Sleuth at Work for
College-Bound Students
Keeping on Track
During March
Calendar for Juniors
Those Pesky General Education Requirements:
How to Make Them Work for You!
by Elizabeth LaScala PhD
Set aside time to prep for
the SAT and ACT.
Graduating seniors about to attend college or juniors considering which colleges to apply to should look carefully at
a college’s general education (GE) requirements. These are
courses that everyone, regardless of their major, must take in
order to complete their degree. They will usually represent one
-quarter to one-third of the total credits required.
SAT on March 11.
Registration deadline is
March 3 for the April ACT.
Make arrangements for
spring college visits.
Research colleges.
Sign up for AP exams.
Plan for summer activities.
Calendar for Seniors
March 2: FAFSA deadline for initial awards in
certain states.
If seeking financial aid, review the Student Aid Report (SAR) when it arrives.
Be diligent about homework
and class attendance. This
last semester counts!
Be aware of housing application deadlines at institutions.
Sign up for AP exams.
The College Find Newsletter
is created by Gael Casner
and edited by
Elizabeth LaScala PhD.
Copyright © 2017 Gael M. Casner
Some of the GE requirements will be courses you want to take,
but others may not capture your interest. At most schools, the
GE classes will consist of a semester or two of English composition, aka Expository Writing or Writing Seminar, and courses in the humanities, fine arts and performing arts, a social science, history course, foreign
language, mathematics and science. Sound familiar? Yep, it’s a lot like high school but
college level. Sometimes there will be a community service requirement or a life fitness
course requirement, often pass-fail. If you are looking at Jesuit or other religiously affiliated colleges you will likely see requirements in subjects such as philosophy and religion,
although they may have titles like ‘Meditative Arts’ and ‘Faith in Modern Society.’
Colleges have GE requirements because their leadership and faculty want to see their students engage in a broader-based liberal arts education, whether the students see value in
it or not. However, the more required GE courses a student must take in additional to required classes for their major, the fewer the electives available. Designing your class
schedule also becomes more challenging, especially in the early grade levels. If you have a
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Is Stress a Help or Hindrance?
by Gael Casner
Spring of junior year is often pressurefilled for diligent students who are trying
to balance demanding academics, a variety
of extra-curricular activities, trips to visit
colleges, and plans for summer experiences. When you add studying for SATs/ACTs
and/or APs, most teens feel the tension
mount. According to Marilee Jones & Kenneth Ginsburg in Less Stress, More Success, this is not necessarily bad. “Stress
was actually designed to be a lifesaver.
Stress gets our adrenaline going in times
of threat or peril so we can move quickly
to avoid harm. A reasonable level of
stress can be a positive influence that
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Make a decision to keep pressing forward. Keep believing
and keep stretching until you
see your dream fulfilled.
Joel Osteen
GE Requirements
choice between a school that has few
GE requirements and one that asks
you to take 12 credits in subjects of
little interest to you or courses that you
have considerable difficulty with in
high school, the choice could affect the
time it takes to earn the degree as well
as your college GPA.
Different schools address GE requirements differently. Some, such as Amherst, Brown, Hampshire, and Smith
have few or no GE requirements. You
might have only one or two required
courses, and then enjoy free rein to
choose whatever classes you want, as
long as you complete the pre-requisites.
The upside: you have the freedom to
choose, as long as you have some idea
what you might like to study. The
downside: you are navigating your college education without the structure
GE requirements can provide, and
some students are more successful at
this than others.
As in all phases of the college admission process, realistic self-appraisal
combined with good research are factors important to success.
Stress
drives us toward achievement. Moderate stress, for example, pumps us up to
prepare for an exam. A little stress
energizes a musician to play at a recital or an athlete to train for a game.
Without some occasional, moderate,
well-timed stress, we might have trouble mounting the energy to focus more
intensely and give the extra effort.”
So embrace those butterflies and that
mild queasiness the next time you sit
down for a major test. This is your
body’s way of preparing you to do well.
School of the Month
by Gael Casner
With the spectacular Wasatch mountains gracing its skyline and six
world class ski resorts just 45
minutes away, the University of
Utah (the U) provides an excellent
balance between strong academics
and an active, outdoorsy life. When
you throw in a bustling city of almost
200,000 that offers plentiful internships as well as jobs after graduation, the U becomes a hidden gem
that people outside of Utah are just
waking up to.
Health sciences, computer science
(with an emphasis on Entertainment
Arts & Engineering) and engineering
all get top billing. Unlike most undergraduate programs, students in
the human anatomy lab have access
to cadavers, a much more hands-on
approach to learning about the body.
In addition, nursing students have
no problem finding internships at the
University of Utah Hospital right on
campus. Other strong programs include psychology, economics, entrepreneurship, mass communication
and dance. Students characterize
their classes as challenging and generally give their professors high
marks. With over 80 majors to
choose from, the U has something for
everyone.
When I visited campus a few weeks
ago, I spent time with five student
ambassadors who happen to be enjoying lunch and a lively conversation in the dining hall. Two of them
live on campus while three live just
off campus in apartments. While the
U appears to be a commuter school
(just half of the freshmen are in
dorms), I was assured that most of the
students live within a mile or two.
Meanwhile, there is great school spirit
around the sporting events (this is a
Pac-12 school), Crimson Nights parties
(5,000 attended the last one), and
more. Much of the social life, of course,
is connected
Public: 17,023 unto all of the
dergrads; 5,777
recreation
grad students
opportunities
82% acceptance
- mountain
rate; mid-SAT: CR
biking, ca520-640, M 530-660;
noeing, back- mid-ACT: 21-27
packing, ski23% diversity; 6%
ing; and the
intl.; 20% out-ofwell-stocked
state; 56/44 male/
recreational
female; 16/1 stuvenue, Outdent faculty
door Adventures, makes it easy to participate.
One surprise was the diversity I saw on
campus, and while the state of Utah is
home to a large population of Mormons, I was assured that all faiths are
welcome and represented. In fact, students pride themselves on their inclusiveness.
A second surprise was the number of
new buildings. The Student Life Center houses several swimming pools, a
climbing wall, a bouldering wall, racquetball and squash courts, a running
track, dance studio, gymnasiums and
much more. There is an honors residential scholars community, arts and
education building, biological and biophysical chemistry building; the list
goes on. Linking these buildings is an
arboretum-style landscape, beautiful
even covered in snow.
Students who get excited when seeing
the University of Colorado-Boulder on
their college list should also consider
the University of Utah. It’s a strategic
choice if you are looking for a closer
and cheaper option that balances the
college experience with lots of academic
and internship options and a vibrant
recreational life.
Contributions by independent college consultants from across the nation