Why is location important?
A University’s location usually tends to decide its tuition fees and cost of living.
Apart from college and department ranking, as well as tuition costs, another important factor to consider while choosing a college is its location.
Why is location important? A University’s location usually tends to decide its tuition fees and cost of living. Students often inquire how they should prepare for standardized tests such as SAT and TOEFL. They ask how much time they should spend on studying for each test, and wonder if joining classes would help.
It is understandable that not every 16-18 year old knows exactly what they want to do in life. Hence, when college application time comes, it is very common to see furrowed brows on the faces of students and parents alike, wondering which major to declare on the application forms. Quite a few wonder if choosing “Undeclared” as an option is a good idea.
If you think about it, it does not really seem like one. Most universities have 2 application deadlines, an early one and a regular one. Quite a few students don’t realize that the early deadline consists of 2 types too:
They may sound similar, but are actually very different. Many times, parents ask me what the best time is to start preparing for a college application.
2 months prior to the application deadline? 3 months? 6 months? It really surprises them when I say, “2 years!” Students often ask me which guides to buy for particular exams. While there are a plethora of books out there claiming to be THE ideal guide for each exam, I personally prefer the ones written by popular developers such as Barron's, Princeton Review, Kaplan and McGraw-Hill.
The following is my list of best prep guides:
Having studied in Florida and Massachusetts for my Bachelor’s degree, I can relate to students going abroad for the first time. I understand the apprehensions of parents sending their kids abroad, worried among other things about the lack of supervision, availability of food, their children’s security, and their overall well-being. Over the years, I have been able to share my first-hand knowledge with many families, answering their queries, guiding them, and conducting research for them. I have been helping students research universities based on specific criteria such as university ranking, major-related school ranking, locale, community, accessibility, tuition costs, proximity to relatives, and weather, among other things, for the past 13 years. I had gone to Florida using the services of a renowned admissions counsellor, but faced so many unexpected and unexplained problems that I had to come back. The college was very good, but being a small Liberal Arts school, it did not have the resources to cater to the requirements of a specialized degree like Computer Science, nor did it have a cafeteria that could serve vegetarian food. I realized that I had not asked the right questions, and had succumbed to general expectations and stereotypes of life in America. I also realized that if the counsellor had really cared about me as a young student, they would have given me the additional information that I had not asked for. Having learnt from this experience, I have strived to make the lives of other students and parents easier, by explaining to them how things work abroad, what to expect, how the international education system is different from India, what options they provide, where they can save money, and what the best way is to go about the entire process. I provide guidance on which exams to take, when to take them, what the ideal score is to get into a particular program, how to go about the application process, how to tackle the dreaded personal statements and essay questions, and what to showcase to the admissions committee. Pentomime evolved with the aim to help students around the world – whether they were applying for further studies, or already studying and needing help with Academics, or stepping out into the professional world and needing a Resume and LinkedIn profile to get ahead. In the coming weeks, I will be putting up multiple blog posts to explain common queries that I regularly get from students and parents alike, and sharing my thoughts and views on the same. |
About this BlogBlogs answering most frequent queries and doubts regarding University Admissions as well as Resumes and LinkedIn profiles will be posted here. Archives
May 2016
Categories |