Wacky College Application Questions for Admission to Oxford, Cambridge

About this time of year, some of my clients are pulling their hair out because they have to answer crazy questions on their college applications.  Some colleges even ask kids to make up their own question and answer it.


One, possibly apocyrphal, story has it that an applicant to Harvard or Princeton dealt with this open-ended question this way:


Question:  “Do you play the tuba?”

Answer:  “No.”


Apparently Oxbridge applicants are asked even crazier questions:

What would you do if you were a magpie?

Why don’t we fire all the politicians and let the managers of IKEA run the country?

How would you poison someone without the police finding out about it?


Thankfully none of my clients is applying to Oxford or Cambridge.  This year, anyway.


Check out the CNN story here: Admission questions to Oxford, Cambridge called ‘out there’ – CNN.com


Mark Montgomery
College Counselor



U Penn: Large Class Sizes and Inaccessibility of Profs

I find that some parents are stuck on reputation and prestige when they walk into my office and start talking about colleges.  I try to remind them that they are buying not only the reputation, but the educational experience for four years.


I also try to talk to them about class size and accessibility of professors, and the fact that many of our large research universities (both public and private) neglect undergraduate teaching in favor of academic research.


Often these parents won’t listen to me.  Or they just don’t believe me.  Thanks goodness for students who speak the truth about their institutions.


Check out this video from Unigo about the University of Pennsylvania.  Not exactly a ringing endorsment of the Penn education.  Would you slap down $40k in tuition (plus expenses) for huge class sizes and inaccessible professors–all for the reputation of an Ivy League school?


(Answer:  some will, some wont.)



Video – Why I Chose Penn(5) – University of Pennsylvania | Unigo


Mark Montgomery

College Counselor



At Dean College, late-bloomers get 2d chance – The Boston Globe

This past summer I had the opportunity to visit Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts. I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew of its strong reputation of helping kids who didn’t do so well in high school to get back on their feet, and I knew they have a strong program for students with learning differences.

I was pleased to find the campus a very pleasant place, with its library undergoing a complete renovation, and the “feel” one might expect from a small, New England campus. Plus it’s a stone’s throw from the commuter rail, and thus an easy jaunt into downtown Boston. I was impressed.

This recent artlcle from the Boston Globe attests to the value of the kind of education Dean focuses upon.

At Dean College, late-bloomers get 2d chance – The Boston Globe