Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant 
***************

Here’s the transcript if you’d like to read:

I’m here on the Campus of the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. And I could say that the College of Wooster is another one of those Mid-Western surprises. I’ve had on this trip where you walk into the campus and are really shocked by how really wonderful it is. I can’t say I was completely shocked because I knew from reputation that this is a really solid academic school. It’s kind of under the radar screen for a lot of people but a fantastic little liberal arts college in Ohio.

The thing I wanted to mention is the way I visit colleges. I tend not to go on canned admission tours. I tend to just show up kind of unannounced without a lot of fanfare or giving them prior warning of my visit. Then I walked into the Admissions Office today at 4:15, okay it closes at 5.

Immediately they said, let’s get you in touch with the person, what are the admissions reps and he sat down with me. He talked with me for about 40 minutes. He gave me kind of a personal tour of the campus as much as he could before he had to run off to pick up his wife. But really took a personalized – he gave me personal attention. And that’s really indicative of what the College of Wooster is all about spending the time and the energy and giving personal attention to each and every student.

Loren Pope put the College of Wooster in his book 40 Colleges that Changed Lives and, you know. It’s not surprising just my little experience here on an August day when the campus is pretty dead to walk into the Admissions Office and get a lot of personalized attention. We just met with the professor he was walking out of his office, stood there and talked with us for a few minutes, really impressive place.

Yes, the landscaping and the architecture yes that’s kind of a surprise to me. Because it really does kind of help to get a feel of the physical plant of a college. But really by reputation College of Wooster is one of those places that they take – maybe their students are diamonds in the rough not necessarily the tippy top academically. They will take students who have academic potential and they will mold them into scholars. That is really the hallmark of education here at Wooster, excellent education, someplace that is definitely off the radar screen for a lot of students but it shouldn’t be. This is a high value education and it deserves more attention.

The post College of Wooster – Changing Lives first appeared on Great College Advice.

This is another example of how the liberal arts are truly “liberating.”  This young man’s foray into history and the Classics have taught him a great deal about himself.  While it’s true that college students will someday emerge from the cocoon of college into the wide, wide world to make a living, the educational experience of the liberal arts can help students understand their world better, improve their ability to communicate with others, and sharpen one’s analytical skills in ways that are hard to quantify.

The good thing is that employers are looking for students like this one (who studies at Hope College in Michigan–which is a member of the Colleges That Change Lives consortium) who can elegantly argue a case in the court of public opinion.
Read the piece here.

Great College Advice
Educational Consultant and Admissions Expert

The post The liberal arts can be a liberating educational force first appeared on Great College Advice.

TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Ali, I am from London and I am a freshman here at Dartmouth. Obviously, being from London, I didn’t know a lot about the American admissions process, and so I got Mark to help me out with that, and honestly I’m very grateful he did because I don’t know how I would have made it through the process without him. I had a very difficult admissions process. I have friends who got into their first-choice colleges early decision and that was it. That was amazing and I’m really happy for them. That did not happen for me. I had almost three rounds of letters and not quite acceptances and trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and at one point I was enrolled in a different college which I didn’t end up attending. I’m ecstatic that I’m here now but that was a really tough time for me and I think having someone there who kept me sane, who helped me work out what I wanted to do through the emotional aspects and making sure that things like essays and applications and letters all got done. I know myself and I would have let that fall to the wayside. I’m very grateful for that and I recommend Mark’s services.

The post Staying Organized on the Journey to Dartmouth first appeared on Great College Advice.

So one thing that students, when they’re looking for a college, tend to forget is that there are different lifestyles to choose from when you’re looking at a campus. I was recently on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania and it was completely inaccessible to a stranger like me coming from the outside. Everything locked up, you had to swipe your card everywhere, often had to go through turnstiles and big gates just to get into building complexes. I’m here on the campus of Bowdoin right now, and I want to show you what the difference is like. We just walked in this building, there are not that many people around, but come here, follow me. Here’s a classroom, a tech classroom in a science building, and I can just walk right in. So follow me in here and you can see this is a lecture hall at Bowdoin. All the computer stuff is here ready for the taking. I can just walk into this kind of place.
So you really do need to think about what kind of environment you want to study in. Certainly, if you’re in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, downtown Philadelphia, the security systems are going to be much different and much more strict than a place like Brunswick, Maine at Bowdoin College. But it does make a difference. If you can walk into a classroom, is that the kind of place you want to be or do you like the fact that you’re in the urban press where security is just going to be a natural part of your daily life? So that is something that students tend to neglect when they’re thinking about which college to attend.

The post Admissions Consultant on Campus Security first appeared on Great College Advice.

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The post Colorado High Schools With Great College Advice first appeared on Great College Advice.

Transcript:

I’m here on the campus of Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida and behind me, you can see the Performing Arts Center. This is where one of the three presidential debates in 2012 between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was held. But it’s really the Performing Arts Center for a music conservatory here at Lynn. It’s a smaller program but it is highly renowned. It’s primarily international students, kids come from all over the world to study music here. And, bonus, it’s free.

So if you get in, you don’t pay tuition. And if you still need more money because you have a financial need. Then scholarships might be available to help pay for the cost of room and board. So if you’re looking for a music conservatory. There are not many better deals in the country than the Lynn University Conservatory.

The post Lynn University’s Free Music Conservatory first appeared on Great College Advice.

TRANSCRIPT:
So here today I’m on the campus of Rollins College, it’s in Winter Park, Florida, not too far from Orlando, big city. And it’s a beautiful campus, kind of Mediterranean style, and really nice buildings, architecturally harmonious, we might say. And the location is great because not only is it warm, although it’s January right now, it’s a little nippy, sunny and beautiful but a little nippy, and it’s got the best of both worlds: it’s a smallish town, Winter Park is an older town in Florida that’s been around for a long time, but then you’ve got Orlando with Disney and Universal and all the attractions of a big city. So it’s kind of a nice combination being in a more suburban or residential area of a very large city.

So a great place to come if you’re looking for the place where you can wear your flip flops every day and enjoy the Florida sunshine. The other thing that’s really beautiful about this campus is that they are on this lake, Lake Virginia, so you’ve got a big waterfront down here that is absolutely gorgeous. So there’s a reason why Princeton Review recently called this the number 1 most beautiful college campus in America.

The post Rollins College: A Beautiful Campus first appeared on Great College Advice.

The post Get Admitted to Your Dream College first appeared on Great College Advice.

The post Get Help from an Admissions Insider first appeared on Great College Advice.

Part of a series on Bates College.
Part 3 … Part 5

TRANSCRIPT:

Another thing that sets Bates apart from many of its competitor schools. If you will, is that the outdoors is an integral part of this campus. It is located in Maine, which is a beautiful state, and the outdoors is so much a part of what Mainers are really about. So you have the mountains and skiing that’s about an hour away, it’s really great, fantastic skiing. And then you have one of the most spectacular natural sea coasts in North America. So you’ve got plenty of outdoor opportunities.

Now keep in mind, of course, this is Maine, so there will be snow on the ground. It’s green and beautiful today in the summer. But there will be lots of snow on the ground so it’s winter sports. And Bates also has Division I skiing, including Nordic skiing so winter sports are really, really popular here.

So outdoor activities, if you’re interested in getting outside, going camping, going hiking, being part of the beautiful outdoors of America, Maine and Bates: you need to think about those.

Mark Montgomery
Expert Educational Consultant

The post Consultant on Bates: An Outdoorsman’s College first appeared on Great College Advice.