You sound like you have a very busy life that is preparing you well for success in college. It is smart to think ahead about the financial aspect of college. With respect to your lack of time to participate in clubs at school, most colleges understand that you only have so many hours in the day! Academics are of primary importance. Because you are doing well academically AND have a part-time job, colleges will see that you are demonstrating leadership outside of the classroom. The ability to intelligently reflect upon the part-time work that you do or why you do it is sometimes more valuable to a college than having a long list of activities.

Here are some questions to ask and terminology you will need to "get savvy" about the financial aid process. When speaking with admission or financial aid representatives, ask questions and record the answers so that you can compare notes later and apply to the colleges that best suit your needs.

Do you have need-based financial aid?
Need-based financial aid- this is money awarded to a student on the basis of financial need without regard to academic and/or extracurricular achievement.

Are you an institution that provides full-funding your students?
Full-funding- This is when an institution meets one-hundred percent of a student's demonstrated financial need. For example, if the college costs $25,000 and your family can contribute $1,000, the college awards you $24,000 worth of aid. Keep in mind that the amount of money that your family can contribute is determined by the college!

Do you gap?
Gapping - This is when an institution does not meet one-hundred percent of a student's demonstrated financial need. Continuing with the example above, if the college costs $25,000 and your family can contribute $1,000, the college awards you $20,000 worth of aid. There is a gap of $4,000 between the family's contribution and the cost of the college. Institutions may gap for different reasons, but many admission counselors can help students find additional monies or ways to make education accessible. Usually, an early application for financial aid can help increase your chances of getting your full need met.

Do you have merit-based scholarships?
Merit-based scholarships- These are monies awarded to students based upon their achievements without regard to their financial situation. The types of scholarships and the amounts vary by school. Ask your admission representatives and they can explain to you what may be available.

Do you have any tips for me regarding the financial aid process?
This will give your admission counselor an opportunity to tell you important information that you might not otherwise think about asking. You will also learn the nuances of the processes at their school. If
you're lucky and develop a strong relationship with a counselor, he or she may even help to guide you through the process.

I hope that this information was helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions!

Sincerely,

Caissa Alissandra McClinton
Assistant Director of Admission, Multicultural Recruitment
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
375 Church Street
North Adams, MA 01247
(413) 662-5410 - phone
(413) 662-5179 – fax
(800) 969-MCLA – toll free
http://www.mcla.edu/admissions

Our scholarship program is a mix of need-based, above-need and no-need awards. This blended approach to awarding institutional scholarship funds provides the university with the flexibility to appropriately recognize the achievements of the best and brightest students within our applicant pool. The majority of scholarships are awarded to students who have demonstrated financial need; a limited number of scholarships are available for students who do not have financial need or do not apply for financial aid. Since we have an exceptionally talented pool of students applying for admission to Bucknell, all merit awards are extremely competitive. All students who apply for admission are automatically considered. Bucknell meets 100% of all financial aid based on a students’ need. A student that applies to Bucknell has to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as well as the CSS profile to determine the award amount.

Tim Johnson
Bucknell University
Lewisburg PA 17837
Phone: 570-577-1021
Email: tmj-bu@bucknell.edu

Scholarship and Financial Aid are in some ways, two very different creatures. Scholarships can be earned in a variety of ways and every one goes about offering them in a different way. There are schools that offer scholarships for minority students, athletes, musicians, etc. The types are almost endless. There are also schools that offer only need-based financial aid which is usually a good thing because these schools will look at your family income and decide what your bottom line will be based on your family income. Try to contact each school that you are interested in and ask them if they offer merit based scholarships and if so dig deeper to discover if any apply to you. If they don't offer merit based scholarships, don't panic because most universities will offer financial aid which could potentially cover a significant portion of your cost. If you're a competitive applicant, schools that may cost in excess of $40,000 may offer you more money in aid and grant than a local state college or university making the cost of attendance lower. My advice of course would be to take the time to read the financial aid information each school sends you as well as visit their website where there are almost always links to financial aid. Ask questions and keep asking them until the information is completely clear to you.

Steven J. Jo
Assistant Director of Admissions
St. Lawrence University
Canton, NY 13617
Office: (315) 229-5259
Fax: (315) 229-5818
Email: sjo@stlawu.edu

When applying to colleges to be a vet, you will need to look at their specific criteria for their pre-veterinary program. For example, Seton Hill University does not have a separate graduate school for Veterinary Medicine. All students, regardless of G.P.A. and test scores can enroll as a pre-veterinary major. The program will give them the foundation needed for Veterinary School, but their grades in college will determine whether or not they will be accepted into a Veterinary School. It is true that most of the time, the college GPA of students wishing to enter veterinary programs is usually desired to be a 4.0 or near.

Kimberly A. McCarty, MBA
Assistant Director of Admissions
and Campus Visit Coordinator
Seton Hill University
724-838-4201 or 1-800-826-6234
kmccarty@setonhill.edu

It is not necessarily easier to gain admission to a veterinary school if you attended the same institution as an undergraduate. There are 20 states in the U.S. which do not have veterinary schools. Each state contracts with one or more schools to provide access to veterinary medical education for their residents. The state or province working through the contracting agency usually agrees to pay a fee to help cover the cost of education for a certain number of places in each entering class. Residents from these states then compete with each other for those spaces. Students are encouraged to apply to schools that have contract seats for their state of residency since the chances of being admitted are much higher.

To learn more about applying to veterinary school, please visit the Rutgers University Pre-Vet website at:
http://las.rutgers.edu/vet.htm

MARCIE ROSAS-STRALEY
Assistant Director of Multicultural Enrollment Management
Rutgers University Office of Undergraduate Admissions
65 Davidson Road, Room 202
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854
(732) 445-6461
(732) 445-0237 fax

We offer a pre-vet program at St. Lawrence and two of my very close friends went on to vet school from St. Lawrence. My sense is that you've done your homework because vet schools are in some ways more competitive than medical schools because there are so few. I've heard from colleagues who work at universities which offer a vet school and they all seem to actually discourage their students from moving straight from undergrad into graduate school at the same university. Check with each school, but my sense is that lots of vet schools like students who've actually attended another university prior to coming to vet school.

Steven J. Jo
Assistant Director of Admissions
St. Lawrence University
Canton, NY 13617
Office: (315) 229-5259
Fax: (315) 229-5818
Email: sjo@stlawu.edu

Biomedical engineering at Bucknell University is an interdisciplinary field which not only integrates fundamental scientific knowledge with medicine and biology, but also stimulates the interaction of engineers from all of the traditional disciplines. From its early days focused on the development of medical devices, biomedical engineering has developed into an area of extreme breadth and diversity. Biomedical engineers may work to develop improved materials for implantable artificial organs, write software to analyze medical data, or study biological fluid dynamics. These well-educated engineers may choose careers in the medical device or biotech industry, might further the basic knowledge of the field in an academic environment, or continue on to pursue a professional degree. Critical to a biomedical engineer is the extensive amount of technical knowledge required in order to be a highly competent engineer in addition to having a strong knowledge of the physiological and biological sciences.

Tim Johnson
Bucknell University
Lewisburg PA 17837
Phone: 570-577-1021
Email: tmj-bu@bucknell.edu

You can try some of the college search engines offered by groups such as collegboard.com or princetonreview.com which ask a series of questions including potential majors in order to provide you a list of schools that offer the programs which are of interest to you. You can then research those schools and gauge the competitiveness of each institution. As for high school prep, most high schools offer similar
courses, so taking higher levels of the math and sciences would make the most sense. If you're on track, taking courses such as AP Physics, Biology, and Calculus should help, but most of what you'll really learn
for those fields will come in college and graduate school.

Steven J. Jo
Assistant Director of Admissions
St. Lawrence University
Canton, NY 13617
Office: (315) 229-5259
Fax: (315) 229-5818
Email: sjo@stlawu.edu

Our Nursing program at the University of Scranton, located in Pennsylvania, prides itself on its strong clinical focus, taking advantage of the three hospitals located within blocks of the campus. Nursing majors get hands-on practice in specialized areas such as intensive care, operating room procedures, labor and delivery, and pediatrics as well as experience in case management and community health. The Faculty-Student Research Program offers opportunities to publish and to participate in ongoing research projects.

Employment and career opportunities in nursing are outstanding, with expanding new fields in outpatient surgery, community health settings, informatics and forensics. In 2002, BSN nursing graduates of The University of Scranton program reported starting salaries as high as $65,000.

Since 2000, 94 percent of nursing graduates passed the National Council of Licensing Examinations (NCLEX) on their first attempt, compared to 85 percent nationwide.

Students may further their nursing education at The University of Scranton by pursuing a master’s degree in family nurse practitioner, adult health and nurse anesthesia.
Our application fee is waived for Ventures Scholars. For more information about the University of Scranton, you may contact me or explore our website at www.scranton.edu.

Stacey Urgento
Assistant Director of Admissions
University of Scranton
urgentos2@scranton.edu
Direct Line: (570) 941-5921
Toll Free: 1-888-SCRANTON
Fax: (570) 941-5928

It is true that when participating in college athletics, the practice schedules and travel far exceed those required in high school. In order to play athletics you will need to be sure you stay eligible to play the sport by maintaining standards set by the conference you play in or the school you attend. Many schools, like Seton Hill University, will have mandatory study hours and class attendance for student-athletes to help them maintain their eligibility and benefit from the education they are at the institution to receive.

Time management plays an important role in maintaining a balance between college and any extracurricular activities you participate in. I would also suggest to utilize any support services your campus offers in addition to mandatory study time.

Kimberly A. McCarty, MBA
Assistant Director of Admissions and Campus Visit Coordinator
Seton Hill University
724-838-4201 or 1-800-826-6234
kmccarty@setonhill.edu

Our intercollegiate athletics program has compiled a record that is enviable both for its successes on the playing fields and courts and for the accomplishments of student-athletes in the classroom and laboratory. In the most recent NCAA study, Bucknell ranked first in the nation with a perfect 100 percent graduation rate of its student-athletes.

Each semester the Patriot League honors the student-athletes who excel in the classroom as well as on the playing field from each of the 23 League-sponsored sports. To be eligible for selection, an athlete must earn a varsity letter and have a 3.20 grade point average during the academic semester which coincides with his/her sport. Each year the This past year, six of our students were named top scholar-athletes in their respective sport. In the 14 years that the Patriot League Presidents' Cup has been awarded for overall excellence in the 22 league championships, Bucknell has taken the honor 11 times, including each of the last seven years.

Tim Johnson
Bucknell University
Lewisburg PA 17837
Phone: 570-577-1021
Email: tmj-bu@bucknell.edu

Balance is very important, but it's really going to depend on the course work you choose, the sport you play, and the level you hope to play at. Most competitive teams, regardless of division, will play or train for much of the year. Try to register with each college athletics webpage to express your interest in a particular sport and that will put you in contact with the coach earlier so that you can ask then specifics about their programs and how their athletes juggle the demands of academics and athletics.

Steven J. Jo
Assistant Director of Admissions
St. Lawrence University
Canton, NY 13617
Office: (315) 229-5259
Fax: (315) 229-5818
Email: sjo@stlawu.edu

Dickinson is eager to let students see first hand its commitment to the total education of men and women both in the classroom and on the playing field. Academic and athletic excellence are not mutually exclusive. We believe that setting standards of excellence for both athletics and educational programs is the only acceptable course and the only one that
will assure that the term "scholar-athlete" means what it says.

The question on the minds of many scholar-athletes as they enter Dickinson has to do with their ability to combine intercollegiate athletic competition with successful academic work. The answer varies from student to student. Most people are able to balance the two, and many find that the structured physical work-outs actually enhance their academic performance. They feel that they can work more efficiently being in good physical condition and are actually aided by the scheduling of the exercise they would be doing in some form anyway.

The athletic/academic balance is also aided at Dickinson by virtue of competing in the Centennial Conference. The relatively close geographic proximity of each of the institutions means that athletes are always back within a reasonable time frame after a contest to be able to concentrate on their academic work.

Cheers and good luck in your college search,

Les Poolman
Director of Athletics
Dickinson College
P.O. Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013