Admissions Expertise Are guidebooks, relatives, and rankings useful in choosing a school? Guidebooks, opinions from relatives, and magazines or websites that rank colleges based on their criteria are all tools that can have a place while you conduct your school search. And while they all may be useful to varying degrees while RESEARCHING a school, CHOOSING a school should be based on whether the school meets the criteria that is most important to you, be that choice of major, size, location, greek life, athletics, etc. Do your research and, most importantly, visit schools. This will put you in a solid position to make an informed choice based on what you want, not on the opinions of others. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. What are the most important factors to consider while researching colleges? The first consideration should be your choice of major or desired field of study. If you are focused enough and are ready to make this decision as you enter college, then clearly you must begin researching those schools that offer what you wish to study. If you are undecided, which is perfectly ok, then consider the following in any order of importance to you: size (both of the campus and student population), geographic location, setting (urban, suburban, rural), financial aid consideratons (need blind, no-loan, 100% need met) and "other." The "other" must be things that are important to you outside of the biggees listed above. These are things like sport team enthusiasm, study abroad programs, co-op or internship opportunities, housing options, etc. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. Are there ways to waive college application fees? The Normally, application fee waivers may be granted if a student can demonstrate that the application fee would pose a financial hardship on them or their parents/guardians but the process for obtaining them depends on the college or university. At many, if you qualify for a fee waiver for the SAT or free lunch program at your high school, you will be eligible for an application fee waiver. Some schools allow a college counselors to submit the NACAC application fee waiver form on your behalf and some schools also require a letter from your college counselor explaining why the fee would cause a financial hardship. Some schools have their own forms students must complete and make the determination to grant a fee waiver based on that information. Some schools will waive appliction fees to those who have had parents or siblings attend the school. Some schools will give fee waivers to students who take part in special information sessions or school events.In short, many colleges and universities will waive application fees to those who need the financial help the most, but they all have their own processes for granting those waivers. Best to check with each school you plan to apply to individually to find out their process. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed. Is it ok to have someone proofread your essay? Not only is getting someone to proofread your college essay ok, it is essential. Making the little mistake (writing "then" instead of "than") or the big mistake (writing "Harvard" instad of "Yale") can leave an impression you do not want to make. An extra set of eyes to make sure you avoid the pitfalls spellcheck does not pick up on or the 5 line run-on sentence is invaluable. Remember...sometimes proofreaders like to make comments on substance and content versus just style. Suggestions are great but you should feel free to ignore them. The essay is your chance to be you in the application process. Make sure you do not use suggestions that might take away from the admissions representative ability to find out about YOU in your essay. 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 ? There are many types of jobs that a performing or studio arts major off the stage or out of the studio could look into in education, museums, community outreach programs, and more. But this does not mean that there WILL be those jobs with openings. I would give serious thought to your actual degree choice before you consider what you might do with it upon graduation. Should you choose a prestigious art school to pursue a BFA in your field, you might be immersed in that program with little time for other academic pursuits. If you choose to earn a BA, however, your academic options open up somewhat and you can take more courses across disciplines which could possibly lead you to the meshing of two passions. Let’s say you are seeking a BA in Dance and you find that you have a real interest in biology after taking anatomy and physiology, a class you took to fulfill a science requirement along with your dance concentration. Now Dance or Movement Therapy enters into the picture as a future graduate or career focus, or even medical school. Having a really specific degree might limit your options after graduation. Being open to fields related to your passion and degree may give you more opportunities. Likes Like This Answer Already Liked This Answer Thank you, this item will be reviewed.