Fiske Guide to Colleges

Carolynn Laurenza, Uncommon Charter School

Posted on Tue, 03/04/2014 - 11:13

Carolynn Laurenza grew up in a farm town in the middle of western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley, also known as the "Five Colleges" corridor because it's home to Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This might have presaged her choice of profession in life.

Today, Laurenza is the College Placement Coordinator for Uncommon Charter High School in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she earned a Masters in Education from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Laurenza spent three years as a guidance counselor at a regional public high school in the "Five Colleges" area before joining Uncommon Charter in the summer of 2011.

"It's a different reality," says Laurenza, who was named a "Counselor that Changes Lives" earlier this year. "As a public high school guidance counselor, you're juggling many types of social/emotional issues, the administrative needs of the school, trying to help kids in all grades and doing college counseling. At Uncommon, I get to focus on college counseling."  

Juniors: Subjective Guidebooks and Websites for your College Search

Posted on Wed, 11/13/2013 - 09:01

One of the most important steps in the college application process is researching the colleges. Last week, we brought you our list of objective guidebooks and websites -- the comprehensive catalogs that provide at-a-glance overviews for colleges and universities with facts and figures on variables such as location, cost, test scores, academics, athletics and financial aid. These are great starting points for your research.

This week, we have the subjective guidebooks and websites. These subjective resources can also provide basic facts about colleges and universities, such as acceptance rates and enrollment. But they also "review" the schools -- offering fact and opinion about the physical campus, student body, academics and other aspects of campus life. Their anecdotal nature makes them very entertaining, but pay attention to how they gather their information and from whom.

All of these guidebooks are usually available in bookstores, libraries and the office of your high school college counselor. Websites are available to everyone free of charge.

SUBJECTIVE REFERENCE GUIDES

Books

Kelly Dunham, Cherry Creek High School

Posted on Mon, 04/01/2013 - 13:02

Last week, one of Kelly Dunham's students informed her that he had received notification he was waitlisted at one of the colleges to which he'd applied. He was asked to follow a link to let the university know if he was interested in staying on the waitlist. He selected the link and it took him to a pornography website. "Thank goodness, he is a student with a great sense of humor," says Dunham.  "I contacted the university and the link was of course wrong!  What are the chances?"

It's all in a day's work for Dunham -- though her days usually revolve around more prosaic problems like academic advising and college lists.  As Counseling Department Coordinator for Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colorado, in the Denver metropolitan area, Dunham is head of the department and also acts as one of ten counselors, who spend most of their time advising students on academics, social/emotional issues, and college.  The largest high school west of the Mississippi River, Cherry Creek is home to 3500 students, 95% of whom go on to college.

Nancy Meislahn, Wesleyan University, Answers Five Questions

Posted on Mon, 10/01/2012 - 11:48

Nancy Hargrave Meislahn, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, at Wesleyan University of Middletown, Connecticut, joins us this month and graciously answers -- not five -- but six questions.

 Wesleyan was founded in 1831 by leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church and began with 48 students (all men); the president; three professors; and one tutor. Tuition was $36 per year.

Today, Wesleyan’s 316-acre campus located in central Connecticut hosts about 2,900 full-time undergraduates – both men and women -- who choose among more than 900 courses offered in 40 departments and 44 major fields of study, taught by 375 faculty members. Its student/faculty ratio remains at 9 to 1, with two-thirds of classes enrolling fewer than 20 students.

Named for John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the college was never a seminary, but offered a liberal arts program from its inception. Unlike most college curriculums at the time of its founding which were steeped in the classics, Wesleyan set out to put modern languages, literature, and the natural sciences on equal footing.  That orientation continues today with students pursuing a self-directed curriculum, numerous undergraduate interdisciplinary programs, and broad research opportunities.

Juniors: More Resources for Your College Search

Posted on Fri, 09/28/2012 - 08:50

 

Last week, we posted the objective guidebooks that we recommend as you research the colleges for your initial list of schools. For this week, here are the subjective guidebooks we recommend. These books provide basic information about schools, including information on acceptance rates, cost and enrollment. But they also "review" colleges and universities the way critics review movies. Using feedback and input from students, faculty, alumni, high school college counselors and others, the information in these books weaves fact and opinion about the student body, athletics, academics, social life, physical setting, dorms and other aspects of campus life.

The books listed here are available in most bookstores, public libraries and the office of your high school college or guidance counselors.  Websites are available to everyone free of charge.

Books

The Best 371 Colleges, Princeton Review

Big Book of Colleges, College Prowler

The Global Worldview of College Campuses

Posted on Fri, 12/02/2011 - 21:16

A global worldview is an attribute that many students today seek when they look at colleges. Edward Fiske, author of The Fiske Guide to Colleges, in an article in the Huffington Post,  discusses the challenge of globalization and how American colleges are meeting it -- opening international outposts and admitting more students from abroad -- in this informative article  Globalization -- What It Means for Colleges and Students.