Questions to ask a College Representative
Fall is the time when admissions officers make high school visits, attend college fairs, and conduct group meetings around the globe. It is also an excellent opportunity for high school students to learn more about a college before making a trip to campus. Having prepared questions for the college reps can enhance a student’s knowledge of each school’s character. Following is a list of questions that students may want to ask a visiting college rep.
- What is the makeup of the student body (e.g. from what states, how many undergraduates, male/female ratio, commuter vs. residential, racial and cultural backgrounds)?
- What percentage of freshmen live on campus?
- Is housing available for freshmen?
- What percentage of students return for their sophomore year? What percentage of students graduate in four years?
- Do you offer a wide variety of majors? Can students easily change their course of study?
- Do faculty members teach courses?
- Are there opportunities for research, independent study, internships, and study abroad?
- Do students have a lot of choices for their extracurricular activities?
- What are the characteristics of this school that make it distinctive?
Writing a College Essay
As you start to prepare to apply to colleges and universities, you might ask yourself: What should I write about in my college essay?
The essay is important to schools because it can provide their admissions committees with a sense of the person behind the application. It allows them to learn more about the personalities of those who may live in their communities for the next four years.
Writing a college essay is not as difficult as it seems. It allows students to tell the school more about themselves, and they usually write a better essay about something that interests them or has changed their lives. Whether they write about solving a challenging math problem, or their community service experience, they want to hear about the students passions.
Once the students have a topic, they should remember all the things they learned in English class: writing clearly with description, using the active voice, and finally putting everything through the spell check and proofreader!
The students we remember are the ones we understand a little better through their writing.