I remember some of my high school friends asking what's the point of going to college in the early 1990s. Many of them wanted to skip college and continue being a teen-ager forever. Where are they now?
COMPLETING a college education is important for many reasons. First, a graduate from a four-year university can expect to earn almost 75% more over a 40 year period than a high school graduate earns over the same period. If money is important to your happiness, than college should be in the picture. Second, college affords you the opportunity to attain knowledge. Do you want to be ignorant or informed on various matters surrounding your daily life? Third, college introduces you to people outside of your hometown. Why is this important? It gives you another perspective and interaction with people from different backgrounds and circumstances. Fourth, college empowers you to communicate. What are the most important skills in life? Reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. College helps build and refine these skills. Finallly, college is fun. What other time in your life do you have to interact with people your same age and learn for the sake of learning?
Fifty-two percent of students at a four year college or university either drop out or transfer before earning an undergraduate degree. Do you want to be part of the statistic or do you want to select a school wisely before enrolling?
College is important and if you plan on going, strongly consider your action plan.
Liam Dunfey
University Advisors
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Do Top Schools Produce High Earners?
In about a month, high school seniors will return for their final year of high school. They’ll be pressured to excel in their grades, perform well on SATs, and stay involved with outside activities. Many will begin the college search and feel as if they need to apply to and get into a brand name school under the misconceived notion that they won’t get a high paying job if they don’t go to a top school.
A recent article in Yahoo Finance asked if elite colleges produce the best paid graduates. I recommend parents and prospective students to read it because it analyzes college from an investment point of view. Sure, college is an experience, but it is also one of the most important investments that someone will make in their future. The brand of the school has less to do with success/potential of the student than what the student makes of the education.
There are thousands of schools that students haven’t heard of that would empower them with tools, resources, and educational experience to earn a comfortable living after college. The challenge, of course, is identifying these schools after doing an assessment of a student’s criteria for admission.
Liam Dunfey
University Advisors
A recent article in Yahoo Finance asked if elite colleges produce the best paid graduates. I recommend parents and prospective students to read it because it analyzes college from an investment point of view. Sure, college is an experience, but it is also one of the most important investments that someone will make in their future. The brand of the school has less to do with success/potential of the student than what the student makes of the education.
There are thousands of schools that students haven’t heard of that would empower them with tools, resources, and educational experience to earn a comfortable living after college. The challenge, of course, is identifying these schools after doing an assessment of a student’s criteria for admission.
Liam Dunfey
University Advisors
Thursday, July 16, 2009
For International Students - Looking for U.S. Universities
Now is the time to do a “self-assessment” for applying to U.S. universities. A few key questions suffice:
1. Have you taken the TOEFL (if English is not your first language)? Have you taken the SATs?
2. Have you identified your academic interest? The geographic region of appeal? The location – urban, suburban, rural, small town? The cost for attending?
3. Have you looked at the web sites of U.S. universities? Have you completed the “inquiry” forms of the admission section of the web sites in order to receive information by post and email?
4. Most importantly – are your grades and scores consistent with the academic and admission requirements of the universities on your preliminary list? In short, what are your prospects for acceptance?
If your tentative list is short – perhaps very short – then now is the time to act. International students often focus on just one or two universities in the States. That often is a mistake.
International students should follow the lead of American students who apply to four or six or eight universities on average.
Take action!
1. If your list is short now is the time to think about consulting with a U.S.-based university advisor. Identify possible choices by looking at the professional web site for the Higher Education Consultants of America – www.hecaonline.org. For a modest cost a consultant will help you to develop an appropriate list of universities.
2. Look for an answer to the last question: is your academic record consistent with the profile of students your chosen universities usually accept? Look on the admission section of the colleges’ web sites and heed the requirements and the entering class profile (most universities list both).
If you judge your qualifications to be in the range with recently enrolled students, then plan to apply! If your qualifications do not appear to be reflective of your universities’ expectations, your self-assessment should result in developing a different and more appropriate list.
Will Dunfey
University Advisors
Member – Higher Education Consultants Association
1. Have you taken the TOEFL (if English is not your first language)? Have you taken the SATs?
2. Have you identified your academic interest? The geographic region of appeal? The location – urban, suburban, rural, small town? The cost for attending?
3. Have you looked at the web sites of U.S. universities? Have you completed the “inquiry” forms of the admission section of the web sites in order to receive information by post and email?
4. Most importantly – are your grades and scores consistent with the academic and admission requirements of the universities on your preliminary list? In short, what are your prospects for acceptance?
If your tentative list is short – perhaps very short – then now is the time to act. International students often focus on just one or two universities in the States. That often is a mistake.
International students should follow the lead of American students who apply to four or six or eight universities on average.
Take action!
1. If your list is short now is the time to think about consulting with a U.S.-based university advisor. Identify possible choices by looking at the professional web site for the Higher Education Consultants of America – www.hecaonline.org. For a modest cost a consultant will help you to develop an appropriate list of universities.
2. Look for an answer to the last question: is your academic record consistent with the profile of students your chosen universities usually accept? Look on the admission section of the colleges’ web sites and heed the requirements and the entering class profile (most universities list both).
If you judge your qualifications to be in the range with recently enrolled students, then plan to apply! If your qualifications do not appear to be reflective of your universities’ expectations, your self-assessment should result in developing a different and more appropriate list.
Will Dunfey
University Advisors
Member – Higher Education Consultants Association
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