News

NBC News interviewed Eric Furda, the dean of admissions at University of Pennsylvania. Here are some tips he revealed during the interview.

-Be honest with each other when talking with your parents

-Think about academic goals, your career plans, and the distance from your home

-See where this institution invests in: for example, music, engineering, math and science are the priorities this institutions has.

-Check your affordability

-Take challenging courses senior year

-Admission officers look at grade trend

-One extra recommendation is fine, but three can be distracting

-During campus tour, go and see library where students hang out and college quad where students come out of their classes and hear their conversations; go to information sessions and tours and see what their day to day life style looks like

-Do not avoid math, language, or science in senior year and no C in AP courses!

*College Search Checklist*

-Start looking locally to determine type of school

-Research admission office web pages

-Look at admitted class profile

-Write down impressions of tour

-Ask to sit in on a class

-Begin scholarship search

-Read and volunteer during summer

-Begin work on common app essay

-Check admission policy on extra recommendations and materials

From The Choice Blog- The New York Times: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/college-tips-for-juniors-from-an-ivy-league-dean/