College Admissions

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University of Southern Maine Visit

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University of Southern Maine Visit

Top 5 Tidbits: 

-Interested in Geography? USM is home to over 400,000 maps, and the 2nd largest collection of globes in the world, wow!

-Over 80% of students receive some kind of aid

-If you are interested in merit aid, remember to fill out the FAFSA! This year it is available in October! Every public university requires your information to qualify for merit scholarships in addition to need-based aid

-USM Business School has AACSB accreditation— the mark of quality distinction most widely sought after by business schools -- less than 5% worldwide have earned the achievement.

-USM offers an unusual but highly useful Cyber Security major! 

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The One Thing to Do Before Signing up for an SAT Prep Course

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The One Thing to Do Before Signing up for an SAT Prep Course

Is to take a FREE diagnostic test of both the SAT and the ACT, and then compare your scores. That way, you can see if there is a clear winner and one test starts you off with a relatively higher baseline to work off of, or if there isn't, you can flip a coin, and choose which one to study for. 

Colleges view the SAT and the ACT completely and utterly the same. There really is no test bias, and so the best thing you can do before spending your time studying for the test that that is not best for you, is to determine which test is worthy of your time in preparation and $$ if you are signing up for a course. 

How to "Hack" School

Let me tell you a secret... studying ALL night EVERY night, will most likely not get you into the school of your dreams. It's possible, but you will more be so hyped up on caffeine and so deep into your coursework that you will have left no time to explore the world, step outside your comfort zone, or even find its boundaries for that matter. 

So how is it possible for people to still do really well in school and find time to.. you know, have a life? Fill in the blank___life/sleep/relationship/Netflix/studying "hacking" has become a societal phenomenon, everyone wants to find the Holy Grail and find shortcuts to success. While there aren't any quick fixes or elixirs that can be prescribed, and you should run quickly away from anyone who purports to have one, there are a few expert "school hackers" whose advice is well worth a read or listen. Cal Newport, the author of numerous books, and now a computer science professor at Georgetown, is one such school and study methods "hacker." 

Newport distills down quick and dirty tips of how he succeeded at Dartmouth, and has written a few books targeting high school and college students. The first book I read of his was How to Become a Straight A Student, which is still unsurprisingly a top-seller for him. He advises that accomplishment = study time X intensity. He highly discourages any kind of "studying" which involves passive reading in favor of the more cognitively demanding active recall. However, the impact is profound. He goes into depth of how to better strategize with your studying and get the most bang for your buck with your time.

Dig into Newport's blog or purchase one of his books to start learning how to spend your time more effectively and efficiently and get the results you want.

The 7 Best Things to Do to Begin Preparing for College Early

The 7 Best Things to Do to Begin Preparing for College Early
  1. Start your research process early! It will be easier to the hard work of test preparation when you can start to see why getting into the best school is going to be worth it. Visit college campuses virtually and in-person, attend local college fairs and talk to representatives to get a feel for the options that are out there. 
  2. Spend more time really reflecting on who YOU are and what YOUR interests are. Some students want to rush to immediately look at schools, but this strategy is not as effective as first identifying your own personal preferences, and then matching a school to who you are. Trying to change yourself to fit a school is a losing strategy. 
  3. Focus on your schoolwork, and keep your grades up. Your GPA and strength of your course selection may be the #1 or #2 area that admissions officers look at. Get familiar with what courses are available to you in the coming years of high school, and make sure you keep your GPA up and take any necessary prerequisites. Colleges heavily weigh that you have challenged yourself given your school’s opportunities, and that you’ve done well in the process.