What is the Difference Between A College and A University?

It is a tough question to answer because, in the United States at least, the two terms are often used interchangeably.

“Colleges are smaller!” “Universities award graduate degrees.”

While those statements are often true, there are many exceptions to the rule. Dartmouth College has four graduate divisions and over 6,000 students. Soka University of America has a student body of just over 400 and one very small graduate degree offered.

Frequently, parents that have been educated outside of the US equate the term “college” with a less competitive institution or junior college program, as is the case in their home country. This is not the case. Some of the most selective and highly competitive institutions in the US are small liberal arts colleges.

Our advice? Forget the term and do some digging into the institution’s programs, philosophy, and culture. Otherwise, you’re likely to miss out on a perfect match for you!

Students Still Want the Real College Experience

There is so much uncertainty in the time of COVID-19 and news outlets are proclaiming the end of college as we know it. But the reality is that most families are still committed to the traditional college experience for their students. They understand the benefits of on-campus learning: the connections you make, the confidence you gain, the learning that takes place outside of the classroom.

So don’t panic! Things will return to normalcy. There may very well be some corrections (less money spent on lazy rivers and climbing walls would be OK with me), but corrections can be a good thing.

Online college is OK. But real college still matters!

Should I Choose Pass/ Fail?

COVID-19 has made everything more complicated!!

Q: My high school has given us the option of going pass/fail this spring, in light of the coronavirus. Should I do it?

A: Many districts have made a unilateral decision; they will be adopting a Credit/ No Credit or Pass/ Fail grading policy this spring for all students. If that is the case for you, breathe easy. We have not come across a single college or university that will penalize a student for not having letter grades this spring — large research universities, small liberal arts colleges, the most selective institutions, and your regional state affiliates are all going to be adaptable.

One of our favorite statements is from Tulane University: “Whatever your school does, we’ll support it. If you have only P/F in the second semester, we’ll totally understand. It might mean we put a bit more emphasis on your first semester, but we’ll also completely understand your circumstances. If you’re currently on an upward trend, we’ll make the assumption that that trend would have continued in the second semester. We’ll give you the benefit of the doubt in every single way we can. Tulane just announced that students can opt to take their classes Pass, Minimal Pass, Or Fail, so we get it. Go to your online classes, do the best you can, make your presence felt, try your hardest. We’ll notice, trust me.”

So what if you have the choice like Tulane is offering their students? P/F or grades?

Our advice to students is to opt for the letter grade unless you have:

• Health challenges in your family (physical or mental)

• Technology and connectivity issues

• Significant family responsibilities taking time away from schoolwork

If any of the above apply to you, a simple explanation on your application will be enough for a college admission officer! And if you have a nagging concern, reach out to us — we’ll be happy to reassure you!

For the rest of you, we recommend plugging along and doing your best with online learning, getting the best grades that you can! You’re developing skills that will serve you well in the future: time management, self-motivation, and grit. You can do it!

The Pressure to Commit to a College

They’ve made a complex process even more complex!

Q: I was admitted to several colleges through early action. I keep getting emails and phone calls asking me to commit to attending. I’d like to hear back from my regular decision schools and compare merit scholarships but I’m worried. Am I making a mistake?

A: Over the summer, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) settled a dispute with the Department of Justice, changing their Code of Ethics and Professional Practices. Citing antitrust concerns, the DOJ questioned a “restraint of trade” among colleges and universities in their recruitment of students. Begrudgingly, NACAC members voted to alter certain policies and eliminate certain restrictions.

One of the most significant changes is that colleges may now offer incentives to students to commit to a college or university before the universal decision date of May 1, when students must let a college know if they will be attending or not. Almost immediately after the change, we saw colleges dangling preferential housing, free parking, earlier class registration, and even additional merit scholarships to students.

So what’s a student to do?

• Wait until you’ve received all of your decisions before committing! We’d hate to see a student miss out on a better opportunity simply because they were feeling the pressure to commit.

• Don’t double deposit. NACAC guidelines still prohibit students from sending enrollment deposits to more than one institution.

• Call! Ask the college if they will give you more time. Most will!

Are you interested in the other changes made by the DOJ inquiry? See them here.

Breaking Through College Essay Writer's Block

Don’t lose steam! You’re almost there!

Q: Most of my essays are done, but I’m procrastinating on the last few. I can’t recycle something I’ve already written; I’m stuck.

A: It’s not uncommon for students to lose steam at the end of the college application process, especially when they’ve got some of the more challenging prompts left to go. Stanford’s roommate question? U Chicago? Why us?

Rather than spinning your wheels, take a step back. In my many years of working with students on the often-stressful college application process, I’ve found that some really great essays appear when a student says, “The heck with it. I’m going to have some fun with this.”

Why does this work? A student is stuck for a reason, and most often, that is because they are trying too hard. They want their essay to be unique, compelling, descriptive, witty, relatable. Amidst all of that mind-chatter, they lose their voice and don’t really know what they are writing or why they are writing it.

As a reader, you can tell when a student has had fun with the essay. And oftentimes, these pieces of writing are witty, relatable, unique, and compelling — but not forced.

So open a new document, queue up your favorite playlist, and have a little fun.

Get “Game-On” for that Internship or Job Search!

This post is an interview with Rich Vancil, a College Matters resource. Rich is a Madison resident and is a career coach for college students, specializing in the “effective networking” part of the job-search process. He delivers his workshops and seminars at the Connecticut College Career Center and Academic Resource office as part of the college’s Distinguished Alumni series.

Q. What’s new in today’s job-search environment for students?

A. Well…technology disruption…of course!

The career platforms (Indeed, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, etc.) have achieved an impressive “scale” of content and audience, much like Google or Facebook or Amazon. These companies aggregate job listings from job boards, employer posts, and staffing companies. This aggregation is a huge magnet to the job-searcher as a perceived one-stop-shop and “one-click” experience. A downside is that a magnet can also be a black-hole. Resumes go in, but the odds that something comes back out are very low. Example: Bank of America receives about 2 million resumes per year for about 20,000 job postings. 97% of those resumes will be tossed out by software before ever being reviewed by a human. With these odds, it is more critical than ever that the job-searcher identifies and nurtures an “insider” to help them. To do that, they have to network.

Q. Does a student have to know someone on the “inside” personally?

A. Although it certainly helps, you don’t have to know someone personally to network. This means making actual phone calls or leaving voice mails, crafting thoughtful and concise emails, and taking assertive/appropriate follow-up steps. It can be uncomfortable work for the student. It makes them feel afraid and vulnerable. Where do I find these insiders? How do I contact or connect with them? What should I ask them? It’s a scary process, but it’s likely to be the most effective.

Q. What are the colleges and the college career centers doing to help the student?

A. The Career Center is a great resource. And your alumni network is hugely valuable. Learn how to access and nurture this network! I help students on how to do this professionally and effectively.

Bear in mind that the Career Center staff can be spread thin. The national average for all colleges and universities is about 1,800 (!) students to one staff member. At a small top-tier college, the ratio is better, but still, each career-center staffer might have to serve 200, 300, or more very anxious students and parents.

Liberal arts colleges, in particular, are under significant pressure to produce a better “product”… that product being a job-ready graduate that an employer wants to pull on-board.

In response to this, many colleges are scrambling to increase their investments in career-readiness. They are now offering “life-skills” workshops in their resource centers. They are adding subjects such as finance and accounting cohorts to their core curriculum.

At Connecticut College, where I volunteer, a new “Fast-Forward” program has been launched. Students come back to the college during winter break for an intensive week of job-search skills, interview role-plays, presentation skills, and more. I will be on the staff!

Q. What are the successful first steps that a student should take on their job-search path?

A. Begin to develop the networking process skills early. An underclass student should begin to develop these skills during the internship search. This includes learning the tools; getting a sense for the “numbers game” that a job search is (lots of “no’s and lots and lots of ghosts); learning the process of developing a network; becoming more comfortable with professional-grade correspondence and interactions. By the senior year, when the stakes are high, the student is “game-on” ready.

It is not unusual for me to meet with a “Help-Me, Please!” student in March of their senior year. I start off by asking, “OK…. So, what do you have going on?” And a frequent response is, “Well...not that much…but my Dad is REALLY on my case!”

The greatest obstacle to starting is paralysis about personal interaction and networking. Because of that fear and to avoid those process steps, the student quickly turns to the mechanical steps such as submitting resumes on-line. In this way, the student can now respond to Dad: “Well, I submitted 20 resumes this week!” But as discussed above, the results of that will likely lead to rejection, which will lead to discouragement, which could lead to less effort. A bad spiral! But moving out of this and into a virtuous spiral is highly coachable as a learnable skill, and this “Effective Networking” process will become a career-long asset.

Registering for the Draft to Apply for Federal Financial Aid

Q: Do I really need to register for the draft when filling out the FAFSA?

A: On this issue, your options are extremely limited. If you are a male between the ages of 18-25, interested in applying for federal financial aid for college, you are required to register for the Selective Service.* As of now, females are not required to register. Failing to register for the Selective Service if you are 18-25 years old will disqualify you from receiving federal financial aid. There are a very limited number of exemptions: exemptions.

Registration can be completed directly through the Selective Service System (any time after the student is 17 years and 3 months old) at www.sss.gov or by obtaining and filling out a Selective Service Form 1 at any U.S. Post Office and mailing it in.  If you haven’t yet registered at the time you are filling out the FAFSA, you must check the option indicating that you would like to register through the FAFSA application to qualify for federal aid. If you have already registered, indicate that on the FAFSA.  If the student doesn’t answer the question on the FAFSA, they will have another chance to do so on the Student Aid Report (SAR) that is received once the FAFSA is processed.

Note that males are required to register with the Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. If a male student is not yet 18 at the time they complete the FAFSA, they are not required to register, even if they will turn 18 during the upcoming year (i.e. the FAFSA does not need to be updated for that year.)  However, when they reapply for financial aid in subsequent years after turning 18 (you must file a FAFSA each year to receive aid), they will have to indicate that they would like to register on the FAFSA or indicate that they have already registered.

If you have any further questions, contact the Selective Service Registration Information Office at 847-688-6888 or www.sss.gov .

*Failing to register for the Selective Service if you are 18-25 years old is a felony under the Military Selective Service Act.  Conviction of a violation can result in imprisonment for up to five years and fines of up to $250,000.

Ask the Consultant: Common App or Coalition

Most times, the path leads you back where you need to be.

Q: Several of the colleges I’m applying to accept both the Common Application and the Coalition Application. Does it matter which one I choose?

A: The Common Application and the Coalition application are quite similar. Both allow a student to enter data about themselves, their family, their school, and their extracurricular activities once and send completed applications to a variety of schools. But there are some differences.

First of all, not all colleges subscribe to both. So take a look at the list of colleges that utilize each platform. If all of your schools are Common App or Coalition exclusive, there’s no other option.

But if you do have a choice, here are a few things to think about.

• Your guidance counselor probably wants you to use the Common App! Why? Because the tools that schools use to send transcripts and letters of recommendation (Naviance, Parchment, etc.) don’t integrate with the Coalition App, so it can be more work for them at a time when they are already taxed by all the paperwork!

• Have a creative but short essay? Coalition may be the way to go. There are more formatting options in the Coalition app than on the Common App. That being said, each college has the ability to limit the word count on their main personal statement. We’ve seen limits anywhere between 250 and 550 words.

• Have a lot of extracurricular activities? The Common App gives you room for ten; the Coalition, eight.

• Have a few extracurricular activities but a lot to say about them? The Coalition app gives you more space to describe each activity.

• Have an art portfolio, music recording, research abstract? The Common App integrates with Slideroom, allowing you to send that along for review.

• The Coalition app has partnered with the College Board, to allow students to send SAT and SAT subject test scores within the application.

Finally, if a college accepts both, take a look at the supplemental essays on each. Sometimes they are different! That, in and of itself, can make your decision.

Getting a Divorce? Think College!

Before you embark on a divorce, know the rules!

By the time the family is in our office, it is often too late!

“The divorce agreement said that I would keep the house and he wouldn’t have to pay for college.” “He lives with dad most of the time, but I was advised to claim him on my taxes.” “I was told that since my income is less, we won’t have to involve my ex!”

Such advice, given often by divorce mediators and attorneys or financial planners, can be well-meaning, but fails to take into consideration the nuance of the world of college affordability.

The bad news is that, when allocating money for financial aid, colleges and universities don’t care what the divorce document says — you’ll need to follow their rules. And they have stringent criteria for who is determined to be the fiscally responsible primary parent, as well as who else is expected to contribute to the student’s education.

The federal government site has an excellent overview of who is considered the “parent” for financial aid purposes. In most cases, it is the parent with whom the student spends over 50% of their time. But that just applies to colleges which use the federal methodology for allocating money. Most private colleges use a different formula, one in which both parent’s incomes are considered.

This can come as quite a shock to parents embarking on the college search process. And it can be particularly hard on kids, for whom it feels like the divorce is happening all over again.

So, before you sign anything, know the rules! And if you decide to re-marry, please do the same!

Ask the Consultant: Should I go Greek?

Deciding whether or not to join a fraternity or sorority can be tough, especially at colleges and universities where rush occurs for freshmen in the fall. You’ve barely stepped foot on campus when you’re asked to choose your BFFs for the next four years! (And they are choosing you). It’s like applying to college all over again!

So here are a few pros and cons to think about when deciding whether or not to go Greek.

PRO: Being in a fraternity or sorority can make a big campus feel smaller. In high school, did you have a tight-knit group of friends that hung together most of the time? Then Greek life may be a great transition to college.

CON: It’s expensive! Each semester there are dues to pay as well as fees for parties, formals, and swag.

PRO: If you join for the right reasons, not just for the parties, Greek life can be an excellent way to develop leadership skills and cultivate a network of alumni. Your LinkedIn is gonna’ explode!

CON: It’s time-consuming! Do you have high aspirations for a higher level degree? Something like medical or law school that screen by college GPA? Studies have shown that student’s GPAs drop while pledging a Greek organization.

PRO: All Greek organizations are philanthropic — some more than others. Are you a giver? You could find a niche!

CON: Hazing! Unfortunately, every pledging season brings stories of tragedy. Usually, these hazing deaths are the result of binge drinking. Do your homework before you join!