International Students: Taking the TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is an important part of applying to schools in the U.S. In order to prepare for the test, find out when, where, and how you’ll be taking it, you can search the TOEFL website . The website will tell you the dates the test is offered [...]

Graduate Student Financial Aid: Show me the Money!

While financial assistance at the graduate level is not as prevalent as at the undergraduate level, there is aid available. Universities usually offer assistance based on two factors: need and merit. The federal government has made applying for need-based aid fairly simply. You should visit www.fafsa.ed.gov and fill out the free application. This application will [...]

How to start finding the right college for you

As a recent comment makes clear, the process of deciding what makes a school “right” is anything but simple.  Unfortunately, a lot of the material out there just makes things more confusing. The colleges and universities will send you brochures that rival the best magazines, online movies of their schools, podcasts…even, as I noted in [...]

Transfer Students: Community College Agreements

Community college enrollment has ballooned in the last few years with good reason.  An increasing number of four-year public and private colleges have established transfer articulation agreements with their two-year partners that virtually guarantee the transferability of coursework.  There are numerous models of acceptance but most are based upon the completion of an Associate of Arts [...]

Shameless plug: Mason’s Center for History and New Media gets funded for expansion

Mason’s Center for History and New Media received a large increase in funding from the U.S. goverment to expand their amazing array of activities. Check out the story at WJLA TV.

Financial Aid Options for International Students

Financial aid for international students is very limited and availability varies from school to school. There are a small number of universities that are able to offer scholarships to all admitted international applicants, others that do not offer any form of aid, and many that provide a range of financial options. If you are an [...]

Can the admissions process be done by computers?

I was in a fascinating and scary meeting today. A company has developed a REALLY elaborate computer program that can be used to decide which students should get into college. The idea is that there are, of course, way more qualified applicants at highly competitive schools than there are spaces. Many colleges have moved to [...]

Why should I go to Graduate School?

Graduate studies can be a great career lifter, offer personal enrichment, and help keep you current in your field. For many, it is a great choice, but graduate school is not for everyone. Most graduate programs take between 2 to 5 years to complete (even more at the doctoral level). Graduate school can be stressful, [...]

Avoiding Transfer Shock

As a new transfer student, don’t be surprised if you experience some of the same feelings that you had when you entered your current institution for the first time. This is not unusual. Even though you’ve been to a university or college before, you are transferring to a new school with its own policies and [...]

Guest Post: Buyer’s Remorse

Hello out there to everyone browsing the blog! My name is Jimmie Foster, Jr. and I am the Director of Freshmen Admissions at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. I was recently asked by Dean Flagel, the site’s creator and mastermind, to become a fulltime contributor to the blog. As you can see, I’ve [...]