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Many colleges throughout the U.S. collaborate through consortiums to provide students with additional access to academic and extracurricular resources. Consortiums provide students at smaller schools with access to the resources of a larger university, while still retaining the intimate learning environment and close-knit community of a small college. Consortiums can also give students at larger schools the opportunity to experience a small school environment.

Read on for details about some college consortiums to consider as you conduct your college search.

Claremont Colleges: Claremont, CA 
The Claremont College Consortium consists of five distinct colleges on adjoining campuses, each with its own distinctive mission and purpose. Students officially enroll at Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, or Pitzer, but can take classes at any of the five. The colleges not only share library and research facilities, but athletic teams, as well. Students may eat at any dining hall, participate in student organizations, and even live in the dorms across all five campuses. Each Claremont College has fewer than 1500 students, but together, they have a student body of nearly 7000. 

Five College Consortium: Western Massachusetts 
The Five College Consortium consists of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Students have access to top liberal arts colleges, women’s colleges, and a public flagship institution. The colleges share library resources, museums, several joint departments and programs, and a fair amount of social programming. In addition, students can easily cross-register. The colleges are spread out across three towns, but the farthest away, Smith, is only a 20 minute drive to any of the other schools. Free transportation is provided for students between campuses.  

Quaker Consortium: Philadelphia Area, PA
The Quaker Consortium consists of four colleges with Quaker roots: Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Haverford, and theUniversity of Pennsylvania. As with most consortiums, students can cross-register across all four schools. UPenn’s association with the consortium is limited to cross-registration, while the other three are more integrated on multiple levels. Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore offer free transportation between their schools, but not to UPenn. Haverford and Bryn Mawr in particular have a close relationship: students can live and eat on either campus, and they even publish a joint newspaper.

If you like the idea of going to one college, but having access to the resources of several, then you may want to consider including some consortium members on your college list.

Congratulations to the Expert Admissions Class of 2013!

We are proud to share the results from Expert Admissions’ Class of 2013. Our students have been admitted to 74 different colleges and universities in 25 states, Washington DC, and Scotland. Our acceptances include Ivy League universities, top liberal arts colleges, public flagship universities, and many other types of institutions.  

View Our Complete List of Acceptances
 

By now, you’ve probably heard back from most, if not all, of the colleges you applied to. You may not have been offered admission everywhere, but you’ve probably got a few acceptances under your belt. As May 1 approaches, here is our advice for how to handle your college acceptances.

1) Celebrate! You worked hard, and deserve all of your success.  

2) Prepare to be recruited. When a college admits you, they want you to enroll, and they will do their best to make you feel wanted. Expect invitations to visit campus and phone calls or letters from current students; some schools will even send you t-shirts, scarves, or posters. Take advantage of opportunities to meet with students, spend the night in a dormitory, and don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions.

3) Visit campus. Many colleges have programs just for admitted students. These programs often include specialized facilities tours, opportunities to attend classes, panels with current students, faculty, and administrators, an overnight stay in the dorms, and the chance to meet hundreds of your potential future classmates. Even if you can’t go to an admitted student event (or don’t want to), you can still have a productive visit. Be sure to let the admissions office know you’re an admitted student, and ask what you can do while you’re on campus. 

4) Focus on the schools to which you were admitted. You may have been offered a spot on a waitlist or two, and they may be schools that you’re really excited about. That’s okay. Let those schools know you’re still interested, and accept the spot on the waitlist. However, you most likely won’t be hearing back from them until after May 1, and you’ll have to submit an enrollment deposit somewhere by then, so focus your energy on the schools that admitted you. Those schools are excited about you, and would love for you to attend! Boost your ego and spend some time with people who think you’re awesome. 

5) Keep up with your schoolwork! Don’t think that just because you’ve been admitted to college that you can stop doing well in school. Colleges still need to see your final transcript, and they can rescind admission offers if your academic performance drops significantly.

6) You can change your mind. You may have had your heart set on College X since fall of junior year, and thrilled to have been offered admission, but maybe you developed a great rapport with a current student at another college, or College X’s admitted student program was less than thrilling. It’s really okay! You have until May 1 to submit an enrollment deposit, so feel free to take that time to figure out where you’ll be happiest. Remember – you want to make the best decision for you and your family, and not necessarily the decision everyone expects you to make.

Congratulations on your acceptances, and best of luck in making your decision!

You’d be hard-pressed to find a college these days that doesn’t value global awareness, and just about every college offers study abroad opportunities.  However, there are a few schools that truly take the emphasis on international education and global experiences to the next level.  If an emphasis on globalism and international awareness is important to you, read on to learn about some colleges that might be of interest.

Study Abroad Requirement.  Goucher College in Baltimore, MD requires all of its students to study abroad before they graduate. But they’re pretty flexible about this requirement - students can study abroad for a full-year, one semester, or during a three-week intensive program.  All students are awarded travel vouchers of $1200, unless they are part of a selective and more intensive International Scholars Program (ISP), in which case the voucher is $3000. 

Campuses Across the World.  Colleges and universities are beginning to expand their reach and establish campuses across the globe.  At these institutions, you can not only have an international experience, but earn your degree from one of their international campuses, as well.

1.  New York University’s main campus is in Manhattan, but they have degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.  When applying for admission to NYU, students select if they are applying to the Washington Square (New York), Abu Dhabi, or Shanghai campus.

2.  American University’s main campus is in Washington D.C., but they have a degree-granting campus in Dubai, as well.  Undergraduates can apply to American in D.C. or American in Dubai. 

Colleges Where More Than 50% Of Students Study Abroad.  Even if a college doesn’t have a global campus, or a study abroad requirement, plenty of colleges go above and beyond in encouraging their students to study abroad – and students jump at the chance, as well.  Here are some of the colleges that send more than 50% of their students to study abroad.

	Bates College	Eckerd College	Skidmore College
	Bucknell University	Elon University	St. Lawrence University
	Carleton College	Franklin and Marshall College	St. Olaf College
	Colby College	Kalamazoo College	Trinity College
	Colgate University	Loyola University Maryland	Union College
	Connecticut College	Macalester College	University of Denver
	Dartmouth College	Pomona College	University of Richmond
	Dickinson College	Scripps College	Wake Forest University

Of course, if a study abroad requirement or full-on global campus isn’t your thing, not to worry.  If you want to study abroad for a semester, or a year, or even during your summer, winter, or spring break, just about any college will have these opportunities.  But if you’re looking for a school that takes its global focus to a new level, and where you’ll find students who are as passionate about global experiences as you are, then be sure to take a look at some of these colleges.   

Getting put on a waitlist feels strange. You put so much effort into your application, all of this pressure and expectation builds up, and after all of that, you're told you still have to wait. If you've been placed a waitlist, you might be wondering, “What’s next?” 

Every college has its own policy, so be sure to check in with colleges you're waiting on. It's perfectly acceptable to call and ask how the waitlist is ordered (if at all) and managed, and to ask what you can do to increase your chances of admission. You might also want to read the waitlist offer letter carefully, as colleges will sometimes include helpful advice in the letter itself. Some colleges also provide advice for waitlisted students on their admissions office website or blog. It’s worth checking what resources are provided by the college that waitlisted you.

Some schools have students arranged numerically, while others have students grouped in tiers. Others have no ranking system at all: if they need to go to their waitlist, they review whoever is on it at the time and go from there.

Regardless of how the waitlist is structured, if you want the best shot at being admitted, be sure to follow-up appropriately with the college(s) you're interested in. In most cases, this means officially accepting the waitlist offer, and sending an email or letter to your regional admissions counselor letting them know you’re still interested. Beyond that, policies vary widely. Some colleges will allow waitlisted students to visit or have an interview. Other colleges discourage waitlisted students from visiting, and don’t allow interviews. Before planning anything, or arranging a visit, be sure to call (or email) and ask what’s appropriate.

Few colleges are able to make any movement on their waitlists before May 1, the Universal Reply Date – so patience is key. And remember that you have to submit an enrollment deposit by May 1, as well. With that in mind, once you have accepted the waitlist offer, and followed up with your admissions counselor, it’s best to focus on the schools to which you’ve been admitted.