50-50 Highlights: Average College Endowment per Student

house of gold coins representing college endowments

house of gold coins representing average college endowment per studentWhy look at a college’s endowment when trying to decide where to go to school? This falls into the category of all other things being equal, why not attend an institution that is in a better financial situation? Or more importantly, why risk going to a university that is facing financial difficulties?

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Do you have to specialize in a sport to get a scholarship?

child baseball player representing specialization in a sport to get a scholarship

child baseball player representing specializing in a sport to get a scholarshipShould you play more than one sport in high school if you want to play at the college level? Focusing on a single sport would seem to provide players with the ability to develop advanced skills to stand-out from the competition. However, there are plenty of people out there arguing that playing multiple sports provides athletes with significant benefits, including in the recruiting arena.

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College Softball Recruiting Timeline

calendar and clock representing college softball recruiting timeline

calendar and clock representing college softball recruiting timelineAccording to an NCAA survey, 43% of D1 Softball players had their first recruiting contact in ninth grade or earlier. Another 35% had their first contact as sophomores. That means over 3/4s of all D1 sophomore players are being recruited by their sophomore year. This explains why, on average, D1 Softball players make their verbal commitments before the end of their sophomore year. I’m not saying it’s right. It’s crazy as far as I’m concerned. But that means softball players need to get their recruiting act together early!

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Top 10 Mistakes Students Make on their College Application Essays

A close-up of a typewriter with a sheet of paper showing the typed words "Once upon a time..." serves as a stark reminder of common college application essay mistakes, where narratives often lack clarity and focus.

Typewriter with text once upon a time representing Top 10 Mistakes Students Make on their College Application EssaysThe following is a guest post by Randy Levin. Randy has one focus–helping students with their college application essays. Based on his experiences, Randy has created a list of commonly made mistakes by students which he shares here. You can see a sample of his presentation here.

It is important to first understand the purpose of the college application essay. A student’s transcripts as well as his academic and extra-curricular achievements do not give any “unique” insight into the student as a person. Yes….they will illustrate hard work, intelligence, drive, aptitude, etc. However, these are the same attributes reflected in the other 30,000 applications for the same institution.

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50-50 Highlights: 89 Best Bets for Affordable Public Universities

A person wearing graduation robes and a cap holds five $100 bills against a green textured background, celebrating the achievement made possible by affordable public universities.

female college graduate holding moeny representing affordable public universitiesLet me start by saying you never know how much a college is actually going to cost until you get the college’s financial aid award. That’s when you really know if a college is affordable. But there are indicators that some colleges are more likely to be affordable than others. Knowing these indicators mean that you can make sure you apply to colleges more likely to meet your financial needs. That doesn’t guarantee they will because we are talking averages here. But it does improve your chances.

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