help - College Admission Counseling https://greatcollegeadvice.com Great College Advice Fri, 15 Aug 2025 15:56:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/758df36141c47d1f8f375b9cc39a9095.png help - College Admission Counseling https://greatcollegeadvice.com 32 32 Educational Consultant on Temple University: A Lively Atmosphere https://greatcollegeadvice.com/educational-consultant-on-temple-university-a-lively-atmosphere/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=educational-consultant-on-temple-university-a-lively-atmosphere Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:17:42 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=14688 Great College Advice visits Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to showcase its energetic campus.

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Expert admissions counselor Mark Montgomery visits Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on a Friday afternoon to showcase its energetic campus. With easy access to Philadelphia, Temple is a college worth considering for anyone who enjoys the pulse of a major city.

TRANSCRIPT:
I’m here right now on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, and behind me is the library, there’s a big lawn over here, there are lots of kids hanging out, it’s a beautiful spring day just before finals, everybody’s relaxing. It’s also Friday, and so there are trucks lined up all up and down some of these avenues serving things like hoagies and wraps and crepes and there’s a “sugar bomb” truck or something. All kinds of places, getting ready for a Friday night here on some of the main drags. You can tell it’s kind of noisy, this is an urban environment so if you’re looking for a very active, fun, diverse campus in a city easily accessible by public transportation, this is a good place for you.

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Educational Consultant on Bates 4 of 5: An Outdoorsman’s College https://greatcollegeadvice.com/educational-consultant-on-bates-4-of-5-an-outdoorsmans-college/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=educational-consultant-on-bates-4-of-5-an-outdoorsmans-college Wed, 17 Sep 2014 14:07:11 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=14609 Mark talks about the outdoor opportunities offered by attending Bates College.

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Mark Montgomery, expert educational consultant and admissions counselor, talks about one of the things that set Bates College apart: its nearby outdoor opportunities. Bates is near a beautiful natural sea coast, and the mountains and colder climate make it a skier’s paradise, and Bates offers a Division I Nordic skiing program.

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

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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

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Educational Consultant on Bates 3 of 5: A Welcoming Community https://greatcollegeadvice.com/educational-consultant-on-bates-a-welcoming-community/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=educational-consultant-on-bates-a-welcoming-community Mon, 15 Sep 2014 14:07:40 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=14555 Marks goes to the campus of Bates College to talk about its long-standing ethos of diversity and tolerance.

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College admissions advisor and educational consultant Mark Montgomery talks about Bates College‘s ethos of diversity and tolerance. Even before the American Civil War ended, Bates opened its doors to blacks and other minorities, as well as women. This welcoming spirit continues to this day.
Part of a series on Bates College.
Part 2Part 4

TRANSCRIPT:

One of the other things that I found were interesting about Bates is the history matters. History matters with a lot of these colleges and Bates is very different from most of the other New England colleges in that it was set up by Free Will Baptists. And the Free Will Baptists were committed to ensuring that Bates was a campus that would be welcoming, not only to the local community and to America’s elite.

But also to women, so it was the first college in New England to accept women and also other minorities, including blacks. This was set up before the end of the Civil War, and from the very beginning they accepted freed slaves into the campus community.

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So why does that matter? Well, it’s part of the ethos. It’s part of the way that Bates thinks about itself and presents itself and projects itself into the world, that this is a progressive learning community. It’s an intentional community that has always been diverse. That has always been accepting of people of every stripe, including every religious background, every socioeconomic class, every ethnic background.

So that is just one of the core principles at this college that does set apart a little bit. Everybody’s going to talk about how they’re into being welcoming and tolerant and accepting. And of course that’s part of the American reality today. But Bates has walked the walk from the beginning of its history whereas some of the Ivy League schools, well, all of the Ivy League schools. And many other elite small colleges in New England just didn’t begin that way. So that’s an important part of Bates’ history to keep in mind.

Mark Montgomery
Expert Educational Consultant

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How To Write A College Essay https://greatcollegeadvice.com/how-to-write-a-college-essay/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-write-a-college-essay Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:27:13 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=5861 The presentation of this video is meant to make you giggle. But the advice it contains is pretty darned good. If you need help with your college essay, you might want to work with a professional…to help you avoid becoming a “forest-enabling loser.”   Mark Montgomery Educational Consultant and College Essay Editor

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The presentation of this video is meant to make you giggle. But the advice it contains is pretty darned good.
If you need help with your college essay, you might want to work with a professional…to help you avoid becoming a “forest-enabling loser.”

 
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant and College Essay Editor

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Educational Consulting Helps Parent and Student Sort Out What’s Best https://greatcollegeadvice.com/educational-consulting-helps-parent-and-student-sort-out-whats-best/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=educational-consulting-helps-parent-and-student-sort-out-whats-best Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:38:47 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=2495 Sometimes clients hire me thinking that the path is completely clear. Then after weeks of probing conversations, guided research, and creation of a list of criteria, the path suddenly takes an unexpected–but very welcome turn.  In this short video, a parent describes what she didn’t know as she embarked on this process, and her satisfaction […]

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Sometimes clients hire me thinking that the path is completely clear. Then after weeks of probing conversations, guided research, and creation of a list of criteria, the path suddenly takes an unexpected–but very welcome turn.  In this short video, a parent describes what she didn’t know as she embarked on this process, and her satisfaction that her son will be attending a college that suits him perfectly.





Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant and College Planner

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Failing Grades at Community College: Will They Kill Me? https://greatcollegeadvice.com/failing-grades-at-community-college-will-they-kill-me/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=failing-grades-at-community-college-will-they-kill-me Wed, 14 May 2008 14:59:37 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=220 Sometimes people write with personal questions, seeking advice for their particular situation. I received one today from a student at a community college who had a couple of failing grades.  Clearly, the student had finally woken up and figured out that getting Fs was not such a great idea.  But with that new understanding, what […]

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Sometimes people write with personal questions, seeking advice for their particular situation.

I received one today from a student at a community college who had a couple of failing grades.  Clearly, the student had finally woken up and figured out that getting Fs was not such a great idea.  But with that new understanding, what is a student to do about those Fs?

Here’s the student’s question:

I have 2 Fs in Math 090. This happened when i first started school at a community college. I didnt know how dropping classes worked and i got overwhelmed. Can i still graduate? Can i still go to a university?  Should i start over at another community college, and if i do is it possible that those two Fs will be discovered? 

And here is my response: 

Hi, and thanks for your inquiry.

With regard to graduating from your community college, you need to speak with a student advisor there.  I am sure they have academic counselors, and you should make an appointment with one to discuss your Fs.  The advisor can tell you what you need to do to graduate, as each college has its own rules.  You will likely have to retake the classes to make up the credit (if you haven’t already).  Do not be embarrassed.  What is, is.  You need to know how to proceed from here.

With regard to transferring to another community college, if you plan on transferring any of your current credits to that new college, your Fs will follow you. Unless you start completely over at square one, and do not divulge that you have already attended a college, your Fs will follow you.
I do not recommend this option for ethical reasons.  While it’s not good to fail, it’s worse to lie about it.  Fortunately, you live in the land of Second Chances.

From this point forward, what counts is how you respond to this mistake. If you retake Math 090 and get a good grade–maybe even an A (because you take advantage of every tutoring service and academic support system at your junior college, and you study like crazy)–then four-year colleges may be inclined to overlook your mistakes.  Now, you may not get into Stanford. But with good recommendations, a solid record of success since those dreaded Fs, and other good works in other aspects of your life, you can make a convincing case that you have matured, that you have learned the required mathematics, and that you have made up for your youthful transgressions of the past.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,
Mark Montgomery
Montgomery Educational Consulting

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