- Rankings
- Internship opportunities
- Research opportunities
- Campus life
- Student organizations
- Study abroad programs
- Honors program
- What makes this college stand out?
- Advising
- Tutoring and help sessions
- Transition programs for freshmen
- Orientation program
- Work-study options
- Research opportunities
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Questions to Ask on a Campus Visit
Need some help generating questions for a campus visit? Here are some ideas to get you started.
Make the Most of Campus Visits
One of the best ways to determine if a college is right for you is to visit the campus and see how it feels. While a college's reputation is important in making your decision, it is also very important that the environment suits you. Only you can decide if a particular college is the best fit for you. When visiting campus, there are many pieces of information to gather. Planning ahead will make campus visits flow smoothly and allow you to get all the information you want.
When to Visit
The best time to do this is when the campus is active. You'll want to talk with other students, meet with advisers, and perhaps attend a class or two. You should also visit the housing office if you plan to live on campus. If you plan to live off campus, then you should use this time to explore options.
Don't plan to visit:
Get the Most from the Experience
Do:
Final Assessment
Does this seem like a place where you would be comfortable and happy for the next four years? Does the campus seem welcoming or overwhelming? Is the setting a good fit for your preferences and personality? Does it offer extracurricular opportunities that are important to you? Is it financially feasible?
Your academic success and your personal well-being will depend on your answers to these questions. A campus visit is the best way to gather the information you need to succeed.
When to Visit
The best time to do this is when the campus is active. You'll want to talk with other students, meet with advisers, and perhaps attend a class or two. You should also visit the housing office if you plan to live on campus. If you plan to live off campus, then you should use this time to explore options.
Don't plan to visit:
- During college spring break
- During winter break (Christmas through New Year's Day)
- The day before or after Thanksgiving
- Final or mid-term exam weeks
- Reading days
- During the first week of the semester
Get the Most from the Experience
Do:
- Call ahead and schedule an appointment with the visitors' office or your planned program of study. This will ensure that you are expected and that the people you need to see have set aside time for you. Most offices will do their best to accommodate drop-ins, but it's in your best interest to plan ahead. Many offices will assist you in developing an itinerary for your visit.
- Ask if there are regularly scheduled sessions for visitors; these often provide tours of facilities and opportunities to meet with current students.
- Visit colleges under serious consideration before the acceptance letters are sent out so you have enough time to fully evaluate each campus. Visiting during your junior year of high school can help you determine where you really want to apply.
- Have a list of questions that you want answered and make notes of other items that come up during meetings. This give you a good data set for comparisons once you get home. Need some help? Here's a list to get you started.
- Drop in late on Fridays or just before holidays when staff is likely to be at a minimum.
- Let your parents do all the talking. You are the one that will be enrolled.
- Make assumptions based on what your currently enrolled friends have told you. They are often new to the system and might not be experts on your intended major.
- Assume that the answers will be the same at all institutions. Ask questions.
- Be afraid to ask why you should attend this college rather than your other choices. You will often learn some very useful facts.
Final Assessment
Does this seem like a place where you would be comfortable and happy for the next four years? Does the campus seem welcoming or overwhelming? Is the setting a good fit for your preferences and personality? Does it offer extracurricular opportunities that are important to you? Is it financially feasible?
Your academic success and your personal well-being will depend on your answers to these questions. A campus visit is the best way to gather the information you need to succeed.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Advanced Placement Credit
This is the typical scenario:
A proud parent and her highly motivated student arrive on campus to discuss why this university should consider this student. "I've completed all my General Education requirements through AP classes," beams the student. As an academic advisor, I stifle a groan.
A large number of students enter universities today with Advanced Placement (AP) credit. It's a good thing. It provides college credit toward degrees at no cost, and it allows students to be challenged in courses more rigorous than typical high school courses. AP credit can also free students from summer enrollment requirements. Students enrolling in Florida state universities will not be required to complete summer hours if they enroll with at least 9 hours of Advanced Placement credit.
Parents and students often feel that AP credit should substitute for college credit, and in some cases, this is OK. Sometimes, though, it's important to understand that university or college level courses might be more demanding than AP courses considered to be "equivalent".
If your student is completing AP credits, here are some things to think about:
A proud parent and her highly motivated student arrive on campus to discuss why this university should consider this student. "I've completed all my General Education requirements through AP classes," beams the student. As an academic advisor, I stifle a groan.
A large number of students enter universities today with Advanced Placement (AP) credit. It's a good thing. It provides college credit toward degrees at no cost, and it allows students to be challenged in courses more rigorous than typical high school courses. AP credit can also free students from summer enrollment requirements. Students enrolling in Florida state universities will not be required to complete summer hours if they enroll with at least 9 hours of Advanced Placement credit.
Parents and students often feel that AP credit should substitute for college credit, and in some cases, this is OK. Sometimes, though, it's important to understand that university or college level courses might be more demanding than AP courses considered to be "equivalent".
If your student is completing AP credits, here are some things to think about:
- What is your expectation for preparation for college level courses?
- How much AP credit do you expect to apply to a Bachelor's degree?
- Will high school AP credit provide the necessary foundation for future courses?
AP courses are more rigorous than other high school classes. Students must pass a standardized test in order to receive college credit. Passing that test does not necessarily mean that a student has mastered all the concepts taught in the "equivalent" course at the college level. Depending on the program of study your student intends to follow, it can often be best to consider AP courses as foundation courses, preparing students to excel in the equivalent university level course.
Exceptionally talented students are often subjected to pressure to "be ahead." Usually, they live up to the demand. But it can be in a good student's best interest to start math and science sequences at the college level. Frequently, concepts covered in the first college level class are beyond what was covered in AP classes. Professional schools of medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine will expect to see foundation course work done at the university level.
The first freshman term is a transitional term. Your student will be living away from home for the first time, she'll have a new roommate, she'll be faced with new decisions. Do you really want her to go into Calculus 2 based on just her high school work? An "A" in Calculus 1 could go a long way to reducing stress during the transitional semester, making sure your student has the proper foundation knowledge, and achieving a strong grade point average.
Talk to the advisors in your student's program. They are best suited to help you determine placement. Do not assume that credit for an AP class is necessarily equivalent to mastery of skills at the college level. Give careful consideration to the consequences of completing all "General Education" requirement through AP credits. You might be eliminating opportunities to explore possibilities at the college level.
You only get to be an undergraduate once. Opportunities for internships, study abroad, and research abound. AP credit can provide many advantages for students, provided that they fully understand the courses how Advanced Placement work fits into the college program of study.
Dual Enrollment Credit:
Can Dual Enrollment Prevent Your Child from Being Admitted to a Florida University?
Dual enrollment programs allow advanced high school students to complete their first two years of college while still enrolled in high school. Typically, high school students who complete the credits for an Associate in Arts degree at Florida public community colleges should be commended for their hard work and motivation. Dual enrollment is a huge financial bonus to parents who can receive up to two years of college free. In addition, students who are motivated by good grades and achievement get a big boost in self-esteem and confidence, knowing that they have what it takes to complete college level work sooner than the majority of their peers. Their parents are proud of them, too.
How can a program that offers such obvious advantages work against these bright, hard working students? It happens all too often. Just yesterday I met with another anxious parent and his academically talented son. The student had good test scores, and had completed his A.A. degree at a Florida public community college. No doubt he pressed the "submit" button on his electronic application confident that he would be receiving an acceptance letter soon. What he received instead was an unpleasant surprise informing him that he was not admitted to the university of his choice. Although he was later re-evaluated as a freshman, he did not quite make that cut. Instead of celebrating, this family is now on the road visiting university administrators trying to understand what went wrong. And trying late in the game to find a university for their son to attend in the fall.
This is hardly an isolated incident. What this parent and student did not know is that students who receive the A.A. degree (in Florida) can be considered by state university admissions offices as transfer students. Transfer students are admitted under a different set of rules, governed in part by the Articulation Agreement regulated by Florida Statute. These students are considered to be juniors rather than freshmen. (Well, that was part of the attraction of the Dual Enrollment program wasn't it? "When Susie enrolls at XYZ University, she'll be a junior and way ahead of the freshman class.")
As juniors, transfer students are usually required to have completed specific prerequisite course work in their first two years of college. When a high school student completes his A.A. degree, he must also have all those prerequisite courses complete, often with specific grades, in order to gain admission. A lot of surprised and disappointed students ask, "Can't I just take the courses here?" The answer is, "No."
Universities are expected to award bachelor's degrees within a reasonable number of credit hours. A student with 60 hours of college credit that does not apply to his intended degree program can find the door permanently closed. Applying for a different major and then trying to switch once enrolling at the university is not an option. Either the courses are complete within the first 60 hours, or they are not.
Parents with students in Dual Enrollment programs must understand that by completing an A.A. degree in high school, students may be deprived of the opportunity to "explore" majors at the university level. They will have completed all of their General Education requirements (the courses often used to dabble in potentially interesting academic subjects) and they will be expected to begin junior level course work specific to their declared major. If they apply to a highly structured program, such as architecture, business, engineering, math, or science (think pre-med), the necessary sequencing of courses might keep them from a full-time course load in their major. They will then have to enroll in additional "excess" hours required to be full-time students so that they can maintain scholarships, or health insurance, or other important things like football tickets and access to other university resources. To complicate matters further, professional schools don't weight these courses as highly as "equivalent" courses taken at the university level. These excess hours cost money and also dampen that dream of completing a Bachelor's degree in two years.
Please don't think that I don't support Dual Enrollment programs. I do support them. They have many advantages to both student and parent. But the truth is that completing the A.A. degree works best for a very specific group of students: those who know without a doubt what they will major in.
It's a lot to ask a 16 year old Dual Enrollment student what he or she wants to study in college. It's like taking them to a restaurant and asking them what they want to eat before showing them the menu. There are some people, though, who seem to be born knowing what they want to do for the rest of their lives. These are the students I believe are best suited to Dual Enrollment. These are the students who will do the research on majors, complete what they must complete, and sail through their university programs to their intended degree without ever wondering if another major might have been better for them. If this describes your child, get in touch with the university of choice, find out what is needed to "transfer", and read the college catalog carefully. Keep a careful log of contacts and what was discussed. You can stop reading this article now.
If you are not absolutely certain that your student is in this category, but you are determined to complete the A.A. degree, then you and your student must start researching programs of study immediately. Talk to each university under consideration. Talk to advisors in every college that houses a program your child might want. Fully understand what must be completed within Dual Enrollment to ensure admission to the university and college of choice. If your student is not absolutely certain about his academic goals, then it could be in his best interest not to complete the A.A. degree.
It should be noted that some universities will evaluate these students as freshmen, as well as transfer students. Still, they have to make that "freshman cut" and there are no guarantees.
This article will not make me popular with my friends in the community colleges, although I am a truly big proponent of Florida's community colleges. I have spent the past 18 years promoting them, and I have a degree from one of them. They are wonderful institutions, and Florida has a community college to university system that sets a standard for the rest of the country.
With that said, it is still every parent's and student's responsibility to fully understand the complete path of their college program. Starting to look into colleges in the early part of senior year is too late for Dual Enrollment students (and everyone else, really). Dual Enrollment students are starting college now. It is up to you to do the research, to contact universities, and make certain that the first year of Dual Enrollment - the year that will be the actual freshman year - is planned in accordance with the requirements for your program.
You won't be disappointed if you do the homework now.
Dual enrollment programs allow advanced high school students to complete their first two years of college while still enrolled in high school. Typically, high school students who complete the credits for an Associate in Arts degree at Florida public community colleges should be commended for their hard work and motivation. Dual enrollment is a huge financial bonus to parents who can receive up to two years of college free. In addition, students who are motivated by good grades and achievement get a big boost in self-esteem and confidence, knowing that they have what it takes to complete college level work sooner than the majority of their peers. Their parents are proud of them, too.
How can a program that offers such obvious advantages work against these bright, hard working students? It happens all too often. Just yesterday I met with another anxious parent and his academically talented son. The student had good test scores, and had completed his A.A. degree at a Florida public community college. No doubt he pressed the "submit" button on his electronic application confident that he would be receiving an acceptance letter soon. What he received instead was an unpleasant surprise informing him that he was not admitted to the university of his choice. Although he was later re-evaluated as a freshman, he did not quite make that cut. Instead of celebrating, this family is now on the road visiting university administrators trying to understand what went wrong. And trying late in the game to find a university for their son to attend in the fall.
This is hardly an isolated incident. What this parent and student did not know is that students who receive the A.A. degree (in Florida) can be considered by state university admissions offices as transfer students. Transfer students are admitted under a different set of rules, governed in part by the Articulation Agreement regulated by Florida Statute. These students are considered to be juniors rather than freshmen. (Well, that was part of the attraction of the Dual Enrollment program wasn't it? "When Susie enrolls at XYZ University, she'll be a junior and way ahead of the freshman class.")
As juniors, transfer students are usually required to have completed specific prerequisite course work in their first two years of college. When a high school student completes his A.A. degree, he must also have all those prerequisite courses complete, often with specific grades, in order to gain admission. A lot of surprised and disappointed students ask, "Can't I just take the courses here?" The answer is, "No."
Universities are expected to award bachelor's degrees within a reasonable number of credit hours. A student with 60 hours of college credit that does not apply to his intended degree program can find the door permanently closed. Applying for a different major and then trying to switch once enrolling at the university is not an option. Either the courses are complete within the first 60 hours, or they are not.
Parents with students in Dual Enrollment programs must understand that by completing an A.A. degree in high school, students may be deprived of the opportunity to "explore" majors at the university level. They will have completed all of their General Education requirements (the courses often used to dabble in potentially interesting academic subjects) and they will be expected to begin junior level course work specific to their declared major. If they apply to a highly structured program, such as architecture, business, engineering, math, or science (think pre-med), the necessary sequencing of courses might keep them from a full-time course load in their major. They will then have to enroll in additional "excess" hours required to be full-time students so that they can maintain scholarships, or health insurance, or other important things like football tickets and access to other university resources. To complicate matters further, professional schools don't weight these courses as highly as "equivalent" courses taken at the university level. These excess hours cost money and also dampen that dream of completing a Bachelor's degree in two years.
Please don't think that I don't support Dual Enrollment programs. I do support them. They have many advantages to both student and parent. But the truth is that completing the A.A. degree works best for a very specific group of students: those who know without a doubt what they will major in.
It's a lot to ask a 16 year old Dual Enrollment student what he or she wants to study in college. It's like taking them to a restaurant and asking them what they want to eat before showing them the menu. There are some people, though, who seem to be born knowing what they want to do for the rest of their lives. These are the students I believe are best suited to Dual Enrollment. These are the students who will do the research on majors, complete what they must complete, and sail through their university programs to their intended degree without ever wondering if another major might have been better for them. If this describes your child, get in touch with the university of choice, find out what is needed to "transfer", and read the college catalog carefully. Keep a careful log of contacts and what was discussed. You can stop reading this article now.
If you are not absolutely certain that your student is in this category, but you are determined to complete the A.A. degree, then you and your student must start researching programs of study immediately. Talk to each university under consideration. Talk to advisors in every college that houses a program your child might want. Fully understand what must be completed within Dual Enrollment to ensure admission to the university and college of choice. If your student is not absolutely certain about his academic goals, then it could be in his best interest not to complete the A.A. degree.
It should be noted that some universities will evaluate these students as freshmen, as well as transfer students. Still, they have to make that "freshman cut" and there are no guarantees.
This article will not make me popular with my friends in the community colleges, although I am a truly big proponent of Florida's community colleges. I have spent the past 18 years promoting them, and I have a degree from one of them. They are wonderful institutions, and Florida has a community college to university system that sets a standard for the rest of the country.
With that said, it is still every parent's and student's responsibility to fully understand the complete path of their college program. Starting to look into colleges in the early part of senior year is too late for Dual Enrollment students (and everyone else, really). Dual Enrollment students are starting college now. It is up to you to do the research, to contact universities, and make certain that the first year of Dual Enrollment - the year that will be the actual freshman year - is planned in accordance with the requirements for your program.
You won't be disappointed if you do the homework now.
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