Admissions Expertise I want to make the most of campus visits. What should I do, look for, and ask while I’m there? Visit the campus while in session. After a formal visit and information session, explore the campus alone. Many schools, like Tufts, will let you attend classes. If you have a sense of your major, attend a core course. Arranged in advance, some will allow you to stay overnight in their dormitories. Anything is possible; just ask. Visit the gym, pick up the newspaper and check the bulletin boards, find out about internet access, go to the library, and talk to as many students as you can, especially over a meal in the cafeteria: they’re relaxed and open to honest exchanges. 397 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What makes a school large or small and what are some advantages and disadvantages of each? Attributing campus size to available resources might prove deceptive. Pomona College, for example, has only 1,500 undergraduates, smaller than many high schools. Yet, as part of the Claremont College Consortium, containing 5 undergraduate and 2 graduate schools, Pomona has a 2,500-seat concert hall, numerous art studios, interscholastic athletic teams, and a 1.9 million volume library. Pomona students can cross register for over 2,500 different courses, study abroad, participate in exchange programs with Swarthmore College, or a 3-2 engineering program with Cal Tech. Consequently, it pays to investigate a college regardless of size. You might find vast resources among small dimensions. 82 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What are the most accepted or exaggerated myths about the college admissions process? One exaggerated myth is if you are not admitted into a college by May 1st, your chances of attending college in the fall, or obtaining financial aid should you gain admittance, are low. The ‘NACAC Space Availability Survey Results,’ contain 279 colleges still accepting freshmen or transfers, with most of the listed schools also offering financial aid and on-campus housing. St John’s College (Annapolis, MD. & Santa Fe, NM), which features a Great Books core curriculum and places over 85% of its graduates into graduate school is on the list; and, the list is updated and online till July 1st. 957 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What if students can’t afford any of the schools they were accepted to? If students discover the schools that they have been accepted to are not affordable, they can appeal to the financial aid office of each college, after reviewing the financial aid packages awarded from the previous year on College Navigator (http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/), submit applications to alternative colleges (some schools are still accepting applications well into spring—the list can be found on the NACAC ‘space availability survey’) or they might elect to attend community college for two years and transfer—which is still the most economical path (though the latest $200/unit proposal for classes at Santa Monica College is threatening this option). Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What are the differences between college and conservatory dance departments? A conservatory program is preparing students to dance professionally upon graduation. The academics, in such a program, are distinctly secondary to the dance curriculum and performances. For example, at the conservatory program at SUNY Purchase, it awards a BFA in dance which consists of 90 credits for dance, and 30 credits for liberal arts and sciences (and 8 of these credits can be for a history of dance course). Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What are the strongest ballet departments? A lot of the strongest ballet departments are in NYC: Barnard and Columbia have excellent ballet programs; Julliard is one of the strongest in the country; NYU's Tisch; Fordham is also reputed to be quite good. Yet, good ballet programs are also found at Butler in Indiana, Indiana University, UC Irvine, Cal State University Long Beach, and the University of Arizona...and I'm just touching the surface. A good website to get updates on ballet departments and ask questions is Ballet Talk for Dancers, http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=26346. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What can I do with a major in the arts if I don't get full-time work as a performer /artist ? With the expansion of the web there is huge demand for graphic artists, writers, video developers, talented actors... and there have never been so many avenues to present your creativity to the public to open up your niche, such as You Tube. In fact the cost of creating your own music and finding channels in which to promote have never been so extensive and so inexpensive. Book publishing through such sites as Create Space is burgeoning. Even if you elect not to to continue in, say, drama, your experience is very useful in sales, teaching...anywhere where presenting ideas clearly with emotional impact is import is needed (and that's everywhere). Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. Can what I post on Facebook affect my chances of getting accepted? In September 2008, Kaplan surveyed 500 top colleges and discovered 10% of the admissions officers had investigated Facebook sites, discovering, in almost 40% of the cases, questionable content that reflected negatively on the candidate. That was three years ago. Facebook reviews are far more prevalent today and many junior admissions officers are savvy, inveterate users, who, if they need to, can find you on the Web. If you must post something risqué (raucous parties, inflammatory remarks, drug or alcohol use), out of peer pressure…, make sure your privacy settings strictly control access. Otherwise, yes, you are gambling your candidacy. 798 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. How can parents help students with the college search and application process? One way that parents can help is by determining the costs of the various colleges and clearly calculating what is affordable, and what scholarship and grant money would be needed to be able to attend. The costs, scholarship and grant information for most colleges can be found at College Navigator, which is a government site. Additionally, setting preliminary budgets with their students would be invaluable in helping the students gain command over their finances (this lesson alone is worth the price of an education). Moreover, discovering alternatives to private loans (especially Parent PLUS Loans) would be very helpful. 370 Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. See More Questions Close