College Search

Question: I am a good student and interested in attending an all-women’s college but am not sure how to make a choice.

You are wise to consider a women’s college because—while not the right choice for everyone—they offer an opportunity to learn about yourself in ways that are different than what you would encounter in a coeducational school, even if you feel quite at home in a coed environment.

Probably the most well known of the United States women’s colleges are Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard. They are the five remaining members of what used to be known as the prestigious “Seven Sisters.” (About 30 years ago, Radcliffe merged with Harvard, and Vassar opened its doors to men, so these two former sister schools are no longer single-sex).

All of the five sisters are highly selective, but not quite as much so as the Ivy League colleges are. Mount Holyoke no longer even requires the SAT; for the other four, SAT I scores average between about 1250 and 1350. Admitted students are almost always in the top fifth of their class, and usually in the top tenth, with their high school courses typically the most challenging ones offered.

If you are deciding among these sister schools, you may be influenced by location. Smith and Mount Holyoke are in (Smith) or near (Mount Holyoke) small but lively cities and are part of a five-college consortium that is home to about 40,000 students and allows cross-registration among member schools. Barnard is right in New York City, and Barnard students often take classes at neighboring Ivy League Columbia. Wellesley is close to Boston, located in a suburb about 20 minutes away. Wellesley students can enroll in classes at MIT as well as at a couple other nearby coed colleges. Similarly, Bryn Mawr is outside of Philadelphia but not far, and Bryn Mawr students enjoy close collaboration with coed Haverford, almost next door.

Beyond the northeast, there are a number of other well-reputed women’s institutions, such as Agnes Scott and Spelman colleges, both in Georgia. (The latter is primarily for African-American women, but applicants from all ethnic backgrounds are welcomed.)

In California, your choices will include Mills College in Oakland (near San Francisco). When Mills trustees announced coeducation there a decade or more ago, Mills students so vehemently supported their single-sex campus that the trustees rescinded their plans! Also in CA is Scripps College, which is part of the well-known Claremont Colleges, about an hour from Los Angeles. Scripps students can take classes at the other four Claremont schools that are only a stone’s throw away.

Although the number of women’s colleges has dwindled over the past three decades, there are still far too many to discuss each one here, but—whatever your abilities or interests—there is sure to be one that will admit you and engage you.

For more information about women’s colleges, go to: http://www.womenscolleges.org/, the Web site for the Women’s College Coalition. It will provide links to member colleges as well as a lot of general information about women’s colleges and their many benefits.

You might also want to look for this book: Women’s Colleges, by Joe Anne Adler and Jennifer Adler Friedman. While it has not been recently revised, and some statistics may be out of date, you can still find it at www.amazon.com, and it will give you a good overview of the leading women’s schools and their distinctions.

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Question: Which colleges offer accelerated medical school programs that enable students to earn both a bachelor’s and M.D. degree without reapplying to med school?

The Web site below is a good place to start.

http://services.aamc.org/currdir/section3/degree2.cfm?data=yes&program=bsmd

It includes many of the current accelerated medical programs, although not all of them. In fact, no resource we’ve encountered is 100 percent complete, so your best bet would be to use more than one. In addition to this site you might also want to order one of these books (available at www.amazon.com ):

The High School Doctor: The Underground Roadmap to 6, 7,
and 8 Year Accelerated/Combined Medical Programs (Ba/Md) in
the United States by Nagendra Sai, Md Koneru, et al; or

From High School to Med. School : The definitive guide to
accelerated medical programs by Ashish Raju, Jason Yanofski;

We’ve seen the first of the two and find it helpful to the extent that it lists many programs and describes their admission standards. The information about the colleges themselves and the program in particular is a bit sparse, but at least provides a good starting point for further investigation.

Speaking of admission standards, you need to understand that admission to accelerated and/or combined medical programs is extremely competitive. (We say “accelerated and/or combined” because some institutions offer admission to both undergrad and medical school via one application but their 8-year program is not really accelerated; other colleges compress the undergrad/med studies into 7 or even 6 years and are thus truly accelerated.) Note that even colleges that ordinarily have only so-so admission standards for their other academic areas will raise the bar to the moon when it comes to the combined med offerings, and typically only Ivy League-caliber applicants will be accepted.

You might also check out our discussion forums about Multiple Degree Programs in our Pre-Med and Med School forum.

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Question: I am a high school sophomore and would like to get information from colleges in the mail, including stuff from colleges I don’t already know about. How does this happen?

Since you are a sophomore, you probably haven’t taken PSATs or SATs (or, depending where you live and go to school, the ACT) yet. Once you do, you’ll see that the registration form asks you whether you’d like to participate in “Student Search.” If you check “Yes,” you will start receiving lots of information from colleges.

The way “Search” works is that subscribing colleges and universities (of which there are many) ask for the names and addresses of students who meet certain criteria. Those criteria are varied. They include everything from racial background to gender to geographic location. They also include certain cut-off scores, depending on each college and its admission policies.

Thus, once you take the tests, if you check “Yes” on the Student Search question (or the ACT equivalent, which is called “Educational Opportunity Service”), you will be fair game for lots of institutions seeking potential applicants with your interests, background, or abilities. Get ready to buy a bigger mailbox, but keep in mind that—once the publications start to pile up—you have to use them wisely. For starters, it’s important to realize that no matter how encouraging and welcoming (or flattering) college brochures and letters may sound, they are merely invitations to investigate or apply to the schools that send them, and they are never guarantees of admission.

Secondly, remember that often this college “propaganda” is written by marketing experts—sometimes the same folks who try to sell you toothpaste and breakfast cereal—so you need to look beyond the pretty campus pictures and enticing prose to see if a school is really right for you.

In addition, if you’re eager to get more mail from colleges, you can contact any college that interests you by telephone or e-mail and ask to get put on their mailing list. You can also go to Web sites like www.petersons.com. Click on “College Search” and then try the “Detailed Search.” That’s when you’ll answer questions about the type of college that you’re seeking. You’ll then be directed to a list of places that might good matches for you, and many of these will offer you a direct e-mail link. You can use that link to write each admission office a brief message providing your name and home address and asking for more information.

Finally, if you go to the Web site for the National Association of College Admission Counselors (www.nacac.com), you can look for “college fairs” being held in your area. If you attend one of these fairs, you will have the chance to get on dozens—if not hundreds—of mailing lists. In fact, your best bet is to bring a pile of stick-on return-address labels to the fair, if you have them, so you won’t get writer’s cramp from signing up at each school’s table.

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Question: I am a 21-year-old male who failed to graduate from high school. I have my GED and have recently taken the SAT and scored 1410. I’m wondering what would be the best way for me to pursue a college education. Would I be better off to start looking at nearby community colleges, or do you think some four-year universities may be able to look past the GED?

Your high SAT’s and GED will present an interesting (and perhaps appealing) combination to admission committees, and you certainly have a shot at four-year colleges and universities. It’s possible, in fact, that even elite colleges will keep you in the running, but that will depend on a number of factors, including how long you were in high school, how you fared while you were there (and the rigor of the courses you elected), what you have done since you left, and the circumstances that led to your earning a GED instead of a more typical high school diploma.

If you would like to attend a top-tier college, and your high school record makes you ineligible now, you may indeed be wise to prove yourself at a community college first and then apply to a prestigious four-year school as a transfer. (It’s not at all uncommon for highly competitive colleges to take transfers from open-enrollment community colleges.) On the other hand, you may indeed be a viable candidate for a strong four-year school right now. It’s hard to say without knowing a lot more about your background. (You may also have to take the SAT II: Subject tests to qualify for admission to the more selective for year schools. If you need additional information about those tests and the registration process, go to www.collegeboard.com).

For starters, we suggest contacting the four-year institutions that interest you and ask admission counselors straight out if they think you’re in the ballpark. You might also want to consider a Stats Evaluation from College Confidential. If we learn more of your story, we may be able to give you more specific advice.

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Question: I would like to attend a women’s college. How do I go about finding out which one would best suit me?

You are wise to consider a women’s college because—while not the right choice for everyone—they offer an opportunity to learn about yourself in ways that are different than what you would encounter in a coeducational school, even if you feel quite at home in a coed environment.

The most well known of the United States women’s colleges are Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard. They are the five remaining members of what used to be known as the prestigious “Seven Sisters.” (About 30 years ago, Radcliffe merged with Harvard, and Vassar opened its doors to men, so these two former sister schools are no longer single-sex).

All of the five sisters are highly selective, but not quite as much so as the Ivy League colleges are. Mount Holyoke no longer even requires the SAT; for the other five, SAT I scores average between about 1250 and 1350. Admitted students are almost always in the top fifth of their class, and usually in the top tenth, with their high school courses typically the most challenging ones offered.

If you are deciding among these sister schools, you may be influenced by location. Smith is in a small but lively city, with Mount Holyoke about 20 minutes away, and in a smaller town. Both are part of a five-college consortium that is home to around 40,000 students and allows cross-registration among member schools. Barnard is right in New York City, and Barnard students often take classes at neighboring Ivy League Columbia. Wellesley is close to Boston, located in a suburb about 20 minutes away. Wellesley students can enroll in classes at MIT as well as at a couple other nearby coed colleges. Similarly, Bryn Mawr is outside of Philadelphia but not far, and Bryn Mawr students enjoy close collaboration with coed Haverford, almost next door.

Beyond the northeast, there are a number of other well-reputed women’s institutions, such as Agnes Scott and Spelman colleges, both in Georgia. (The latter is primarily for African-American women, but applicants from all ethnic backgrounds are welcomed.)

In California, your choices will include Mills College in Oakland (near San Francisco). When Mills trustees announced coeducation there a decade or more ago, Mills students so vehemently supported their single-sex campus that the trustees rescinded their plans! Also in CA is Scripps College, which is part of the well-known Claremont Colleges, about an hour from Los Angeles. Scripps students can take classes at the other four Claremont schools that are only a stone’s throw away.

Although the number of women’s colleges has dwindled over the past three decades, there are still far too many to discuss each one here, but—whatever your abilities or interests—there is sure to be one that will admit you and engage you.

For more information about women’s colleges, go http://www.womenscolleges.org/, the Web site for the Women’s College Coalition. It will provide links to member colleges as well as a lot of general information about women’s colleges and their many benefits.

You might also want to look for this book: Women’s Colleges, by Joe Anne Adler and Jennifer Adler Friedman. While it has not been recently revised, and some statistics may be out of date, you can still find it at Amazon, and it will give you a good overview of the leading women’s schools and their distinctions.

Good luck to you as you make your decisions. If possible, visit the colleges you are considering so you can get a feel for each campus and whether you think it’s right for you.

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Question: Are there any good journalism programs in my home state (Ohio)? I am currently in 9th grade, but I already know that I want to be a newspaper reporter/editor, but I don’t know how to begin. I want to start early so I have everything planned out.

You are smart to be planning ahead because you can make some wise choices now that will affect your college admission decisions in a positive way down the road.

If you are certain you want to stay in Ohio, you’re in luck. Ohio University in Athens has a strong College of Communication that includes a journalism program with an excellent reputation. If you haven’t done so already, check out Ohio U.. Keep in mind, however, that one important quality for a newspaper writer or editor is to have a broad view of the world, and, if you have lived in Ohio all your life, it may best serve your goals to leave your home state and experience another part of the country for your college years. On the other hand, you can also consider enrolling in an Ohio school but then spending a year or semester abroad before you graduate.

As a freshman, you are in the perfect position to create a “profile” that will make you a desirable candidate when it comes time for your target colleges to evaluate your candidacy. Presumably, your interest in journalism stems from current involvement in a high school or community newspaper. If not, you should certainly try to gain as much experience as possible in the years ahead. Join your school paper staff, and, if possible, volunteer or intern at a “real” newspaper in your hometown or nearby. Many publications have sections that are written by high school students for high school students. If this is true where you live, find out how you can join the staff. If it’s not the case, see if you can help get something like that started or ask in what other ways you can make a place for yourself in the newsroom. College admission officials are far more impressed by students who can point to achievements in the fields they want to pursue than they are with those who claim a passion but have done little about it.

There are many good resources for investigating other journalism programs besides the one at Ohio U.—so many resources, in fact, that it can at times seem overwhelming. One place you can start is right at the College Confidential Web site.

Some other sites you might want to try include: College Board Online. Click on “Finding the Right College” or “College Search” when you reach the home page, and you’ll get a list of questions to answer that will help you identify good college matches. Similarly, at www.petersons.com, you’ll find links to a “Detailed Search” that will point you to possible target colleges with journalism programs.

There are also many mega-guidebooks on the market that list details about programs, classes, admission requirements, etc., at thousands of colleges and universities across the United States. Look for one that provides an “Index of College Majors” (e.g., Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges or Peterson’s Four-Year Colleges). Find “Journalism” on the list and then check out the names of the colleges under that heading. Are any in Ohio? How about in other states that seem appealing? (Hawaii could be rather pleasant in the winter months!) If any of the colleges sound attractive, you can read more about them in the guidebook and visit their Web sites. (Web addresses will also be listed in the guide.)

Good luck as you continue with high school and go after your goals.

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Question: My son, now a high school sophomore, will have completed 7-8 AP courses and 7-9 college courses by the time he graduates. If we assume high scores on AP exams and A’s in courses, how are selective colleges likely to consider these credits? He’d like to complete college in three years. Are there any general practices among colleges regarding their granting of credit?

You ask good questions, and, unfortunately, there are no easy answers. Policies that cover the way AP credits are considered vary from college to college and, sometimes even from department to department within an institution. The same is true of college classes taken prior to formal matriculation.

Typically, elite colleges are only interested in scores of 4 or 5 on AP exams. (Some less selective schools recognize a 3). In most cases, students can fulfill requirements and/or select a class beyond the introductory level after earning a 4 or 5 in an AP exam in an equivalent area.

Harvard’s policy is typical of many at top colleges. Students who earn a 4 or 5 on a minimum of four AP exams are eligible for sophomore standing. However, Harvard has a complex list of exceptions—i.e., there are AP courses that count as fewer credits or that don’t count at all. To read more about Harvard’s practices, go to:
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fdo/publications/0102/advanced.html#summary
If you followed that link, you will see why the question you ask has no easy answers. You probably had to read those pages several times to figure out what they meant (if you didn’t die of boredom the first time through!).

Yale’s Web site includes a chart that explains how AP credits are determined. Go to http://www.yale.edu/admit/freshmen/academics/acceleration.html. You’ll see that some Yale departments award credit only for 5’s; others for 4’s and 5’s. You may find Yale’s acceleration information even harder to navigate than Harvard’s!

Not only do AP-credit policies vary from college to college, but often they seem to be frequently under review within an institution, so when you seek out information that will affect your son’s decisions, make sure the material you use is up-to-date. Most of the selective colleges do allow students who earn 5’s (and usually 4’s) on 4 to 6 Advanced Placement exams to apply for advanced standing or to use those credits to accelerate and graduate in under four years. Rarely can students earn more than one full year of credit through AP exams, even with top scores on up to 8 or 9 tests.

Institutions also differ widely in their policies regarding awarding credit for grades earned in college classes taken before matriculation. Typically, at the most elite schools, no credit is granted for such classes (although a student who has fared well in such a course may be permitted to enter a higher level class than his peers who have not).

Your best bet is to help your son select the colleges and universities that meet his academic and personal needs and then ask an admission official at each one to explain the fine points—and fine print—of the latest AP policies. If you’re brave, you can tackle the Web sites, too, but admission counselors are pretty good at clarifying confusing policies and anticipating questions or problems

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Question: Are there any colleges that will allow me to dual enroll in their law school program while being either a senior or junior working on my bachelor’s degree?

Yes, some colleges and universities offer an option similar to what you describe. Typically, these are called 3+3 programs because you work towards your bachelor’s degree for three years and then begin law school. Often (depending on the institution you attend) you do not officially earn your bachelor’s degree until you have completed your first year of law school in good standing. Most typically, too, you do not apply directly to the 3+3 program while you are still in high school but can do so once you’ve completed a couple years of college with a strong record.

One highly respected option is The Accelerated Interdisciplinary Legal Education (AILE) Program, an early admission program existing between Columbia University and 28 undergraduate institutions. The deans at each of these colleges annually nominate one or two outstanding members of their junior classes for admission to Columbia Law School. While matriculating at the law school, these students elect the equivalent of one term of interdisciplinary study in other divisions of Columbia University. The majority of undergrad institutions that take part in AILE are well known liberal arts colleges or private universities, and they are located throughout the country (for example, Reed, Barnard, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Grinnell). For more information, visit the Columbia Law Web site.

There are other colleges and universities that have their own accelerated law programs. If you search the Internet for “3+3 law programs” you will see what many of these are. Names you may recognize include Dickinson College in Pennsylvania (in conjunction with Penn State’s law school), Fordham University in New York, and George Mason University, just outside of Washington, D.C., in Virginia.

If you already have a particular college or university in mind, you should certainly contact admission officials and ask what your options are. It’s possible that even when a formal dual-enrollment program does not exist, top students may be able to accelerate and enter law school at the end of three years.

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Question: I am in the Army, and I really don’t have a lot of time to go to a classroom and do college there. Are online college courses worthwhile? In particular, I am looking at Saint Leo University because it is one of the colleges that we have on the base
here. Also, could you please tell me the difference between the A.A. and the B.A.?

You’ve actually asked two questions. First of all, there is significant difference between an Associate’s degree (A.A or A.S. depending on the field of study or the college granting the degree) and a Bachelor’s Degree (B.A. or B.S.). Typically, an Associate’s degree is completed in two years of full-time study and a Bachelor’s in four, but this may vary, depending on your major and institution.

Usually, when someone says that he or she is “a college graduate,” it means that a Bachelor’s degree has been earned. In some fields, however, the A.A. is considered the “terminal” degree—in other words, the highest one required to pursue a career in that area. For example, dental hygienists and many types of medical assistants (x-ray and lab technicians, office managers) have often earned A.A. degrees and are fully qualified in their fields. Police officers may be required to hold an Associate’s degree but, far less often, a higher one.

Junior colleges and community colleges generally grant only Associate’s degrees. Some institutions that offer 4-year Bachelor’s degrees also provide a shorter Associate’s option. Many students choose to major in an area that will allow them to earn an Associate’s diploma and to put it to work right after graduation. Others transfer to a four-year institution after getting an Associate’s degree (or continue on at a current one) and aim for a Bachelor’s. (Some two-year colleges even have what are called “articulation agreements” with four-year colleges. This means that if you maintain a designated GPA and/or select certain required courses, you are automatically accepted for transfer to the four-year institution when you finish your Associate’s degree.) If you are thinking of earning an A.A., you need to look ahead and see what career options will be available to you without going on for your bachelor’s.

Now to your other question: “Distance Learning” (taking courses online) is becoming an increasingly popular and accepted approach to college-level study. If St. Leo offers an academic program that appeals to you, it seems like it would be a wise option since the school is affiliated with your Army base. This should help you cut through any red tape that might stand between you and your degree. There are hundreds of other distance-learning opportunities, but it seems to make sense to take advantage of one that is readily available.

On the other hand, if you are interested in a major or specific program that is not offered by St. Leo, you might want to check out the University of Phoenix (www.phoenix.edu). This fairly new university is making a name for itself by tailoring its programs to working adults like yourself. You can complete a U. of Phoenix degree entirely online. Their curriculum is designed so that you take one course at a time over a fairly short period, rather than several at a time over a longer one (the way most typical college semesters are structured).

Your base or community library should also have a reference book that lists the many other distance learning programs available. You might be surprised to see the huge number of colleges and universities (including many names you’re sure to recognize) that now give credit to students who never set foot on their campuses. In fact, the list is so long that you may not be only surprised but also overwhelmed. For that reason, you could be smart to stick to St. Leo or to any other institution that is working in conjunction with your Army base.

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Question: What is the most efficient way to search for colleges that do
not require foreign language study in high school?

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