiochcollege.org/

Naviance College Scholarship Page

Seniors, please remember to check the Naviance scholarship page weekly for scholarship opportunities! They are starting to fly in and you never know which one will give you a few thousand bucks towards college tuition. If you see one that interests you and you are eligible for, make sure you follow the link to their website or see Mr. Korfmacher in the college counseling office for an application. Remember to keep track of the deadlines and get all materials in ahead of time! All scholarships on Naviance are free of charge, so if you are eligible, there really is no reason to avoid applying!

The Importance of College FIT

‘The importance of fit’, when it comes to choosing a college to attend, is an expression that students and parents will be accustom to hearing during the college search process, especially as students of St. Peter’s Prep. But what does ‘fit’ really mean and why is it so important when choosing a college? As students in the college search process, you all want to find the right college, but this is often harder than it sounds. There are a multitude of elements and factors that should go into choosing a college, but often students and parents will look over some or all of the factors that need to be addressed. Instead, students may choose a college purely based on ranking, how good their sport teams are, if there significant other attends the school, and many other reasons that should not be a part of a very important decision.

1 in 3 students who enroll into college will transfer at some point during their time at college. This is an alarming statistic and although in some cases this cannot be avoided, many times this does not need to occur and would not occur, if the student spent more time researching colleges. Avoiding a transfer to another college will save a student and family time, money, and energy. During their time at Prep, college counselors will assist students in conducting authentic college searches and will give them the tools needed to find the right college fit for each individual. Very early on in the college search process, students need to examine within themselves and start discussing with their parents and counselors about their own personal skills, interests, and values. Understanding what they may be can greatly help students connect to certain schools out there, which match who they are as an individual. Remember, it is not about the best college, but the right college for you!

When discovering who you are as an individual, and finding colleges that meet your needs, you most likely will discover that there are multiple colleges that are right for you. This is a good discovery! When finding these colleges that are a right fit for you, not only will students be happier there, but chances are, they will have a better shot of being accepted! If you follow these five considerations while searching for colleges, you will be in great shape when it comes to making the final decision in spring of senior year!!

1) Academic Rigor- When searching for and applying to schools, students need to explore the classroom and academic environment specific to that college. Students must try to find the colleges that provide a style of instruction that is best matched to the way the student learns. If you are an individual who strives in the most competitive of environments, working on your own at most times, and rise to occasion when working with the toughest of teachers/professors, then look for similar collegiate programs. However, you may be someone who needs a little more guidance and support from professors, and do much better with courses that are not so competitive. You know who you are, and this is perfectly OK, but you want you realize this before attending a school in the fall.

2) Geographic Location - Get to know the campus and surrounding area of possible colleges. Realize that for the most part, this is where you will live for the next 4 years of your life! So it would make sense that you should be happy with the location of where you go to school. Are you happier in the city or in a rural environment? Would you prefer going to a college with 45,000 students or one with 1,500 students? Would you like to be less than 2 hours away from home, so you can come home whenever you like, or are you adventurous and would like to live out on the West Coast for awhile? We all have our preferences on where we are happiest and no one is wrong here! You may find a school that meets all of your other needs, but if you absolutely love the city, a school in the middle of Idaho, most likely will not make you happy! So make sure you are honest and accepting with where you are happiest, and visit the colleges you are most serious about! All schools look warm and welcoming on the internet, but you can only get a real feel by visiting colleges!

3) Major/Program Offerings- It is extremely important to apply and eventually attend a school that offers a program that matches a student’s interests. It is perfectly normal not to know what you want to do for a career in high school, but you can surely breakdown your choices to a few that best interest you. Make sure the college offers numerous majors you may see yourself doing, and this will surely help in the process.

4) Cost of Tuition- Far too often, students will find a college that is really great for them, but find out in March, that they just are not receiving enough financial aid and the college will just cost too much to attend. Taking out loans is definitely an option and may be inevitable, but do yourself a favor, and create a list of schools that have a wide variety of cost of attendance. We urge all students to apply to 6-8 schools, for many reasons, but one reason is that some colleges may help out financially much more than others. So if you research schools diligently and apply to 6-8 colleges that you love, the deciding factor may come down to money. If this is the case, it may make it much easier to choose the school that will not have you in debt until you have grandchildren, because you have done the research and you love the school!

5) Chances of Admission- You must be realistic when it comes to applying to colleges. Students should all be applying to 2-3 safety schools, 2-3 target schools, and 2-3 reach schools. If your list contains all reach schools, you may be in trouble come March. We absolutely think all students should strive for ‘reach’ schools, but there needs to be schools on the list that students are confident they will be accepted into. So you should not only be making sure you apply to the schools that are right for you, but be realistic with your chances of getting in!

So, remember, there are a multitude of factors that need to go into making this life decision. Students and families should not focus solely on any one factor, but the combination of all of them. College is not just about going to the classroom, but is about growing and living in the right environment and community. Please try to remember these basic ideas when searching, applying, and eventually settling on the college that is the right fit for YOU!

Preview to Spring College-Tour Trip!

The College Counseling Office will be offering a college-tour trip to Boston for current juniors! This is an excellent opportunity to get a feel for campus and academic life at numerous colleges. During this two day trip, students will travel by bus to visit 4-5 colleges in the Boston area. Probable schools should include Boston College, Northeastern University, Boston University, Emerson, and the College of the Holy Cross.

We will be leaving early in the morning of Tuesday, 4/24 and returning in the evening on Wednesday, 4/25. We will spend the night in a hotel in Boston, and travel by bus to the colleges for tours and information sessions. Students will miss classes on Tuesday, as well as the Prep Day activities on Wednesday, and should be aware that they will also miss practice on those days for any spring sports.

The cost for this trip is yet to be determined, but should be approximately $100 per student (price includes transportation, hotel stay, pizza buffet Tuesday night, and breakfast Wednesday morning). Space is limited and there will be a maximum of 40 students for this trip! Price is subject to increase depending on the amount of students who sign up.

Please register with Mr. Korfmacher in the college counseling office on the 3^rd floor of Mulry (or by e-mail at korfmacherj@spprep.org) if you would like to attend. A spot can only be officially reserved once a payment is made. A notice will follow soon with the exact amount due. Thank you.

NJ Tuition Assistance-- EOF/TAG

As college cost continues to increase (on average tuition goes up 8% each year), some families literally cannot afford to send their child to college. In addition to state, federal, and institutional scholarships, grants, and loans, NJ has money specifically for students that demonstrate a great deal of financial need. Students from an economically disadvantaged background may qualify for the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) or the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) in many of our NJ public and private institutions.

To be eligible, students must have lived in New Jersey for at least 12 months, and plan on attending a NJ college or university. Tuition Aid Grants can cover up to the total cost of tuition for many of the NJ schools and the Educational Opportunity Fund can award students annually anywhere from $200-$2,500. For students to be eligible for either of these awards, they must show strong academic capabilities and must demonstrate financial need.

The chart that shows where the family income level must be at in order to receive an EOF grant can be found HERE. Eligibility requirements and instructions on how to apply are located HERE. Finally, in order to figure out if you qualify for a TAG award, how much you may receive, and all participating NJ schools, please click the tab HERE.

Financial Aid Help

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!

 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!

FAFSA  - 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!

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 NPC 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!

SAT OR ACT: CHOOSING BETWEEN THE TWO TESTS

 So, it is early January and it is about that time for juniors to start planning their schedule to register for the standardized admissions test for college. Although there are many schools that are test-optional (meaning they do not require SAT or ACT scores for students to apply—please  click on the link to see a list of these schools), the majority of colleges do need to see a score report from one of these tests. Later in the year, we will be discussing the reasons these tests exists, and the pros and cons, but for now, we 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!

As you will see the main differences between the two tests deal with format, timing, and scoring.

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.

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!

SAT/ACT ALERTS

Whether you are a senior trying to take a final stab at one of the standardized college admission tests to boost your scores, or a junior just starting the testing process, here are a few fast facts about the upcoming tests:

SAT and SAT II (www.collegeboard.org) All tests are offered at Saint Peter’s Prep.

SAT Fee: $49.00

SAT II Fees: Basic registration fee = $22/ Charge per test = $11/ Charge for Language with listening test = $22

Next Test Date: January, 28, 2012

Sign-Up Deadline: December 30, 2011

Late Deadline (additional fee applies): January 13, 2012  

SAT Subject Tests offered in January: Spanish (non-listening), French (non-listening), Math Level 1 and 2, U.S. History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology (E & M), and Literature.

Following this test, there will be an SAT on March 10^th (registration deadline-February 10^th). The final two SAT’s of the season will be held May 5^th, and June 2^nd.

The majority of colleges and universities do not require SAT subject tests (also called SAT II). However, many competitive schools do require anywhere from one to three subject tests. Therefore, for juniors who are planning to apply to more selective schools, we recommend that you map out a schedule of subject tests that will be most beneficial to your personal college application process. (Please feel free to meet with your Guidance Counselor.) Certain SAT subject tests are not offered on every SAT, so please visit the College Board site to view the schedule of subject tests. 

*Please be advised that the March SAT date will not offer any subject tests, so please plan accordingly.

ACT (http://www.actstudent.org/) Tests are not offered at Saint Peter’s Prep.

Fee: Without writing section = $34.00/ With writing section = $49.50 (writing cost is refundable)

Next Test Date: February 11^th, 2012

Sign-up Deadline: January 13^th, 2012

Late Deadline (additional fee applies): January 14^th-20^th, 2012

Following this test, there will be only two more tests for this season on April 14^th and June 9^th.

The optional writing section on the ACT is a 30-minute essay test that measures your writing skills. Some schools require that the applicant include this when taking the ACT, so make sure to look into that before registering for the ACT. There is a tool on the ACT website that will search for the colleges that require the writing section of the ACT, which can be found here: http://www.actstudent.org/writing/index.html .

We hope this information has been helpful, and please check in next week as Prep’s College Knowledge will go into detail about the differences of the ACT and SAT. All colleges and universities now accept either the ACT or the SAT, and often students will perform better on one test than the other. We will take a deeper look into these two college admissions tests, to help you decide which one is the best fit for you!

Welcome!

Welcome everyone to the recently established Saint Peter’s Prep College Counseling Blog! The name of our blog is ‘Prep’s College Knowledge’, and we hope to provide you with knowledge on everything to do with college admissions. Of course, our target audience is Prep students and parents, but please feel free to share this site with other friends and family also going through the college admissions process. The goal of this blog is to simply get as much information out to you as possible on a weekly basis.

Prep’s College Knowledge will focus on preparing students and their families for the college admissions process. We will provide important dates and deadlines, admissions trends, and leading research on college admissions. Additionally, we hope to allow some current seniors to use this blog to write about their experiences with the college application process. Their testimonies should provide insight on the “do’s and don’ts” of applying to colleges. We also would like to use this blog as a place to assist students and their families on the emotional and psychological transition into college. Leaving home for the first time and being away from family can often be a stressful time for everyone involved, and we hope to provide helpful tips and strategies to aid the entire family in dealing with this change.

As of now we will not allow readers to comment directly to the blog, but please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Joseph Korfmacher of the Prep College Counseling Department if you have any comments/questions about the blog or would like to suggest certain topics to be addressed. Mr. Korfmacher can be reached at korfmacherj@spprep.org. Finally, this blog will be updated 1-2 times a week. Please visit us weekly to learn some valuable information on the increasingly important and ever-changing college admissions process!