College Catalog – A Student’s Bible

Jared Hobson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:47:42 +0000

On his recent visit to Otterbein College, Mark shared his views about what helps students finding the desired information they’re looking for about a college. A college’s catalog–or bulletin, as it is sometimes called–is the source of all knowledge about the policies, programs, and procedures of a college. If you are interested in a particular place, make sure to pick up the catalog.
Watch this video and learn how a college catalog can help you find the right majors, graduation requirements or answers to any other questions you may have:

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
*****************
TRANSCRIPTION
Hi, I’m here today on the campus of Otterbein University which is in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio in a beautiful little town, a nice little center here right next to the campus but I want to take a minute just to talk about something about researching colleges and that is the catalog, the college catalog, also sometimes known as the bulletin. This is the bible of any college student and it should be the college of any student who is looking at and trying to decide which college to attend. When you’re serious about a particular college, make sure that you get a copy of this catalog. Now you can find it on the internet sometimes, it’s kind of hard and sometimes it’s kind of funky to navigate but this is really important. Why? Because while choosing a college is partly about sports and activities, you can see the stadium and the track behind me, it’s sometimes about parties and about fraternities and sororities, the fraternity houses are just down the road here and sometimes it’s also about residence halls and living on your own and growing up and expanding in those personal ways but, you know, really college is primarily about school. It’s primarily about learning. It’s tests, it’s papers, it’s all the things, going to class. This is the book that you need to have in order to understand the academic structure of a university and the requirements to your degree. So, you want to make sure that you understand that when you’re looking at a particular college and trying to figure out whether or not this college has the things that you’re interested in.
So, you know, take an example, if you want to know about how to double major or what a dual degree option might be, you need to know all of those things are listed in here. If you’re looking at, say, the politics department, you want to know about what kinds of courses are offered and what are the introductory courses, what are the second level courses, what’s the philosophy of education in that particular department? What is the emphasis? Looking at who the faculty are, that’s all going to be in this catalog. Again, you know, we have all kinds of information at our fingertips. When we go to the internet, we go to the websites of the various colleges, what do we see primarily? We see pretty pictures, we see virtual tours, we see student blogs, we see, you know, talking heads telling us how wonderful this particular college is but if you want to understand what’s going to, what’s in it for you, get the book that every student has on campus, get the college catalog or bulletin and make sure that you read up and understand how this college is structured, what its priorities are and what it’s going to mean for you academically speaking because that’s really what college is all about.

The post College Catalog – A Student’s Bible first appeared on Great College Advice.

Large vs. Small Colleges–Which Size Is Best For Me?

Jared Hobson — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:02:40 +0000

Goldilocks had a problem with size. She tried the large ones, she tried the small ones, and she eventually found the ones that were “just right.”
You can find the “just right” size, too, when it comes to colleges. But you really need to think about what size means, especially when it comes to academics. That is, after all, the most important consideration in choosing a college: academics. You are selecting a school where you can succeed academically. So thinking about how size has an impact on your learning is super important.
Have a look at this quick video that I filmed at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant in Denver, Colorado

If you prefer, you can read the transcript below.
********************
I’m here right now on the campus of Ohio State University which is in the heart of Columbus, Ohio. And it’s one of the largest campuses in America. Ohio is a state in contrast because there are so many colleges and universities, lots of large public universities, several large private universities, and then many small liberal arts colleges and religious affiliated colleges; a huge number of institutions.
What I want to talk about right now though is this idea of large versus small. Obviously, this campus is just ginormous. So many different opportunities, so many different programs with well over 50,000 undergraduates; there is something here for everyone. When I’m trying to explain the difference between a small school and a large school many students come to me and they say I want a large school because I want to have all kinds of opportunities. I want to have everything there. I liken that to a buffet table. Think of it like a buffet table that is miles and miles long; so many different opportunities, all of it tasty and delicious. But you can’t even see the end of the table. It’s such an enormous table. It has, you know, Russian studies, East European languages, Neuroscience, nursing, business – just absolutely everything you could ever imagine at a place like this. But when you’re an undergraduate you’re only going to be able to take advantage of a small part of that table. It may be very tasty, all the way down to the end. But you’re really going to have to have a strategy when you get there about which part of the table you are going to take advantage of, academically as well as socially. I mean you’re; there are so many people and so many different opportunities you really have to figure out where are you going to start in this great big huge buffet table.
A small college like a Kenyon or an Otterbein or a College of Wooster. Those colleges are certainly; everything on the table is as delicious and as tasty, but you can see the ends of the table. You can see exactly what’s on there. And if you know that you want to sample particular dishes from that table, well there’s everything you ever wanted there. What’s the issue here? Knowing what it is you want. As you go to select a university, don’t think large versus small automatically. Think what is it I want. What are the things, what are the opportunities I want? Yes, Ohio State has bazillions of opportunities, but which of those opportunities are most relevant to you. If you’re saying well I want an English major, well certainly a place like Kenyon or Otterbein or anyplace else will have that major. If you’re looking for something more specific maybe that’s when you need to be looking at Ohio State. Or, if you want the bustle, the level of independence that is required at a place like Ohio State well then it could be perfect for you.
But don’t think first of what, of large versus small. Think what do I want, what do I need, what are the things that I want to study, what is tasty to me, what do I find delectable. And then go out and find that. It may be on a huge table like the one at Ohio State or it might be at a smaller one like at the College of Wooster. Know what you want, go look for it.

The post Large vs. Small Colleges–Which Size Is Best For Me? first appeared on Great College Advice.

Otterbein - Great College Advice

College Catalog – A Student’s Bible

Large vs. Small Colleges–Which Size Is Best For Me?