Other College Issues

Question: I plan to attend a summer program on a college campus. Is it better to choose a program at my number-one college that doesn’t offer a class in my intended major field or to take a class in that field (architecture) at a so-so college?

Many good high school students sign up for a college summer program with the belief that it will be a ticket to a top-choice college. However, with so many strong applicants opting for this sort of summer experience, admission folks are pretty jaded when they see on-campus programs on an applicant’s résumé, especially when the student comes from a privileged (or even fairly privileged) background.

Sometimes taking a summer class at your number-one choice college CAN have a positive impact on your admission there down the road, but–typically–the more competitive the college, the more minimal (or rare) that impact will be. You are far better off if you pursue an interest of yours (e.g., architecture) at ANOTHER school (even one you don’t plan to apply to). Admission folks are always looking for signs of academic passion in their applicants. They don’t want students who simply TALK about an area of professed interest … they want those who DO something about it.

However, if your summer schedule permits, try to balance out your on-campus architecture class with something very different in the remaining weeks. This could include a paid job, a volunteer position, a creative project you dream up yourself that may–or may not–draw on your architecture skills, etc. This will not only enrich your summer but also fend off the growing cynicism I see among admission folks as they wade through piles of applications from top students whose summer plans include predominantly pricey summer programs. Whether this cynicism is deserved or not, it’s out there. So do go after your passions as you make your plans, but don’t view on-campus programs as any sort of fast track to your college-admission goals.

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Question: Are there any programs out there for older adults to go to medical school?

Yes, there are indeed programs for older aspiring doctors. Try this site for some general information and links to other resources:

http://www.cs.umbc.edu/~mikeg/medwhere.html

One of the pages you can reach from that site is this one:

http://home.gwu.edu/~grasso/ntmed/medlinks.html

Scroll to the bottom for a list of institutions cited as being especially non-trad friendly.

If you haven’t fulfilled pre-med requirements and are currently not in college (or you are about to graduate without all the typical pre-med prerequisites under your belt), you can visit this site to learn about colleges that offer special pre-med “tune-up” programs:

http://services.aamc.org/postbac/

Here are a few articles you might enjoy reading and find inspirational:

http://career.ucla.edu/SpecialNotices/ItsNeverTooLate.asp

http://www.newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/751/content.htm

http://www.mommd.com/nontrad.shtml

For decades I have been an avid “Dear Abby” reader (a closet habit until recently). One of my all-time favorite columns was about an older student who wanted to attend medical school. I can’t recall the particulars (i.e., the exact wording or age noted) but it went something like this:

Dear Abby,

I am 44 years old and have always wanted to be a doctor. Until now, my life circumstances didn’t permit it, but if I try to get to medical school, I won’t be a doctor for at least six years and by then I will be 50. What should I do?”

Abby sagely replied, “In six years you will be 50 anyway. You might as well be a 50-year-old doctor and fulfill your dream.”

Good advice, eh? And good luck to you.

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Question: I wanted my daughter to graduate a year early. She is in 11th grade but the guidance counselor has put her in senior homeroom. I have since changed my plans, and now I want my daughter to finish four years of high school. However, the guidance counselor says that, because my daughter has already completed the required four English and four math classes, she must be in a senior homeroom and graduate this year (after just three years of high school). Is this true?

We don’t know where you live and where you daughter attends school, but–even if we did–we could only speculate on the regulations that govern high school enrollment there. However, with that disclaimer in place, we can tell you that it sounds as if the guidance counselor may be annoyed by your change in plans and/or inconvenienced by the need to switch your daughter’s homeroom placement and schedule. It seems as if a student should be entitled to spend four years in high school, if she so chooses.

On the other hand, perhaps your daughter has exhausted the curriculum available to her. If she already has four years of math and English on her transcript (unusual for a rising junior), are there still challenging courses available to her–either in those areas or in others?

Does your school district offer a “Dual Enrollment” option? (That’s when students are still officially matriculated in high school–and can participate in school clubs, sports, etc., if they so choose–but take some–or even all–of their classes at a local college.) If so, that may be a good bet for your daughter. If no Dual Enrollment program is formally in place, perhaps you can work with school officials to make that option available to her nonetheless.

In other words, there are really two issues here:

The first is your daughter’s right to stay in high school for a fourth year. The second is whether or not it’s academically worthwhile for her to do so. It’s hard to make a judgment on either of these without knowing a lot more about her and her situation, but it does seem that it’s time for you to take a close look at the academic program you have mapped out for her for the next two years and then to consult either the school principal or superintendent right away to be sure you have a plan in place that will best meet your needs.

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Question: How do I find out how I did on my AP exams? Do I have to wait until the results are mailed to me?

Results for the AP exams you took in May should be mailed to your home by about mid-July. They will also be sent to your school at the same time, as well as to any colleges you listed on your answer sheet. According to the College Board, if you want scores sooner, you can get them by phone but for an extra fee. (No surprise there, eh?) See below:

Grades By Phone

Starting July 1, AP Grades by Phone for the current year’s exams will be available for students in the United States, U.S. territories, and Canada for a fee of $8 per call. This service will be offered 24 hours a day by TouchTone phone and will remain available for about six weeks. The toll-free number is (888) 308-0013. Students outside the U.S. and Canada can call AP Services.

For more information on AP score reports, go to: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/exgrd_rep.html .

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Question: I will start college in the fall and need to know where I can buy the lowest-priced, good quality books. I have to pay for them myself so I am trying to find a cheaper alternative than the campus bookstore. Are there any Web sites I should try?

College books can be a big-ticket expense, and you are wise to look for alternatives to buying them all brand-spankin’ new. To assist with your quest, I simply tried typing “Cheap College Texts” and “Used College Texts” into the Google search engine, and was rewarded with many results. These included:

http://www.fisc-ny.com/buy-college-textbooks-online.html

http://www.bookbyte.com/textbooks.aspx

http://www.textforsale.com/

While the sites looked legit to me, I haven’t had personal experience with any of them. I have, however, bought used books from Amazon.com on many occasions and have always been pleased. Some of these were biographies, novels, or books about history–so, while none were actual text books, they were all the sorts of topics that might crop up on college reading lists.

If you’ve never tried Amazon before, just go to the home page (www.amazon.com). Search under “Books” for the titles you need and, if you find the book you’re looking for, you’ll see that there is often an option to buy it used. If you click on that, you can find out how many used copies are available, and the price and condition of each. You complete your transaction online through Amazon, but the book come to you from another independent dealer. I’ve bought books that way for as little as 86 cents (the postage was four times more!), and each one has always arrived promptly and was just as described.

If there are locally owned used-book shops in your community, they can be a great source of novels and non-fiction. Those in college areas often carry text books, too, though many won’t.

Obviously, it would be helpful for you to get your hands on class syllabi as far in advance as possible to see what texts and other books you’ll need. You also have to check carefully to make sure you’re not buying an out-of-date edition of a text. (Remember, however, that most frosh course selections aren’t set in stone until after the fall semester is underway. Don’t get stuck with books you won’t need.)

Check, too–if you haven’t done so already–with college officials to see what sort of used-book sales are offered right on campus. (The Office of Admission can direct you to the right place to call.) Most campus bookstores also offer a “Used Book” section, though some are far more complete than others.

Good luck with your search, and best wishes for a great college career.

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Question: I would like to study business in college. Is it better to take statistics or calculus in my senior year of high school?

If you’re aiming for highly selective colleges and universities, most admission officials consider calculus to be more challenging than statistics and thus look upon it somewhat more favorably. However, if you’d be taking stats at the AP level and calculus at the regular or college-prep level, we’d vote for the AP class. You’ll probably find the stats to be a better bet for a business major, too, although in many business programs–especially the more elite ones–you will be expected to take both stats and calc.

Overall, this is a close one, so, if other concerns intervene (e.g., scheduling conflicts, teacher preferences), you can’t go wrong with either.

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Question: My daughters are pre-teens and currently attend a very good private school. They also pursue many activities outside of school. My sister commented that I am going to burn them out. She feels that to better their chances of getting into a top university, I should move them to public school. Should I?

You’re really dealing with two separate but perhaps overlapping issues.

First of all, there’s the private school versus public school issue. While this may sound like a cop-out response, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Some private schools, for instance, do have strong relations with particular elite colleges, and thus a highly-recommended candidate from that school may be looked on quite favorably at decision time. On the other hand, the top private high schools often send dozens of applicants to the same handful of Ivy League and equivalent colleges, so it can be very hard to stand out in the crowd. Some private-school students who have been turned down by their first-choice colleges have been convinced that they would have fared better coming from public school, where they may have graduated first or second in the class.

In addition, the size and nature of the public school in question is important, as is the student/school match. Some teenagers thrive in a big, bustling school community while others need the more nurturing environment of a small private school.

However, contrary to popular belief, admission officials do not favor private-school applicants. Some, in fact, harbor subtle prejudices towards candidates whom they feel have had special advantages in life. Nonetheless, savvy admission directors also know that the top private schools are good “feeders” for them, and they have to keep the counseling directors at these places happy so that there isn’t a stampede of candidates to their competition.

The other issue that your question raises is burn out. Sometimes I want to throw my hands in the air and cry, “What are we doing to our children?” Even pre-teens today feel pressure to play on sports teams that practice nearly every day year round, to take the hardest classes offered at their schools and then extra enrichment courses outside of it. When one reads about the many high achievers who are turned away by the most competitive colleges every spring, it’s no wonder that parents–and students, too–feel that the only way to have a chance at a dream college is to do even more.

Thus, overstressed, anxious kids can be the product of both public and private schools. Depending on where you live, the competition at the upper levels in your local public high school can be as bad–or worse–than at a private school.

While all children will, to some degree, whine about the work involved in both their school and out-of-school pursuits, it’s important to keep an eye out to determine if they’re truly experiencing an overload and not just looking for more time with the telephone, TV, or Internet (though most every kid needs some of that, too).

Only you and your daughters can assess whether their level of academic pressure and extracurricular involvement is right for them–or too much. However, don’t assume that, if it’s the latter, then a switch to a new school will be a silver-bullet solution.

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Question: On some applications, when you have to check off what “school” within a university you are applying to (i.e. College of Arts and Sciences), what do you do if your major is undecided? How do you know what classes to take once you’re in college?

That’s a good question, and there are no easy answers. If you are applying to a liberal arts college, then usually the application will ask only what you think you want to major in and you won’t be bound by the commitment. While it’s fine to write “Undecided” (and many students do), we suggest instead that you give admission folks a sampling of your interests–and maybe of your personality, too. For instance, you might say, “As an avid Jane Austen fan, English tempts me, but I’m not ready to give up my passion for science yet either.” (Electronic forms might not give you the leeway to write all of this, and you may just get stuck with “Undecided.”) Our other piece of advice is that, if you’re wavering between a very popular choice (e.g., psychology) and a less common one (classics, Italian), then go with the road not taken. Remember, it’s not binding.

However, when applying to some colleges and many universities, you must indicate what “school” (or sometimes what specific major) you want, and your decision may be important and hard to wiggle out of. Most universities have a “School of Arts and Sciences,” as you’ve mentioned, which is basically like a liberal arts college within the larger university, and it’s often the choice of uncommitted candidates like yourself.

If, however, another school (”Allied Health Science,” “Architecture and Planning,” etc.) intrigues you, then you need to ask admission officials how easy it is to make a switch, if you get there and realize you haven’t made the right pick. At some places, it’s not a big deal, while at others there may be no room for you left in the department you decide on or in many of the classes you need. You may end up having to either opt for a second or third choice of major, taking extra semesters (or years) before you graduate, or transferring to another institution altogether.

That’s why liberal arts colleges are good bets for students with little clue about academic goals. They offer you a chance to experiment with a range of subjects, and you’re likely to find something you like that perhaps you’ve never previously encountered. Once you get to college, you will probably have a “core curriculum” or “distribution requirements” to fulfill, and these will give you some direction. You will also work with a faculty adviser who can give you suggestions, too. Some colleges offer a mix of liberal arts and pre-professional programs, but you don’t have to commit to an area of concentration until the end of your sophomore year. These can be a good bet for undecided high school students.

Here’s an exercise that may be worth trying: get your hands on one of the huge college megatomes such as Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges. In one of the appendices, you’ll find a list of a gazillion different majors–from predictable ones like history and political science to less familiar fare such as “Labor Studies,” “Toy Design,” and “Air Traffic Control.” Although reading through this list may not tell you exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life, it could open your eyes to options that you didn’t even know were out there, and you might decide to direct your college search towards institutions that offer some of the fields that most intrigue you.

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Question: I’m kind of quiet and don’t really like to talk much in class. I’m smart but teachers barely notice me because I get nervous and don’t participate during class discussions. Is there anything I can do about this–not only for college admissions but also for my future in general?

Being an introvert is probably part of your hard-wiring, but sometimes being too quiet in class can compromise your grades and the way that your teachers regard you.

One thing you can try is to put yourself on a “training regime” very much like an approach that might be taken by someone who wants to get in better shape but hates exercise. That is, set goals for yourself. At first, keep the bar very low. For instance, you could begin by saying that you will raise your hand and volunteer once a day in just one of your classes. After the first week or two, make that once in every class … or whatever seems to fit your needs and your schedule. (Some classes, for instance, may have little place for discussion, while in others it may be easier to volunteer more often.) Keep a written chart or record of your participation progress and reward yourself with a special treat if you meet your goals. Learning to reward yourself is a good adult survival skill anyway. As you get older, you’ll find that increasingly the only rewards you get may be the ones you give yourself. So decide ahead of time what might be appropriate–whether it’s the CD you’ve wanted to buy since September, a hot fudge sundae, a school night devoted to trashy books or TV, etc. You might also want to get your parents on board for this. If you feel comfortable doing so, tell them about your plan and your goals and ask if they will chip in with a “prize” once you reach them.

Another thing you might try is to get your teachers involved. Ask to speak with each one privately before or after class. Tell them what you’ve told us–that you want to improve your public-speaking comfort level. They will notice you more once you’ve admitted your discomfort, and they may be more apt to call on you when your hand is waving when they recognize that you’re trying hard to surmount your fears.

If you haven’t already done so, you can try participating occasionally in worthwhile online chats. While I personally am glad that chat boards didn’t exist when I was a teenager (I wouldn’t have ever gotten a thing done!), you may benefit from limited participation in useful ones, like the College Confidential discussion you’ll find at http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/index.html . While I urge you not to fritter away too much time in Cyberspace, you may find that your confidence gets a boost when you share your thoughts anonymously with strangers, and this way you can get some useful information about the college admission process at the same time. Perhaps your online confidence will translate into classroom confidence.

Finally, this won’t solve your problem but you may enjoy reading more about why you do what you do. Go to http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp and take the quick online test. Once you get your “results” you can follow the links and read more about your personality type. You will also see lists of other introverts who went on to do great things in life nonetheless.

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Question: I am currently an undergraduate student, and I plan to go on to graduate school–most likely in the state where I attend school now, which is not the state in which I have a permanent address. However, by the time I apply for graduate school, I will have lived in off-campus housing for two years. Can I thus claim residency for tuition purposes for grad school? Where does one find state residency rules?

Here are a couple easy approaches:

1. Go to this site maintained by the College Board and click on the name of the appropriate state:

http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/international/residency.html

2. If the information you find, above, isn’t clear, simply call the graduate admission office at any major public university in the state where you now attend college and ask about their residency requirements. (It should be consistent at all public schools in that state.)

Policies, however, can vary from state to state. Some are quite straightforward and demand only a year of residency in order to qualify for in-state tuition. However, you will commonly find that if your permanent residence is elsewhere (as in your case) and you reside in your current state primarily to attend school (even if you live off-campus) then you will not qualify as a state resident.

Some states (e.g., North Carolina) are very particular about your intentions. That is, they don’t just base their determinations on how long you have lived in NC, but they want evidence of long-term commitment. Perhaps painting your face blue and running around town screaming, “Go Tarheels” that might help. To read more about this sort of subjective policy, go to:

http://www.uncp.edu/admissions/learn/residency/faqs.htm

Some students in your situation decide to take a break from school after earning a bachelor’s degree. By remaining in the state where they earned their degree and working for a year, they often can then begin grad school the following year and pay in-state tuition. But again, policies do differ, so check carefully.

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