College Admissions Basics
Do college graduates earn more money?
Statistically, college graduates do earn more money, but you could look at individual cases where that might not be so. Generally graduates do earn more, and it could be up to 50% higher, depending on what the initial careers are that students embark on, some starting with higher salaries than others. Generally speaking, students that graduate from college will have careers that can earn more income.
Are college admissions becoming more competitive?
College admissions are definitely becoming more competitive. What has happened is as a result of population changes - the baby boomer generation's kids - there's a lot of people in that college demographic. In a lot of colleges the number of slots haven't changed, but there are more people applying. The advent of the internet has also made admissions more competitive. Ten years ago, that may have not have been the case, and now most applications are online so it's very easy for students to apply to many schools. There's something else, too, called the common application, which is at commonapp.org, that incorporates about 35 schools in this country. It was initially started to make the application process easier, where there is one application for a number of universities. The competitive nature in turn makes students apply to more schools, raising the competitive level of admissions further.
What is the difference between a public and a private college?
Public institutions are involved with the state, financed sometimes in that regard, and often have larger enrollments. Private universities sometimes have boards and are funded differently. They perhaps have alumni contributors, larger endowments and smaller enrollments. The application process at private colleges can also be very different in that private universities may offer interviews and public universities will not, and there's certain public universities that won't even take recommendation letters. Private colleges can be at times more holistic with the application process.
What is a "junior college"?
A junior college is generally the first two years directly out of high school, where an Associate degree is offered. Students who complete junior college will matriculate into a four year university, and then be able to graduate with a Bachelor degree. Certain universities have articulation agreements with community colleges, where if the student completes a certain program at the community college, they can move into the university. There are even guaranteed admission programs for students who maintain a certain GPA, or take certain courses. So it really can be a very strong program, and at times I think the junior colleges, or community colleges, are ill represented, because in certain cases they can really be incredible for students, especially when cost is a factor.
What does it mean to matriculate?
Matriculate means move over. Matriculate means that you go from the associate degree that you've now completed into the four year university, into a major program, where you've identified a major for your last two years of college. You would take courses to complete a major course of study.
What is a "community college"?
A community college is similar to a junior college in that they offer two year programs, but community colleges also offer vocational courses of study. A student could attend a community college and decide whether or not they're going to take a very academic course. Alternatively, they could train to do a program over two years in order to do something that didn't require a bachelor's degree, for example.
What is an "accredited college"?
Accreditation is an approval by a team of professionals or experts, who effectively audit a university, program or school - including high schools. They have different accreditation processes. There can be several committees set up within the school - a curriculum committee, the parent committee, etc. Everything is assessed, examined and observed in order to achieve accredited status. If a university passes this accreditation, based on how this team evaluates the school, they become accredited. Those are great brownie points. That's a great thing.
What is a "liberal arts college"?
A liberal arts college is a college that will incorporate many different academic courses of study to give the student exposure in basic disciplines. Academic courses such as history, math, english, sciences, and at which point it would help the student identify what they want to focus on and then major in.
What is an "undergraduate"?
An undergraduate is a student who generally starts college after high school, and usually will attend university for 4 years. Some universities now offer five or six years if students can't get their courses and achieve the goal of their bachelor degree. Undergraduates take either a bachelor of art or a bachelor of science degree.
What is a "Bachelor's Degree"?
A Bachelor's Degree is attained after completing a course of study at a university. A Bachelor's Degree has core requirements in the first two years of college, followed by identifying a major and then completing that course. Some schools now have double majors or blended programs, where the student can get their degree and get a credential at the same time. Some colleges have accelerated programs, too. In pre-meds, there are now seven year programs that some students are qualified to attend.
What is an "Associate's Degree"?
An Associate Degree is achieved after attending a junior college or community college and completing the course of study that they lay out for you and require you to take. An Associate Degree is generally an overview of academic courses in a wide range of fields. If biological sciences, physical sciences, English - both written composition and critical reasoning - and mathematics are all accomplished with a grade of "C" or better, the student can then achieve an Associate Degree.
What jobs require an Associate's Degree?
There are numerous jobs that require an associate's degree, or may not even require an associate's degree if a person teaches themselves a certain skill or gets special training. Graphic design is an example. Culinary arts is another one that students sometimes will study and develop a career around. More students today are looking for ways not to just graduate with a degree in English, and think, "What do I do now?" It's more: "I want to train myself to do something when I graduate, and know that I'm accomplished and can achieve something when I graduate."
What is a "Graduate Degree"?
A graduate degree comes after you've achieved a bachelor's degree. A graduate degree could be a master's degree or a doctorate, and it specializes in a certain field of study. Often, students who are going after the master's or the doctorate degree will either write or publish, and do research, which is very important in a lot of the courses of study to attain these degrees.
What is an "academic major"?
An academic major is a course of study that is identified by the student, and then the student specializes in that course. Generally speaking, as an undergraduate, students are often required to take, depending on the university, 3 or 4 of their credits in that specific field, both lower-division courses and upper-division courses. Then they would get their degree, with that major being highlighted.
Can I have more than one college major?
Double majors are pretty common these days. Often, there's a difference between semester credits and quarter credits. For semester credits, if it's 12 credits to graduate, perhaps a double major may require 135 or 14 credits. You may have more credits than are required in order to graduate, but you would be graduating with two majors. A lot of times, students may want to double. For example, if they're a poli-sci major, they might have a double major with business. There are different areas in academics that complement each other, and students, rather than taking the isolated elective that doesn't really wind up into anything, want to string their courses together in the same line, and then wind up with another major. The other option is a minor, where a student can take a certain number of credits in a certain subject area, and then have a minor that goes along with their major as well.
What is an "academic minor"?
An academic minor is a course of study that does not require as many units as the major. So if a student, let's say, required 4 or 5 credits to achieve their major, they may need half of that amount to achieve the minor. Not all universities offer minors. Not all universities offer minors in every subject area. Like there are certain universities that will not offer, let's say, a minor in journalism. So it would be best to check with an academic advisor at the specific university to know whether or not that the school even offers the minor.
What is "college credit"?
Each course in college is assessed a certain number of credit points. Depending on the course, the number of hours that the student attends and is required to attend would be dependent on what the course is worth in credits. For example, if a course meets three times a week and has a lab, the course may be worth four semester credits. A course that may meet twice a week could be worth only three college credits. There may be a PE course that's only worth one college credit. It really depends. Of course, when you speak about college credit, you have to speak about the different kinds of credit. There's semester credit, and there are quarter units of college credit, also.
