New Medical School Partnership with Seton Hall University

Seton Hall University is a medium-sized school of just under 6,000 students in South Orange, NJ. It is a Catholic university with terrific majors in nursing, business, engineering, and much more. In January, Seton Hall began its quest to add even more to their school, by signing a memorandum of understanding with Hackensack University Health Network to form a new, four-year school of medicine. If all goes well, when this is finalized, this partnership will establish the only private medical school in the state of New Jersey. The location on this campus will be in Nutley and Clifton at a state-of-the-art biomedical facility.

In an email sent from Seton Hall's President, Dr, Gabriel Esteban, he estimates that by 2020, there will be a shortage of 2,500 physicians in the Garden State. He goes on to state that "HackensackUHN and Seton Hall's joint venture to create a premier academic institution will help combat the physician shortage by providing key educational, research, and career opportunities to incentivize the next generation to pursue a career in medicine". It is Dr. Esteban's hope that the future school will be "committed to educational and healthcare excellence, cutting-edge research, high quality care, and the advancement of medical and health science educational imperatives".

This is a fabulous opportunity for individuals looking to go into the medical field and stay close to home. Please follow Seton Hall's progress with this new medical school, which should open in the next 3 years.

-Mr. Joseph D. Korfmacher

Senior Testimonial and Advice for the College Application Process, Part 1

I asked a number of Class of 2015 seniors to write about their experiences with the college process. The first student to share his story and give feedback and tips is senior, Krist Sokoli. I will continue to add blog posts from other seniors this week and next, so continue to check back to get inside information from those who just went through the process this year. Enjoy!

1.  What was your experience like through the college search and application process?
My college search and application experience was pretty laid back partially due to me starting my research and work during junior year. I had made sure to ask a lot of the seniors where they were applying to and why they had chosen those schools. I also made sure to ask what they thought about other schools. I found that most of the answers were honest and that no one was trying to “sell” a school to me like an open- house tour guide would. I then made a shortlist and made sure to run it through my family. 

I was lucky enough to attend Mr. Korfmacher’s summer program which allowed me to knock out my first draft and requirements list quickly. This was really helpful especially during the early action application process.

2.      Are there any tips you can offer students just beginning this process?
I would definitely advise talking to your parents about a possible career path or major. Knowing that I wanted to go into a medical program really helped me shorten my shortlist as I eliminated schools that did not offer the programs I was looking for.

3.      Did anything surprise you while searching for colleges and applying?
What surprised me during the process were the application fees and the fee waivers. Most colleges require a fee to be paid before applying to them. At this point of my application process, I was not checking my email because I was just receiving spam mail from colleges. But, in the midst of the spam, I did find some emails from my top choice colleges that contained fee waivers. Fee waivers saved me a ton of money and encouraged me to apply to some of my current top choice schools.

4.      What was your timeline like? Would you encourage students to follow this or do it differently?
My college process started during the first half of my junior year. I spent a lot of time asking the seniors questions about their colleges and their majors. I then started my application process that summer through Mr. K’s summer program, which really helped me kick start the tedious essay and resume. I started and finished my Common App as soon as possible when senior year started and I made sure to finalize my application list. I planned on visiting schools, but I held back until I received my acceptances. I wanted to make sure that I was applying to schools based on the quality of the programs. After receiving my acceptances, I then toured some of the colleges on non-open house days so that I could get a real feel of what the school’s environment would be.

I think it would have been a better idea for me to check out and visit some of the schools before applying. Campus and campus life make a big difference in the decision process and I definitely would not have applied to some of the schools that I did if I had seen them beforehand.

5.      Things to watch out for?
Accelerated programs! Some schools offer accelerated graduation programs, such as Saint John’s University. An example of this would be Saint John’s 6-year Pharmaceutical PhD program. This program and many of the other accelerated programs offered require a totally different application and many new requirements and supplements.  

6.      Advice?
Converse with your parents, seniors, and counselors. You never know what program or college you may discover that could offer you the better bang for your buck and the degree that you are looking for. 

Start as early as possible. Senior year at Xavier is just as hard as junior year and you will get a lot of homework. The last thing any student wants to another essay deadline to worry about. Finishing my essay in the summer really eliminated the stress from the application 

Thank you for reading Krist's tips about the college process, and stay tuned next week for another Xavier senior's journey through the admissions process. Take care, and as always, happy searching!

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

January 1st has Passed...Time for FAFSA and More!

So seniors…you are beginning to hear back from the colleges you applied to and most are happy to hear that you have been accepted to many of the schools. However, in the majority of cases, that initial joy inside you and your parents goes away when you see the amount of merit scholarship you are receiving. Sure, $10,000 is a big amount of money to earn in merit scholarship awards and is a great start…but for numerous schools, this is just 1/5^th of the total amount it costs to attend. As countless private schools are reaching $40,000- $50,000 each year to attend, a $5,000-$10,000 merit scholarship just is not enough. So what do you do? Are you just expected to give up on a college that you think it a perfect fit? Well before you do that, check out these options that can help subsidize the total COA (cost of attendance) of college!

FAFSA  - January 1st is the official start date to complete and submit the FAFSA to colleges. Many colleges have deadlines (that are not that far away) to submit the FAFSA, so make sure this is finished soon! Most people have heard of the FAFSA, which stands for the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid; however some families choose not to take the time to apply because they do not believe they will receive any aid. Although this is a family decision, we really do urge all families to complete this form. This is one of the only ways a student can receive government aid (also check out the CSS Profile, which some colleges use to calculate financial aid.) Schools receive the FAFSA report that gives them the EFC (Expected Family Contribution), and colleges will decide how much financial aid they will give to families. So please, take the time to get this application completed and sent to all of the schools you apply to!

Naviance Scholarship Page-  All juniors, seniors, and their parents should have a Naviance account. Check this page out for additional college-specific scholarship, and organizational scholarships. Details on each scholarship, including how to apply, amount awarded, and due date are all there. This page is updated throughout the year, so please check the site regularly!

Online Scholarship Finder Websites- There are a multitude of online sites available to find scholarships to college. For many of these, all you need to do is put in your basic information, and it will find scholarships that match your criteria. The three that come highly recommended are: CollegeBoard, Fastweb, and FinAid. Also check out www.collegescholarships.org. Just click on the links, and start applying!

Loans- Although it is ideal to avoid loans, it is not always possible. Here are two websites that help out with understanding and getting started with federal loans: www.direct.ed.gov and http://www.studentloans.gov/

Project on Student Debt -  This has a list of schools that have made the pledge to limit or eliminate student loans from financial aid packages, which reduces cost of college for students and their families. It may be too late for seniors, but juniors should definitely look at this list and see if there are any schools of interest.

Call College Financial Aid Departments- Often families will receive financial aid reports from colleges and will feel that they are not receiving nearly enough of aid for their income and family situation. Since on the FAFSA you are using the previous year’s tax return, it is very possible that there have been some changes in parents’ job and income situation. Also, there may be some special circumstances that financial aid counselors at colleges are not aware of (i.e. high medical bills). You have every right to call the counselors at the colleges and explain your situation. Schools will respond differently, but some may very well give you more financial aid, so it is definitely worth a shot!

Also, please remember that every school is required to have a Net Price Calculator on their website. This can also be found on CollegeBoard. A Net Price Calculator will give families a better idea of what they may have to pay out of pocket or borrow for each college earlier on in the college search process. 

Finally, please check each college’s website in which you were accepted and see if there are any additional merit/need-based scholarships you can apply to. Remember to apply to as many scholarship opportunities as possible, because every dollar will help!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

NCAA Eligibility...Are You on the Right Track?

Whether you are a potential DI/D2 student-athlete, a parent of one, or you know someone who might participate in college sports, this information will be important for you. In order to play a sport in college (D1/D2 only), the student must be eligible. Eligibility is measured by a sliding scale, with the lowest possible GPA being a 2.0. With a 2.0, the student must achieve a 1010 (Math and CR only) on the SAT's to be eligible. From there, the higher a student's GPA, the lower their SAT needs to be in order to be eligible. 

However, starting with high school class of 2015 (current sophomores), it will get just a little harder to become eligible to participate in Division 1 sports right out of high school. The NCAA eligibility center has decided to increase their eligibility standards for Division 1 athletes. These new rules will go into effect starting August 1, 2015. Whereas students prior to 2015 needed a minimum core GPA of 2.0 and 1010 SAT (Math and Critical Reading) or an ACT combined score of 86 in order to participate in competition, students after 2015 will need a minimum core GPA of 2.3 and 1080 SAT, or an ACT combined score of 93 to participate in their first year. 

There also is a new rule put in place to 'redshirt' incoming freshmen. With the present eligibility rules, a student-athlete was either eligible or not eligible. Now there will be three outcomes: Eligible to compete right away (Full Qualifier), not eligible at all (Nonqualifer), and eligible to join team and practice, but not compete in first year (redshirt). Now this is where it becomes tricky! The sliding scale (core GPA with SAT or ACT) for the redshirt option is very similar to the present regular eligibility scale, except the SAT requirement has gone up 10 points for each GPA (i.e. 2.0 GPA will require 1020 SAT). However, the combined ACT score has stayed the same (i.e. 2.0 GPA will require 86 combined score).   

The final change for students to be eligible as full qualifiers is that 10 of their 16 core courses must be completed and “locked in” by the start of their senior year. In the present format, students can use any of their approved classes for eligibility purposes until high school graduation.

For those who do not know, the core GPA is calculated from 16 approved courses throughout a student’s high school career. Not every course a student takes will be approved by the NCAA; therefore it cannot be used in the core GPA calculation. Courses that must be used for the core GPA are 4 years of English, 3 years of mathematics, 2 years of science (1 year with lab), 1 year additional English, mathematics, or science, 2 years of social science, and four years of additional approved courses (i.e. foreign language, social sciences, philosophy etc.). Once a core GPA is established a student must have at least the minimum SAT/ACT score associated with that GPA. Sliding scales can be found online, or by visiting the NCAA eligibility website at www.eligibilitycenter.org .

Once again, these new eligibility standards will not go into effect until August 1^st of 2015, which are current high school sophomores. As always, if you have any questions about NCAA eligibility please do not hesitate to contact your counselor to make sure you are on track to being eligible!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA