College Guide 2011

COLLEGE GUIDE

2011 THE TIMES LEADER • SEPT. 24, 2011

THE GAME PLAN

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Do you merit aid?

By LEE BIERER McClatchy Newspapers

There are two basic types of financial aid: meritbased, which rewards strong academic performance or a specific talent, and need-based, which assists families based on their financial need.

All families should complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid _ www.fafsa .ed.gov ) so they can determine what the government and colleges consider their expected family contribution (EFC).

The EFC drives the need-based financial system.

The EFC is derived from four major factors: total income, assets, family size and number of children in college. A more expensive college may have a higher EFC but still allow you to qualify for financial aid. Here’s an example: A family earning $125,000 with a child attending an in-state public university will probably not qualify for aid while a family earning $250,000 with two children attend-

ing private colleges probably will.

You can also calculate your EFC at www.collegeaboard.com and www.finaid.org.

According to Cappex (www.cappex.com), about $11 billion in merit aid is available, and nearly all colleges offer merit aid scholarships. The good news is that on average, 1 in 4 undergraduates receives merit aid scholarships, averaging $5,000. Not all the awards focus on grade point averages _ there are scholarships for leadership, community service or school involvement. Many of the awards can be renewed year after year.

What does this mean? Private schools that you generally consid-

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ered out-of-reach financially may actually be affordable, possibly even costing less than attending an instate institution.

Tactics for getting aid So how can you maximize your chances of receiving merit-based aid?

Apply where your efforts and performance will be recognized: You have a much better chance of receiving merit-based aid if your grades and test scores put you in the top 25 percent of the student body. Another way to measure this is with a school’s reported standardized test scores.

Example: When a college reports that its SAT middle 50 percent is 550650, that means that 50 percent of students scored in that range, while 25 percent of students scored above 650 and 25 percent scored below 550. This information is in college guidebooks and on college websites.

Research the financial aid link on a college’s website: Search each colSee AID, Page 8

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Parents can help in admissions process

By LEE BIERER

McClatchy Newspapers

See DORM, Page 12

See PARENTS, Page 11

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Juniors Katie Drayton, Hannah Seely and Olivia Richter share a quad in Gildea Hall Misericordia University where futons are allowed in the living room areas giving students more room to lounge.

Rules of dorm decor

By JANINE UNGVARSKY For The Times Leader

In a time full of new experiences and challenges, living in a campus dorm can be one of the best or worst experiences and one of the biggest challenges for incoming college students.

The keys to minimizing the challenge and maximizing the experience, say those who know, are research, planning and patience.

“You’re sharing room space with another person, which you may not have done before,” said A.J. Nudo, assistant director for resident life at Misericordia University. “Even if you know your roommate, you may never have shared a room with them. And you’re sharing a bathroom, maybe with 30 or 50 people. That giving up of personal space for shared space is a big adjustment for many students.”

Nudo, who has a total of ten

years of experience helping students adjust to dorm life that began as a resident assistant when he was a student himself, said incoming students can make the transition smoother by researching websites for colleges they are considering.

“If you spend some time on the student life sections of the websites, you’ll know what questions to ask and what is and isn’t allowed at the schools you’re considering, because some of it is

school –specific,” he said. “That will help you ask questions about things that are important to you and that might make the difference when it comes to choosing between School A and School B.” Elizabeth Swantek is the director of resident life at Wilkes University and also started her career helping students as a resident assistant 10 years ago. She said students are generally given a list of dorm do’s and don’ts ahead of time. Prohibited items can include everything from potential firestarters like candles and hot-burning halogen lights to obvious dangers like firearms and flammable liquids such as gasoline to items like traffic signs and empty alcoholic beverage containers in students younger than 21.

“Most of the prohibitions are out of respect for laws and regulations or for safety,” Swantek said, though some items, like

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dartboards, are prohibited because they lead to damage to dorm room walls.

Rules for what students can and can’t put on walls also vary greatly by school, and Swantek said in general, she recommends that students consider the potential damage of what they want to do.

“I usually say if you think it might take a chunk out of the wall when you take it down, don’t put it up,” she said, noting that damage could result in charges at the end of the year.

While dorm decorating trends change over the years, some things – like posters – are perennial favorites, Swantek said, so much so that Wilkes has an oncampus poster sale early each year. She recommends laminating the posters or using an inexpensive frame to help them last.

Many parents feel as if they’re walking a tightrope as they navigate their way through the college admissions process with their children.

How do you empower your kids to take on this new and exciting project and still make sure everything gets done?

The college admissions process is chock full of details and deadlines: testing regHelp plan istration, campus visits: transcript Discuss the requests, trip details, campus visessay especially if it its, writing, letinvolves mul- ters of rectiple colleges. ommendaSchedule the tion, transmitting test visits on the scores, etc. college webMany, if not sites and most, 16- to 17-year-olds make flight enter the and hotel process illarrangements equipped to as needed. juggle so many things simultaneously.

There are some areas where it’s OK for parents to get involved.

It’s just fine for parents to: Help plan campus visits: Discuss the trip details, especially if it involves multiple colleges. Schedule the visits on the college websites and make flight and hotel arrangements as needed.

Discuss college fit: Help your children to understand the kind of college experience they’re looking for. Talk about size; distance from home; benefits and drawbacks to an urban, suburban and rural environment; their academic needs; fraternity-sorority life; sports atmosphere; and special opportunities such as undergraduate research oppor-

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Brainstorm ideas for essays How do you go from “thinking” about your college application essay to actually writing it? That is a question many rising high school seniors are battling every day.

Suggestions: Step 1: Gather information.

Reflect on your activities and experiences over the last several years.

Try summarizing some of your biggest accomplishments -favorite courses, sports you’ve played, clubs you’ve joined, most unusual summer experiences you’ve had, etc.

Compile a list of your community service activities.

Write down all your possible college majors and career interests.

Jot down a short list of role models or of the people who have influenced you in school, in your extracurricular activities, within your family and among

your friends.

Collect all the best papers you’ve written for your English and history classes.

Ask yourself about the important milestones in your life as well as the most important relationships.

Why are these events and people significant?

Think of stories that are “totally you.”

Step 2: Examine your results.

Ask yourself “why,” “what” and “how” questions about each of your lists -- Why was this important? Why did I choose to volunteer?

What did I contribute?

What did I learn from each of

the experiences?

How have I changed because of my relationship with that person?

See if there is an underlying theme among all your entries.

Focus on “influence” and “impact” -- how have you been influenced by events or people in your life and how have these experiences led you to have an impact on others?

Remember, a good essay will demonstrate who you are as a person.

Don’t get caught up writing about how your grandmother has been such an amazing influence in your life with details on every obstacle that she has overcome -- grandma is not applying to college, you are. Make sure the essay is about you -- your strengths, your values, your achievements, etc.

A strong essay will be reflective, introspective and

Remember, a good essay will demonstrate who you are as a person. Don’t get caught up writing about how your grandmother has been such an amazing influence in your life with details on every obstacle that she has overcome _ grandma is not applying to college, you are. even analytical. Focus on depth not breadth. Think of moments in time that capture what’s important to you, a change of belief or a time you struggled.

A good essay is not a laundry list of your accomplishments. Make the reader like you and think you’d be a great addition to their campus.

Your essay should make them want to invite you out for a cup of coffee so they can get to know you better.

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lege website for specific merit-based scholarship opportunities. Some require separate applications with essays and interviews, and some colleges will consider all students that complete their applications by a specific deadline.

Check out other resources: There are lots of web-based resources: www.meritaid.com, www.finaid.org, www.fastweb .com, www.gocollege.com and www.scholarships.com are great places to start.

Ask about renewal terms: Colleges and scholarships differ on their renewal qualifications. Some have minimal standards and others have high grade-point average hurdles.

Make sure you won’t get caught attending a college where you aren’t 100 percent sure you can commit to scholarship renewal terms. There is little worse than loving a college but finding yourself denied a scholarship renewal because your GPA slips.

Need-based aid is typically renewed as long as courses are passed and canceled only if a family’s financial situation dramatically changes.

College clubs have something for everyone

By PATRICIA MONTEMURRI Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — When Western Michigan University sophomore Mitch Brownell sings “(I’ve got a Gal in) Kalamazoo,” he substitutes in the word squirrel.

“I’ve got a squirrel in Kalamazoo’ may be our new slogan,” said Brownell, 18, of Vicksburg, Mich., who is studying mechanical engineering.

Brownell said he didn’t know about the University of Michigan Squirrel Club when he and a buddy, Matt Kreiger, concocted a Facebook page last spring for Western Michigan University squirrel fans. The school’s Squirrel Club page went nuts, drawing 1,600 fans in about a week and photo postings of Kalamazoo squirrels.

“When we Googled ’squirrel clubs,’ we saw U-M had one ... and we kind of thought this could be a reality” at WMU, Brownell said.

Brownell has ordered about 300 T -shirts to sell for $10 each. He has a table reserved for the campus-wide student-group orienta-

tion day, and will hand out little bags of peanuts.

“A lot of people think it’s kind of out there,” Brownell acknowledged. He mentions the group on tours he gives for new and prospective students. He has even mentioned the club to Western Michigan University President John Dunn.

“He thinks we’re kind of crazy.

We asked him to join the Facebook page a couple of times, and he kind of shook his head,” Brownell said. “But we’ll get him to join.”

Yes, it’s back-to-school season.

And for college students, whatever their passion or proclivity, there is indeed a campus organization for them, which educators say is helpful.

Brian Dietz, assistant dean of students at Kalamazoo College, said clubs benefit students in a variety of ways, such as honing leadership and communication, budgeting and event-planning skills.

“They’re in charge and they have to create the mission, the vision and the goals of the group,” Dietz said. Even whimsical and

light hearted pursuits “bring fun and stress relief to members.”

One group on the Kalamazoo campus is called the Childish Games Commission, whose members engage in scavenger hunts, zombie tag and a Quidditch tournament based on the “Harry Potter” stories.

Good-natured ribbing between pizza-eating students in a Western Michigan University cafeteria led to the light hearted creation of the Dignified Educated United Crust Eaters Society. The club was born when freshmen Bryan Jones,19, of Newport, Mich., and Craig Kowalsky, 19, of Commerce Township, Mich., were ribbing buddy Joshua White, 19, of Delton, Mich., about not eating the crust of his cafeteria pizza.

“The argument went on for a few days and finally Josh said if you feel so strongly about it, why don’t you start up a club for crusteaters,” recalled Jones, who at Jefferson High School helped start up a bowling team and an art club.

“And as a joke, we applied for official recognition and — surprising-

ly — we got it.”

They devised a constitution and submitted the application. As a registered student organization, they qualify to use campus buildings, can apply for funding grants and attend leadership training.

At Central Michigan University, student Crystal Sanders spends several hours a week dressed as a medieval goblin brandishing a foam weapon. She’s a student leader in the school club the Fury of the Called, which has its roots in the imagery of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and mythical battle games known as Dagorhir.

Sanders, 23, was reeled in after she saw her husband play. Teams combat each other wielding foam weapons.

“It’s faux-contact foam fighting,” explained Sanders, an education major who travels to combat other clubs out-of-state.

Although foam fighting, pizzacrust chomping and squirrel watching sound like fun, belonging to such unique organizations also may yield opportunities after

college.

Jason Colman co founded the University of Michigan Squirrel Club in 2002 when he and a buddy were marveling how fat and friendly campus squirrels were.

“It was a joke, but the next morning, it sounded like a good idea,” recalled Colman, now 28 and living in Alameda, Calif., where he directs digitization for the University of California library system.

They made posters displaying a squirrel wearing a cap and the line: Answer the Call: Squirrel Club.” A handful of people showed up for the first meeting, but its growth spiraled once they hit the Diag bearing nuts. He thinks it appealed to students who left behind pets at home and wanted animal interaction.

Colman included his stewardship of the Squirrel Club on his resume.

“It comes up in job interviews because people Google me and find it,” he said. “It’s one of those quirky interesting things that set you apart.

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Parents getting savvy about tuition

By JENNA ROSS Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Families straining to pay for college are making savvier moves as costs rise.

More middle- and high-income students are choosing cheaper schools, living at home and getting grants and scholarships to pay for college, according to the Sallie Mae-Ipsos “How America Pays for College” study.

Last year’s study found families grappling with the recession by reaching deeper into savings to pay a record-high slice of the growing cost of college. This time, the average family surveyed paid a little less for the 2010-11 school year than the year before, thanks to different choices and more grants.

“While families were able to stretch in the shortest of terms ... that can only go so far,” said Clifford Young, pollster for Ipsos.

“There’s some downsizing going on.”

But they’re still sending their children to college. Nine out of 10

students strongly agreed that it’s “an investment in the future.”

Meanwhile, parents’ anxieties about the economy, which peaked last year, dropped a bit. Rising tuition remains their No. 1 concern.

Families reported paying an average of $21,889 on college-related expenses -- including tuition, textbooks and rent -- in 2011. That’s less than last year but more than in 2009 and 2008.

The price tag for wealthier students dropped. Families making $100,000 or more paid 18 percent less than last year, while middleincome families paid about 6 percent less. But families making less than $35,000 paid 14 percent more to meet this year’s college costs -from $17,404 in 2010 to $19,888 in 2011. College now eats up more than half of such a family’s household income.

Nearly all the 1,600 students and parents surveyed in the study reported making new or different moves to save money, such as going to school part time, picking a lower-priced college or living at

home.

Tyler Zabel, 18, had been considering film schools in Florida and Chicago with tuition ranging from $25,000 to $42,000 a year.

But he settled on Minneapolis Community and Technical College in part because the price tag is closer to $7,000 a year.

“It was the most logical route,” Zabel said. He also likes that MCTC’s program is hands-on, rather than theoretical. “MCTC has a similar program, but it’s a lot cheaper and closer to home.”

Zabel will

live with his middle-class parents in Shakopee and take the park-andride to downtown Minneapolis.

Film isn’t necessarily a degree that requires a college education, he noted, but “having a degree is kind of necessary these days.”

The survey, focused on students ages 18 to 24, indicates that most students and parents agree.

This year’s results showed a jump in the “practical value of a college education to families.” More students and parents strongly agreed that college is “an inSee SAVVY, Page 11

MCT ILLUSTRATION

SAVVY Continued from Page 10

vestment in the future” and more cited “earn more money” as a reason to attend.

But after record highs last year, fewer parents were willing to stretch themselves financially for their students to attend. The percentage who “strongly agreed” that they would “rather borrow than not go” dropped from 59 percent last year to 51 percent this year. Students’ willingness to borrow, at 61 percent, was unchanged from last year.

Parents seem a little less worried than last year, survey answers show. “We’ve seen the worry come down,” said Sarah Ducich, Sallie Mae’s senior vice president for public policy. “They’ve taken these steps and they’ve gotten a handle on their financing.”

That seems strange to Ronald Ramsdell, founder of College Aid Consulting Services in Minneapolis, who helps his clients navigate and negotiate within the financial aid process. “It’s still bleak,” he said. “It’s awful. The

cost of education is still rising, Parents are still struggling.

“It has not gotten better for families.”

But he agrees that “families are now lowering their anxiety levels,” in part because they “realize that a community college is a good choice in the first and second years.”

About a third of poor students attend public two-year colleges, a greater share than other income levels. But suddenly, a bigger chunk of high-income families are attending these low-cost institutions -- 22 percent in 201011 compared to 12 percent in 2009-10.

“This might help explain how middle- and higher-income families were able to reduce their contributions from income and savings,” the study says, “and decrease the overall amount they paid for college.”

More of those students also got grants. For the first time in the study’s history, more families said that they filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- 80 percent, compared to 72 percent who said so last year. Most of that increase came from the middle- and high-income catego-

ries.

There are more poor students in college. For several years, the low-income category has been swelling in size -- from 20 percent of the survey sample in 2008 to 32 percent in 2011. Young called that a “surprising” trend unexplained by their survey.

It might be that more students from low-income families are going to college. Or that more families, hit hard by the recession, now fit in that category. Or that increased funding for the Pell Grant program has brought in more students who qualify.

The percentage of students in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system who received federal, need-based Pell grants has grown from 45 percent in 2006 to 54 percent in 2010.

Brittney Hagstrom, who considers her family middle-class, is attending Normandale Community College as a high school student, through the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program. She expects that even once she has graduated from high school, she’ll continue attending the public Bloomington, Minn., college.

PARENTS Continued from Page 5

tunities, internships, study abroad, interdisciplinary majors, clubs and extracurricular activities.

Read over their essays, only if they want you to. Don’t edit too much or the essay will lose the voice of a teenager. College admissions officials have become quite adept at recognizing parental interference. Remember one of the essay’s chief objectives is to allow the college to get to know your child beyond grades and test scores. If the essay sounds like it was written by a middle-aged attorney, it has lost its flavor.

Contact the financial aid office. Don’t wait until your child is accepted to be in touch with the financial aid office. Ask them about institutional and departmental need-based and meritbased scholarships and workstudy options. Make sure you understand each college’s needaware or need-blind policy and how that impacts your personal

financial situation.

Support, encourage and celebrate. Understand that as stressful as this may be for you as parents, many students freeze up just at the mention of the word college. They often feel that they are constantly being judged, compared to their classmates and forced to begin planning the rest of their lives.

Support them by following their lead when talking about college.

Encourage them to dream and apply to one or two reach schools that they have researched. At the same time, make sure that their final list is well-balanced with reach, target and safety schools.

Celebrate all victories large and small. For the small ones such as completing college-related assignments on time or a stronger test grade, a heartfelt congratulations or "I’m proud of you" means a lot. For the bigger ones such as early-decision or early-action acceptances or big jumps in test scores, hang their college colored balloons on your mailbox, treat them to their favorite dinner or write them a note they’ll keep forever.

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CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Junior Katie Drayton in Gildea Hall Misericordia knows plastic self-attaching hooks are OK for dorm room walls.

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Continued from Page 5

Fabric tapestries are also popular wall decorations now, she said, and many students bring in curtains to cover the standard-issue window blinds. Rugs are also popular room additions and add color and comfort, Swantek said, and she’s seen students get very creative for other décor, such as using calendar pages and dollarstore frames for wall art To maximize space, both Swantek and Nudo recommend students use some of the many types of folding chairs available for using at outdoor sporting events, which can be stored in a corner or under a bed when not in use. That valuable real estate under the bed should be used for all types of storage, said Swantek, who has seen students rest the bed on top of shelves that can be used for book storage.

Other useful items, Nudo and

Swantek said, include plastic crates, which can be used to haul items to school and then stacked for bookshelves, dry erase or cork boards and some sort of file system for papers, as well as things like a can opener, eating utensils, surge protectors, a small vacuum and an item students often forget, an umbrella. With recent power outages from storms still fresh in their minds, both resident life experts strongly recommended flashlights and batteries as must-have dorm items.

Both Nudo and Swantek urged students to bring personal items that will make their dorm room seem more like home, including pictures, a favorite pillow or anything that will be comforting.

“Don’t be afraid to bring a teddy bear or another comfort item,” Swantek said. “It’s not a bad thing and a lot of kids will have them.”

To save space and ease the load to carry back and forth, Nudo recommended that students get in touch with their roommate before they come to school and coordinate who will bring what. For

instance, one might bring a fridge for the room and the other brings the television. In fact, Nudo said that communication is the key to a good dorm experience.

“If you can meet before hand, that’s best, but you should at least talk on the phone or by social media. Preplanning and getting to know each other will make the experience better,” he said.

“Communication and keeping an open mind are the keys. You have to be willing to work with each other.”

And Swantek said that one of the most important things about students feeling comfortable in their home away from home isn’t in the dorm room.

“Colleges are full of activities and clubs for students, so get involved and be part of what’s going on,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s your roommate and your classmates that are the most important, not what’s in your room. Build your community so college feels like your home away from home.”

Misericordia University juniors Katie Drayton and Alivia Richter have lofted their beds in Gildea Hall to use room space more efficiently.

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CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Cafeteria worker Robin Parulis at Misericordia University has artfully arranged this turkey wrap plate.

Colleges offer flexible meal plans

By JANINE UNGVARSKYFor The Times Leader

“The 19 meal (per week) plan is our most popular, far and away,” said Mary Wood, King’s College’s director of dining for Sodexo Campus Services. The plan allows for three meals a day during the week plus brunch and dinner on the weekend. “Freshmen are away from home and responsible for all their own meals, maybe for the first time, so that plan covers them and is very popular,” Wood said.

Other plans vary, from those that allow carte blanch access to all dining facilities for all meals, snacks and beverages, to 25 meal

block plans, which are favored by commuters and those who attend classes part-time.

At Wilkes University, the plan set up is a little different, though freshmen are required to have one of the larger meal plans, according to Elizabeth Swantek, director of resident services.

“Our plans are very flexible and we have a different structure.

We have an all-you-care-to-eat plan, where you can go in 10 times a day and have something to eat or drink, and we have that because students pushed for it,” she said. While first year students

are asked to choose one of the larger plans so they don’t have to worry as much about planning for meals as they adjust to the many other challenges of college life, other students can choose from a variety of plans, including those that provide meals only during the week for those who go home on the weekend or commute to block plans for commuter and off campus resident students who only need an occasional meal at school, Swantek said.

Misericordia University resiSee MEAL, Page 15

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One of the many new things college students deal with is the college meal plan, where students and their families prepay for a selected number of meals. A check with some local college and universities showed that while some schools require freshmen to buy a plan that provides three meals a day for every school day and the weekends, others offer a host of options to accommodate the needs and schedules of students.

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MEAL Continued from Page 13

dent students have the option of 265, 190 or 125 annual meal plans, while townhouse residents can opt for a 75 meal plan, according to Paul Kryzwicki, assistant director of marketing communications. Other options are available for commuters.

All the local schools contacted offer a broad range of dining choices, from full service cafeterias with multiple stations for salads, grill, deli and other dining options to various cafes and snack bars for quick food and beverage choices. And all said alternative choices are available for students with allergies or special food needs, and in most cases, students can even meet with the school chef to discuss special requirements.

“Our chef will sit down with them one-on-one to see what can be offered,” Wood said, noting this includes everything from gluten free options to soy and almond milk to other more unique needs. “We want them to be able

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C O L L E G E G U I D E 2 0 11 “Our chef will sit down with them one-on-one to see what can be offered.”

Mary Wood King’s College’s director of dining for Sodexo Campus Services

to eat comfortably without worrying about everything they put in their mouths.”

When it comes to considering their future dining needs, local college experts recommended that students investigate their potential school’s options, paying attention to what meal plans are offered and whether certain plans are mandatory for freshmen. Other things to consider include the hours of operation of various dining venues.

“If you have an early class or you have to work late, you might need to be aware of the hours the dining facilities are open,” said Swantek. “It comes down to thinking about what you need and choosing the option that will be best for you.”

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Jeanette Perucca, a sophomore at Misericordia University, carefully only picks vegetables from the hot food choices in the dining hall.

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Good habits can fight Freshman 15

By JANINE UNGVARSKY For The Times Leader

There’s a special kind of math some first year college students learn: a second helping of dessert + a third slice of pizza while cramming for an exam + four night party weekends = the freshman 15, the legendary weight gain that seems to creep up on many college students. Local college nutrition experts agree the increase does happen, but they also say it can be avoided.

“The Freshman 15 is real…in fact, I’ve seen some with the freshman 20,” said Dr. Joy Armillay, E.D.D.R.D, LPN, a nutrition therapist in private practice and an adjunct professor of nutrition at Misericordia University.

Armillay said there are a number of factors contributing to the freshman 15 phenomenon, from the new freedom from supervision to the wide range of choices and large quantities of food available through college meal plans to the erratic schedules and fast food choices to frequent parties, with or without alcohol.

“For most of them, it’s the first time they’ve been responsible for all their own meals. At home, breakfast may be cereal, they may take a turkey sandwich for lunch, and they have a prepared and portioned dinner. But cafeteria food services are competitive, so breakfast isn’t just cereal, it’s pancakes, waffles, and many other things,” Armillay said. “There’s an endless array of food, choices almost beyond imagination…and there’s no parent offering a piece of fruit instead of a brownie…the students have new schedules and new friends, and they start to develop new eating habits.”

One of those habits is often late night eating, and that contributes to the problem as well, said Diane O’Brien, CRNP and director of health and wellness services at Wilkes University.

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADERA

Misericordia University freshman Megan Velehoski from Duryea, chooses a salad from the cafe.

“One of the biggest problems comes at night, when they get hungry and order a pizza,” said O’Brien, who added that pizza boxes are everywhere when she walks through a dorm. Armillay noted that the sugar-laden energy drinks many students turn to so they can maintain their late night schedules make the problem even worse.

What’s more, the tendency to gain weight isn’t limited to resident students – those who commute and attend part-time are also vulnerable to putting on the pounds.

“We see it in commuters, too,” said Armillay. “There is a time crunch; they are running from school to work to home. Their schedules are off, their food choices are off, they end up eating fast food or quick meals and they are The key, the experts agree, is to develop the right new habits.

Mary Wood, the director of dining for Sodexo Campus Services, the food service vendor for King’s College, said that college

The key, the experts agree, is to develop the right new habits.

Mary Wood, the director of dining for Sodexo Campus Services, the food service vendor for King’s College, said that college food services do offer healthy choices and options like take-out boxes so students can plan for times when they need to eat late. The key, she said, is for students to realize they are facing overwhelming choices and take steps to bring that under control.

food services do offer healthy choices and options like takeout boxes so students can plan for times when they need to eat late. The key, she said, is for students to realize they are facing overwhelming choices and take steps to bring that under control.

“Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to eat it,” Wood said. “If you want to have dessert, maybe you don’t need that second piece of pizza. It’s difficult, but making healthy choices is something that once you make a habit of it, it’s like the other things you do every day without much effort. You can decide in advance you’re go-

ing to have a salad or sandwich and just make those choices a habit.”

O’Brien agreed. “Students should try to get into a routine that allows them to have meals at appropriate times,” she said, noting this both increases healthy options and cuts down on late night junk food binges caused by being too hungry.

For those times when getting to a cafeteria at meal time just doesn’t work, Wood said King’s and many other colleges allow students some form of take-out meal. At King’s, it’s a reusable takeout box that students can fill and take with them for later.

The boxes are returned to the

cafeteria in exchange for a token that can be used another time to get a fresh, sanitized box for another meal.

“It’s a very popular option with students, faculty and staff,” Wood said.

Exercise, whether in gym facilities at the school or by walking on and around the campus will help minimize weight gain, the experts agreed, but students can help prevent it by creating good habits even before they step on campus.

“Learn to think, ‘Am I physically hungry or mouth hungry,’” said Armillay. “Ask, ‘Am I eating just because someone else in the room is eating?’ They need to think who they are eating with, what they are eating, when they are eating and why they are eating.”

“Know that this is part of college life,” said O’Brien, “What to eat, whether to eat late, ordering take out – these are typical choices they will have to make.

Be aware of that and prepare for how you’ll face it.”

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MCT PHOTO

Student guide Maggie Pearson leads a tour through the Temple University campus, July 28, 2011, in Philadelphia.

Colleges use tours to seal the deal

By JEFF GAMMAGE The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — Maggie Pearson is a sociable and articulate 21-year-old nursing student — and a point person in securing the future of Temple University.

She’s a campus tour guide, eagerly presenting a fully accurate and relentlessly upbeat image of her school to visiting high schoolers and their parents.

In an online world where details about thousands

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of colleges are as close as a computer keyboard, the old-fashioned, on-foot campus tour has assumed paramount importance.

The recruitment barrage of emails, brochures and catalogs pushes overwhelmed families to check the data against their instincts. And colleges are devoting money and expertise to ensure that when those families show up, the visit is a close-thedeal experience.

“They’re coming to a diverse, thriving institution, and we want them to experience that from the moment they step on campus,” said Niki Mendrinos, Temple’s associate director for campus visit programs.

Which is why it’s no accident that Pearson has led tours. Her poise and intellect helped her survive an interview process that

rejects 12 of every 13 guide candidates. She underwent a semesterlong training program before leading her first tour.

“We have to know you’re going to be energetic,” said Temple admissions director Karin Mormando. “No wallflowers.”

Why so much attention to such a low-tech endeavor? Because the stakes have become huge for all involved.

For parents facing years of college bills, and for young people about to assume enormous debt, the choice of the right school is essential. For colleges facing demographic shifts that are reducing the number of high school graduates, competition for stu-

dents has grown keen.

“All our literature, all our web pages, are really designed to get students and families to schedule their visit,” said Courtney McAnuff, vice president for enrollment management at Rutgers University, which had 56,000 visits last year. “You have one chance to make that good impression.”

Mid-tier schools face enormous pressure simply to keep up enrollment. Prestigious private colleges battle to enroll the very best and brightest — who can preferably pay full cost.

Layered atop all of that is the See TOURS, Page 19

Virtual tours give insider’s view McClatchy Newspapers

MCT PHOTO

Student guide Maggie Pearson leads a tour through the Temple University campus.

TOURS Continued from Page 18

the single most important component of our programming,” said Jarrad Nunes, associate director of admissions at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

In focus groups, families told Clark that they were weary of the bombardment of mailings and Internet communiques. Once on campus, they wanted a tour that emphasized personal contact, to help them develop a gut-level sense of whether the school was a good fit. Now that human interaction starts with a pre-visit phone call from a current student, Nunes said.

Other schools, however, believe the campus tour is too crucial to be entrusted to anyone but a pro. A student guide who makes an offhanded joke about a lousy campus sculpture may have just told a prospective arts major to stay away.

At Harrisburg, for instance, tours are led by professional staff, who incorporate a hands-on learning experience to connect the visiting student to a teacher, a major, or an activity.

“We all look alike in glossy publications and websites,” said Allison Carter, director of admissions at Michigan Technological University. “Touring gives you insight into the real life of the college. Are the students working hard? Are they talking to one another as they walk between classes? Are they having fun?”

MCT PHOTO

Campus360 gives students a way to see and get information on far away campuses and help narrow their college choices.

throughout notable landmarks.

Abi Mandelbaum, chief executive officer, said so far more than 1 million users have taken a virtual campus tour, and some clients are reporting an increase in physical campus visits since implementing the tour, as much as 30 percent for some schools, he said.

The tours can be offered in multiple languages and cost between $5,000 and $15,000 a year to create, maintain and keep updated, depending on the package a school chooses and if it will include an app or Facebook page.

“The grand majority of schools that sign up with us, they sign up with all the platforms. They recognize that they need to be out there,” Mandelbaum said.

YourCampus360 is working with one Florida school for the time being: Ave Maria University near Naples. Some South Florida campuses already have their own flavors of virtual tours and apps. At Florida Atlantic University, prospective students can send in an application from its Apple device See VIRTUAL, Page 21

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ever-rising cost of attending college, and a dismal economy that’s forcing just about everyone to make do with fewer dollars.

“The competition for talented college students has escalated to unprecedented heights,” said Gil Villanueva, dean of admission at the University of Richmond.

“Most colleges will do anything to get them on their respective campuses.”

That includes hiring consultants like TargetX, a 13-year-old Conshohocken, Pa., firm that works with 250 schools to create tours that are authentic, memorable and fun. Company research shows the campus visit is the most influential factor in where a student decides to attend college.

“It makes or breaks their decision,” said Timothy Dawson, director of admissions at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. “They need to make sure they feel comfortable there.

And the only way to do that is to be there physically.”

A virtual tour may offer dazzling graphics and videos — but it can’t tell you whether the cafeteria food tastes good. Or if the women are pretty. Or whether

the faculty is friendly or formal.

As at other popular schools, the number of people coming to check out the campus goes up and up. Temple runs two tours a day, every day, accommodating 38,000 visitors a year. August is the busiest month. And the demand for guides to be knowledgeable, helpful and positive is constant.

“You can really make or break a college tour, and make or break an impression for a family,” Pearson said.

On this day, she led 16 students and parents, showing off the wizardry of the tech center and the comfort of “the beach,” actually a hilly patch of lawn near the bell tower. Everyone was offered a chance to hear the echo produced by the tiny brick amphitheater of Alumni Circle, and to spin the 3.2-ton black granite globe in the business school.

For colleges, the tour route has become a strategic decision. Prospective freshmen are generally sophisticated consumers, sensitive to salesmanship. So the best tours have to be minutely planned — and completely unscripted.

The people put in charge of that all-important presentation typically are 21- or 22-year-old juniors or seniors who love their schools. And who can walk long distances, backward.

“Our student ambassadors are

MIAMI _ When college students begin classes this month, some arrive after getting their acceptance notices on Facebook. Others are using smartphone applications to find out which parking spots are available. And others show up after taking walking tours through their campuses _ without ever leaving their homes.

Universities are turning to new media, like interactive videos and smartphone apps, to keep competitive and attract future students. For example, take Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla., where students use a Facebook app to browse available housing, pay room deposits and register for orientation. They’ll even be notified on Facebook when they are accepted into the school before formal letters can make it through the mail. With one click, students can instantly share the big news to their network of friends.

“We want to take our system to where they are,” said Michel Sily, assistant vice president for enrollment marketing and Internet strategies at Barry University.

That’s the new mantra fueling the growth of YourCampus360, a startup that creates virtual, interactive tours for colleges for the university website, mobile apps and Facebook pages. Its founders are based in Aventura, Fla., and New York, and after going live last year, the tours are available on 67 school campuses in the U.S. (40 of which signed up this year), which include Stony Brook University, Syracuse University, Brandeis University and Ohio University.

An animated guide narrates with information about the campus and student life as users click to “walk” through campus. Similar to how Google Street View works, users click their way to move their through a series of progressive 360-degree images from various points in the walking path, with audio facts playing

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Volunteering close to home

By DEBORAH NETBURN Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Emma Thalken’s best friend spent August in Ghana, where toured the country and did some volunteer work. Thalken spent her summer volunteering with the Hollywood Senior Multipurpose Center 10 minutes from her parents’ Hancock Park, Los Angeles, home.

Both of them could use their summer experience to write a compelling essay as they try to find their way to the college of their dreams. But perhaps surprisingly, college admissions officials say the senior center experience is just as valuable — and maybe more so — than the exotic trip to Africa.

“I’ve had other friends that have gone, but for me I just wanted to stay and help people in my neighborhood that needed help,” said Thalken, who has been volunteering with Assisteens, the teen arm of the Assistance League, for three years.

“There is never any reason to ship off to do volunteer work,” said Michelle Hernandez, author of “A Is for Admission” and founder of Hernandez College Consulting, currently based in Vermont. “And if you have to pay to volunteer, it doesn’t count. You should look locally.”

It’s a message that upper middle-class parents have started to internalize. Over the last decade, increased competition for choice college spots has spawned an industry of international travel with a volunteer bent and a hefty price tag for high school sophomores and juniors. But as doing reforestation in Costa Rica becomes more cliche than cool, some families are starting to think that paying for an amazing summer experience won’t give their child the edge.

This should come as a relief to parents who don’t have the cash to pay for expensive trips, and for kids who need to work during the summer.

Colleen Gold, whose twin daughters are seniors this fall at two of L.A.’s most prestigious high schools — Marlborough and Harvard-Westlake — said both girls were told by their college advisers that volunteering at home would be more impressive to col-

MCT PHOTO

Emma Thalken, 16, has spent her summer vacation from school volunteering at the Assistance League Hollywood Senior Center delivering food to seniors.

Nancy Forman, who runs the West Coast office for Camp Experts and Teen Summers, a company that helps place kids in summer programs, said she’s seen a dramatic drop in the number of parents willing to pay $5,000 to $7,000 to send a teenager to do far-off volunteer work. Part of that is the economy, she said, and part of it is a growing realization that a few weeks of work with elephants in Thailand doesn’t mean admission to Yale.

leges than volunteering abroad.

“I still know a lot of people that do it,” Gold said, “but we were told that to some colleges it looks like an excuse for an exotic vacation.”

Nancy Forman, who runs the West Coast office for Camp Experts and Teen Summers, a company that helps place kids in sum-

mer programs, said she’s seen a dramatic drop in the number of parents willing to pay $5,000 to $7,000 to send a teenager to do far-off volunteer work. Part of that is the economy, she said, and part of it is a growing realization that a few weeks of work with elephants in Thailand doesn’t mean admission to Yale.

Greg McKinnon, director of college counseling at the Sage Hill School in Long Beach, Calif., and the president of the Western Association for College Admissions Counseling, said there can be a place for elaborate and expensive volunteer trips on a college application. “Like everything with admissions, if it feels organic to the kids and is explored in other ways in their life, then it is one more affirmation that this is what they are passionate about,” he said.

Still, he rarely encourages it: “I’ve had lots of kids who’ve done it, and it opens their eyes, but it’s not a golden ticket.”

But parents, be forewarned: Just as the era of the elaborate community service trip has lost

its luster, a new trend is raising its head: teenage-run nonprofits.

Brian Hawkins, a marketing consultant for Kids Korps USA, a San Diego-based organization that pairs kids with volunteer projects, said he’s hearing from his teens that simply volunteering is no longer enough — now they have to show colleges that they surveyed a community, assessed its needs, and created an organization to help serve those needs.

“We are finding that the private high schools and colleges want the kids to be able to show they are learning entrepreneurial skills,” he said. “So, a lot of our teens will say, we really need to develop our own projects.”

VIRTUAL Continued from Page 19

app. FAU partnered with Blackboard Mobile, the same vendor behind apps for the University of Miami and Florida International University, which launched its app in August.

Every school is on networks like Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube and Facebook _ but at UM, each graduating class has its own Facebook page. The Class of 2015 Facebook page used to be managed by the Admissions Department, but now is overseen by Student Affairs and will be taken over by the alumni group when the time comes.

“It’s more about being reactive to what students want,” said Edward Gillis, assistant vice president for enrollment management and executive director of admissions. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and before you sent out a brochure and sent out an application, and some applied and some didn’t. Nowadays it’s totally different.”

FIU just began working with a higher education marketing firm,

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C O L L E G E G U I D E 2 0 11 An animated guide narrates with information about the campus and student life as users click to "walk" through campus. Similar to how Google Street View works, users click their way to move their through a series of progressive 360-degree images from various points in the walking path, with audio facts playing throughout notable landmarks.

Stamats Communications, out of Iowa, on a virtual tour for its website.

“The hope is to make it dynamic, to do something more and branch off of what would be a standard virtual tour,” said Barry Taylor, FIU’s director of undergraduate admissions.

Social media this year has taken a more important role at FIU this year, according to Matt Herzberger, director of Web communications.

“I think now we’re really getting it to be something we spend a lot of time on, a real platform to connect on.”

MCT PHOTO

Campus360 founders, from left, Abi Mandelbaum, Taher Baderkhan and Endri Tolka created their business to give students a way to see and get information on far away campuses and help narrow their college choices. The group is shown on Aug. 12, 2011, in Aventura, Fla.

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A word of advice for parents: Be empathetic

By MARY MACVEAN Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES -- Parents and their college-age sons and daughters are tied by an electronic umbilical cord. That’s the good news -- and the bad news.

It takes some effort on everyone’s part if a family decides that frequent contact -- by phone, text, email, Skype or Facebook -- is not always healthy for relationships.

So what’s your average hovering baby boomer parent to do?

This is probably not welcome advice, but it’s repeated and repeated throughout a new edition of “Don’t Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to the College Years” (St. Martin’s Press, July 2011). Step back, the authors say. Give up some control. Think about the situation from the student’s point of view.

Coauthor Helen E. Johnson suggests that parents begin detaching from their teenagers in

The authors break down common moments, with sample conversations followed by what the parent and child each might be thinking and how to approach the tussle so that both sides come out ahead -- or at least not tearing their hair out. the sophomore year. That’s high school, not college.

Students should take the lead in the college application process, she says, acknowledging that parents easily can be “sucked into maelstrom” of competition for the best colleges.

It’s no surprise that Johnson and co-author Christine Schelhas-Miller are mothers as well as professional experts in this transition from child to adult.

Johnson founded Cornell University’s first parents’ program, and Schelhas-Miller teaches

Find Your Future at Lackawanna College

about adolescence and emerging adulthood there.

So you can believe their descriptions of the summer countdown to college. Parents feel stress about packing and planning; teenagers don’t.

The authors break down common moments, with sample conversations followed by what the parent and child each might be thinking and how to approach the tussle so that both sides come out ahead -- or at least not tearing their hair out.

“The summer before they go can be one of the toughest

times, I think,” Schelhas-Miller said in a telephone interview.

“They want to be autonomous.

They’re anticipating the separation.

Often they’re not getting organized, but you would like them to get organized. Kids start pushing their parents away before they go.”

The issues don’t disappear after that final dorm-room hug -and the gargantuan effort not to cry in front of the new roommate.

The fact that so many students and parents are in touch every day can make things worse.

Parents can know too much about late nights, carousing roommates, bad quiz grades or just plain loneliness.

Johnson calls it the stress dump: “Everything is awful, I’m behind in all my work, I’m not getting any sleep, I just got a terrible grade on my paper.”

She received just such a call

from a crying daughter, she said. And when she hung up, she asked her husband what they could do. He reminded her: “Isn’t this the stress dump? I don’t think you’re supposed to do anything.”

That, she said in an interview, was her “aha!” moment, and it reflected a universal wish of parents: They don’t want their children to be in such pain.

But Johnson suggested another way to handle the moment. “The best thing you can do is listen and maybe encourage them to get help on campus, like, ’Go talk to your professor,’” she said. “Try to look at yourself honestly. What are you getting out of being needed so much?”

The authors also suggest planning to talk once or twice a week. “That means it’s intentional, not just this constant stream of contact with a child who shares they got sprinkles on their ice cream cone,” Johnson said.

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Lackawanna College is a two-year accredited college. We offer over 30 majors and a large number of certificate programs across a wide academic range of interest in areas such as liberal studies, social sciences, math and natural sciences, applied technology and health care services.

Individual majors range from accounting to vascular technology and many more!

Visit us at www.Lackawanna.edu and find out how we can help you Find YOUR Future at Lackawanna College.

www.lackawanna.edu

Scranton • Hawley • Hazleton • New Milford • Towanda

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