The article basically reinforces what I have told students for some years. If you want to go into business, whatever that means, you don’t necessarily need a business major. Most businesses are not concerned about whether you understand profit and loss statements or how to market. They will teach you the basic skills you need to know for their business regardless of your background.

What they really want is an employee who knows how to think. Someone who knows how to communicate. Someone who can write a decent proposal.

Can business majors do that?  Some can.  But those are skills you are much more likely to gain with a liberal arts major than a business major.

If you want to go into business, great. If you want to be a business major, that is fine too. But don’t think you have to be a business major to get a job in business. It just isn’t necessary.

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Is a Business Major a Good Idea?

If testing is not your strong point, you now have one more option for applications.

For a list of all test optional colleges go to Fairtest.org.

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Ithaca College Goes Test Optional

What is a Gap Year?  A gap year occurs when a student takes a year off before continuing their education. This typically occur after senior year in high school when a student decides to wait a year before taking college. Taking several years off is most common after college and before graduate school.

Why would I take a Gap Year?  There are many reasons students take a gap year. Some students, after working hard during high school, just want a year off before jumping back into the hard work of a competitive college.  Other students want to take a year off because they are not sure what they want to do while in college and use the year off to figure out what they want. Still other students want to do more of something they have fallen in love with like travel or research.

What can I do on a gap year?  Anything you want. Well, almost anything. Colleges frown on students taking a year off and then doing nothing. So sitting home playing video games is not a great option.

Common activities I see students doing during a gap year include traveling, volunteering,  doing research, taking a class at a local college or working. Often, students are involved in more than one of these options.

The important thing if you are taking a gap year is to do something you like. Or something you have always wanted to try. Or something that scares you. Taking a year off is about personal growth and that can mean many different things to different people.

What do colleges think of gap years?  Most colleges are very supportive of students who wish to take a year off. They understand that when the student arrives on campus after taking a gap year they are likely to be more mature and a more interesting person because of that extra  year. Those are good things as far as colleges are considered.

Princeton University in fact has institutionalized the gap year in what they call their Bridge Year Program. This program encourages incoming freshman to take a year off and do some type of volunteering abroad. The program is so popular that they have had to limit the number of students that can be involved in the official program.

If I want to take a gap year, how do I arrange it? First,  you need to figure out what you want to do. You can’t make any firm plans yet until you know if your college will give you the year off. But, consider your options and decide on which ones make the most sense to you. There is no right way to do this so keep an open mind and think about what would be best for you.

Second, you need to contact the college you have been admitted to and ask them if you can take a year off and start college a year later than normal. My experience has been that most colleges are very willing to do this as long as you have something worth while planned for the year.

Once you get permission for the gap year, now is the time to finalize your plans. If you are planning on staying local you can most likely find all sorts of options for volunteering or working.

Here are a few websites of programs to get you started thinking about all of the options you will have this next year.

The Center for Interim Programs

City Year

National Civilian Community Corps

USA Gap Year Fairs

Taking a gap year is certainly not for everyone. But for the right student, taking a year off before starting college might just be one of the best decisions you can make.

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Guide to Taking a Gap Year

The New York Times recently reported on a study of robo graders that are being used to grade writing samples, including the SAT writing section. The results of the study indicate that robo graders, i.e. computer programs that grade written essays, do a great job.  The automated reader used for the SAT grades 16,000 essays in 20 seconds. 20 seconds.

So, what’s the problem? The problem is that the computer programs use very specific  standards for what is good writing. If you know the standard, you can do better on the writing section. Want to know how to do better on the SAT writing section? Of course you do.

Use big words because the program thinks you are smarter if you do so. Write as much as possible because longer essays general do better than shorter essays. Don’t use short sentences or short paragraphs. Don’t start a sentence with “and” or “or”. But, use “however” and “moreover” because those words show you understand complex thinking (well, at least the computer thinks you do).

I know, you’re worried about writing an essay that is not only long but answers the question. Don’t worry, the computer program reading your essay doesn’t care if any of the facts you cite are correct. Did Abraham Lincoln cause the Vietnam war by invading Poland. Sure, why not.

Go out there and practice using big words while writing long essays and you’ll do fine on the SAT writing section. Just forget all of that when you start writing your college application essays. Because real people read those.

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How Reliable is Your SAT Writing Score?

The list of colleges includes information on whether the college has openings for freshman and transfer students starting Fall 2012 but also whether the college has any financial aid available. Information on availability of housing is also provided.

If things didn’t go as planned during the regular application period, hopefully you can find some colleges on this list that will be a good fit for you.

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Colleges Still Accepting Applications 2012

Here is how it will work. I have plans to be in the following areas this summer:

San Jose, California

Chicago, Illinois

Edison, New Jersey

If you live near one of those areas and would like to meet with me personally to discuss how I can help your student become the strongest possible candidate for a BS/MD program or other highly selective college, drop me an email. I have a limited number of one hour slots available for these meetings.

There is no charge for these meetings so if you have been considering working with me, let me know.

There is one limitation that you need to be aware of. As many of you know, I limit the number of students that I work with to 25 students per class year.  I have very few openings for current juniors so appointments with those students will be very limited.

I look forward to meeting some of you this summer.

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Do You Want to Meet in Person?

This grid includes not only the regular admissions rates but also the early decision rates for colleges that have that option.  These statistics are included for both 2012 and 2011.

Finally, don’t freak out when you look at some of these low acceptance rates. There are still many students that do get accepted into these colleges. And just as importantly, there are many great colleges that don’t have acceptance rates that are this ridiculous.

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Selective College Admission Rates 2012

I recently received a copy of the new book “College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step” written by Robin Mamlet and Christine VanDeVelde. I took notice because I recognized Robin as the former director of admissions at Swarthmore, Stanford and Sarah Lawence.  This was someone who clearly knew what admissions was like, particularly at highly selective colleges.

In addition to the authors personal knowledge, they also include in the book advice from dozens of other deans of admissions.

This book is one that I can recommend for most students. The book is broken into 10 parts including:

Part I-The Big Picture

Part II-Getting Organized

Part III-Becoming College Bound

Part IV-Where to Apply

Part V-Applying

Part VI-Timing

Part VII-Paying

Part VIII-Deciding

Part IX-Special Circumstances

Part X-Appendix

At the beginning of each chapter there is a list of checkpoints, which is basically a quick outline of each of the important points of that chapter.

The step by step approach of the book is what makes it particularly helpful.

But, the book has a weakness. The authors assume that every student has great counseling in their high school. Well, that isn’t quite correct. The book acknowledges that many students don’t have adequate counseling but then discusses all of the help they will get from their high school counselor.

While some students will get proper counseling from their high school counselors, in my experience, that number is very few.  The problem, as I have discussed before, is that there are too few counselors for too many students.

The book does discuss independent counselors but with an obvious bias. At one point they say that dealing with independent counselors is like “shark infested waters.”  It is true that you should always make sure that you are dealing with a competent professional when hiring anybody. And it is true that there are a few counselors that charge very high sums. But most ethical counselors, those that belong to an organization like IECA,  have the background and expertise to help students through the admission process while making sure that the application is from the student. IECA even has a list of the 12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Independent Educational Consultant.

The book is a good overview of the process and for many students it may be enough to help them through the college admissions process. But don’t be misled by the books lack of understanding of how most independent counselors work.  There is a reason that 26% of high achieving students use independent counselors to help with the admissions process.

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Book Review-College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step

Northwestern HPME

Caltech/University of San Diego Medical Scholars Program

Brown PLME

University of Miami HPME

Boston University Seven-Year Program of Liberal Arts and Medical Education

Union College/Albany Medical College

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Albany Medical College

George Washington Seven Year BA/MD Program

St. Louis University Medical Scholars Program

University of Missouri Kansas City BS/MD Program

Wayne State Medstart Program

University of the Sciences/The Commonwealth Medical College Dual Degree Program

Yale University

Stanford University

Princeton University

Dartmouth University

Brown University

Columbia University

University of Pennsylvania

Cornell University

Duke University

Washington University in St. Louis

Rice University

MIT

University of Notre Dame

Pomona College

Carleton College

Reed College

Emory University

University of Rochester

USC

UC Berkeley

UCLA

UC San Diego

College of William and Mary

Congratulations to all of my students for your successes and thanks for being so great to work with this past year.

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2012 Admits for Our Students

I appreciate the thought. I really do. But you know what? My students are the ones getting admitted. It is because of their grades, test scores, volunteering, research and everything else that gets them admitted.

Do I help them understand what they need to do to be a competitive candidate for a competitive college or BS/MD program?. Yes.

Do I help them find the right colleges and programs for their particular needs? Yes.

Do I help with the application process so that they present themselves in the strongest possible light? Yes.

Do I help prepare them for the all important medical school interview? Yes.

But make no mistake about it. I don’t get students in. My students get themselves in. And for that I am proud.

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I Couldn’t Have Done it Without You