Murphy College Consultants Blog

Budgets Continue to Decline at Many Public Universities

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT

The annual Grapevine study on state funding for education was released today. It reports that state support for higher education sunk by 14.5% in Washington, 13.5% in California and 15.4% in Colorado.

For those of you considering a public university for the fall of 2012, you may wish to dig deeper and examine how your future university's budget woes might affect your undergraduate experience.

More...

America’s Happiest Campuses

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:11:34 GMT

Each year, fellow consultant and IECA President Dodge Johnson compiles a list of America's Happiest Campuses. This list is based on the percentage of freshmen who return as sophomores or in other words, which colleges have the highest freshmen to sophomore retention rates. Obviously there are many factors which influence a student's decision to stay or leave a campus, and this is just one way to surmise their level of happiness – their willingness and desire to return sophomore year.

With Dodge's permission, I am sharing this list with you today. Where does your future college fall on the list?

More...

Surviving Freshman Year – Tips from Veteran College Students

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:46:49 GMT

As students begin the process of packing up all of their belongings for their first semester at college, I thought that I would share a few tips from seasoned college students about surviving your first semester. While there are many great articles and books touting survival skills, I thought that you might want to hear from 'real' students. Thanks to all my former students who contributed to this massive advice column!

More...

Seniors: Last Call For Test Prep

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:46:06 GMT

If you are unhappy with your SAT or ACT scores, and think that one more round could make the difference for you, I would recommend that you register for the ACT September date and/or the SAT October date as soon as possible. If it has been some time since you completed your test prep class or work with a tutor, I would encourage you to do a few things. For starters, I would hope you would have some great resources to draw upon to brush up on your skills.

More...

Despite Tuition Increases, University of Washington is Still a Bargain

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:43:26 GMT

On Thursday, the Board of Regents voted to increase tuition by 20% at the University of Washington, bringing the cost to $10,574 for undergraduate students. It is the largest tuition increase in the history of the school and has many people worried. However, putting the tuition into perspective on a national scale, the UW is still a bargain.

The U.S. Department of Education also released its College Affordability and Transparency report on Thursday, which lists colleges that are most expensive to least expensive, both in the public and private categories. The highest tuition at a public university in the nation is Penn State University at $14,416 (this number does not include room/board and fees).

More...

Spring 2011 College Receptions

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Thu, 05 May 2011 23:41:38 GMT

There are some colleges that are on the road this spring, hosting presentations for prospective students. While many of these events will be big, it still can be a great way to get an overview of the admissions process and learn more about each school.

If you are interested in any of the following schools, follow the link to see if they are coming to a town near you. Registration is often required.

More...

Check out Unigo’s Admission Expert Column

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:01:50 GMT

Unigo recently launched a new Admissions Expert column which features weekly advice about various topics related to the college search and admissions process. A group of experts answer one question each week and it is a great way to see how various professionals approach things. I am pleased to announce that I am one of Unigo's columnists and my advice is in this week's column on scholarships. Check it out, and check back weekly – you are bound to read about something that will help you in your search too.

Changes to the Common Application

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:08:40 GMT

Today the Common Application announced changes to their 2011-2012 application. While most of the changes were small, they will help to make the application process more user-friendly to both students and admissions counselors. The new version will ask more detailed questions about language proficiency where students can check one of five options to describe their ability best. The application will once again have a word limit for the personal statement. Students will be asked to submit an essay that is between 250-500 words to help keep the process fairly consistent. Students will be happy to know that the Secondary School Report has changed a bit too – now your guidance counselor can add a letter of recommendation from some other school official who can better describe their strengths.

More...

High School Seniors: Wise Words of Advice

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:54:39 GMT

I would like to share with you an article written by Detroit Free Press Columnist Mitch Albom. In his March 20th column, he shares his thoughts on college rejection letters and how these denials could actually be doing you a favor.

Dear High School Seniors,

I know you weren't expecting a commencement address. It's still March, and you haven't even gotten to throw up at the prom yet.

But you are at a crossroads. In a matter of days, you will get letters from colleges you applied to. Some will be thick. You will like those. Some will be thin. You won't like those so much.

I am here to say: Don't fret if that letter is thin. You will survive. You may even prosper.

It seems incredibly hard to get into colleges these days. You wouldn't think so, given what they charge. You can run an airport on their room and board bills.

More...

Forward Thinking: Summer Plans

kiersten_murphy@yahoo.com — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:41:30 GMT

Don't shriek in horror when I say that you should be thinking about summer plans. No, not the laying on the beach type of summer plans, but the 'let's do something meaningful' experience. There are many different approaches to cultivating a meaningful experience and it will certainly vary depending on who you are and what your goals are, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, you should never participate in a summer experience because you think you should for college applications. If it doesn't impress you, it won't impress anyone else. If you are doing something to pad your extracurricular resume, it is probably also a bad idea.

More...