College Spotlight: United States Naval Academy (visiting 11/30)

Link: USNA

 Mission

The Naval Academy has a unique clarity of purpose, expressed in our official mission:

"To develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government."

This puts everyone-faculty, staff and midshipmen-on the same wavelength. It also encourages a sense of spirit and pride found at few other schools.

Program

The moral, mental and physical elements of our program are equally important, all contributing to the qualities of an outstanding naval officer.

Academics

Every midshipman's academic program begins with a core curriculum that includes courses in engineering, science, mathematics, humanities and social science. This is designed to give you a broad-based education that will qualify you for practically any career field in the Navy or Marine Corps. At the same time, our majors program gives you the opportunity to develop a particular area of academic interest. For especially capable and highly motivated students, we offer challenging honors programs and opportunities to start work on postgraduate degrees while still at the Academy.

Professional and leadership training

We don't just tell you about life in the Navy and Marine Corps. After four years at the Naval Academy, the life and customs of the naval service become second nature. First, you learn to take orders from practically everyone, but before long, you acquire the responsibility for making decisions that can affect hundreds of other midshipmen. Your professional classroom studies are backed by many hours of practical experience in leadership and naval operations, including assignments with Navy and Marine Corps units during summer months.

Moral education

Moral and ethical development is a fundamental element of all aspects of the Naval Academy experience. As future officers in the Navy or Marine Corps, midshipmen will someday be responsible for the priceless lives of many men and women and multi-million dollar equipment. From Plebe Summer through graduation, the Naval Academy's Character Development Program is a four-year integrated continuum that focuses on the attributes of integrity, honor, and mutual respect. One of the goals of this program is to develop midshipmen who possess a clearer sense of their own moral beliefs and the ability to articulate them. Honor is emphasized through the Honor Concept of the Brigade of Midshipmen-a system which was originally formulated in 1951 and states "Midshipmen are persons of integrity, they stand for that which is right." These Naval Academy "words to live by" are based on the moral values of respect for human dignity, respect for honesty and respect for the property of others. Brigade Honor Committees composed of elected upperclass midshipmen are responsible for education and training in the Honor Concept. Midshipmen found in violation of the Honor Concept by their peers may be separated from the Naval Academy.

Physical training

We teach the importance of being physically fit and prepared for stress because the duties of Navy and Marine Corps officers often require long, strenuous hours in difficult situations. The physical requirements of Plebe Summer training, four years of physical education and year-round athletics also develop pride, teamwork and leadership.

Summer Seminar

The United States Naval Academy Summer Seminar is a fast-paced, six-day experience for high achievers who have completed their junior year in high school. Summer Seminar teaches you about life at the Naval Academy, where academics, athletics, and professional training play equally important roles in developing our nation's leaders.  If you think that you may be interested in pursuing an appointment to one of the nation's service academies and serving your country as an officer, you should seriously consider attending the Naval Academy's Summer Seminar. Mark your calendar! The 2012 Summer Seminar Application will open February 1st.

**Severn Students (sophomores & juniors) interested in a service academy should express that interest to the Severn College Counseling office as early as possible.

College Spotlight: United States Air Force Academy

(Cadet Craig Phelan, Severn '09, visiting 11/28)

Link: USAFA Admissions

In our rapidly changing world, the high-tech United States Air Force rules the skies. In order to continue protecting our country and its interests, we need highly motivated, top-notch people. If you've got what it takes to be a leader in the Air Force of the 21st Century, we offer you an outstanding opportunity — and education at the Air Force Academy.

As an Air Force Academy cadet, you'll spend four years at one of the best schools in the country with all your tuition, fees, and room and board paid for. You'll be continually challenged academically and personally. Upon graduation, you'll receive a bachelor of science degree and a commission as an Air Force second lieutenant.

By knowing the requirements and recommendations to receive a potential appointment to the Academy, you can help prepare your students during high school.

Requirements

The applicant must be:

• A United States citizen (United States citizenship must be finalized prior to entering the Academy.)
• Unmarried with no dependents (Note: Dependents include being married, mother/father by having a birth child, step child, or adopted child prior to graduation, regardless of whether or not you provide financial support for said dependent. Further, if such marriage or paternity/maternity were to occur but not be known to Air Force authorities until after graduation, you may be subject to disciplinary or administrative action as an officer.)
• Of good moral character
• At least 17, but not past your 23rd birthday by July 1 of the year entering (The age requirement is public law and cannot be waived.)

Recommendations

The following high school courses will help make the applicant more competitive:

• Four years of English
• Four years of college-prep math
• Four years of lab science
• Three years of social studies
• Two years of a foreign language
• One year of computer study

For questions or to find out more about the Air Force Academy's admissions process, please call 1-800-443-9266. 

**Students (sophomore or junior) interested in a service academy should express that interest to the College Counseling office as early as possible.

Early Action and Early Decision follow up game plan

While nothing would make us happier than if you are admitted Early Action or Early Decision to your favorite college, we also need to have a backup plan!  We ask that you submit your transcript requests for the rest of your colleges by December 1^st.  Then we can send your transcripts, counselor forms and recommendations before we leave for the winter break.  You do not have to apply until you are ready, but this way we can rest assured that your materials will arrive by those January deadlines. 

You are under no obligation to apply to those colleges, even if we’ve sent your materials.  This is particularly true with Common Application colleges; the materials we send will not even be downloaded until your application arrives.

Remember that to request a transcript, you must add it to your “applying to” list in Family Connection and click “transcript requests.”  Also, if you are applying to a Common Application college, you must add that college to your list on www.commonapp.org.

Please see your counselor with any questions.  We wish you the best of luck at those Early Action/Early Decision colleges.  Let us know the results!   

New feature added: USEFUL LINKS

Check out the newest feature added to An Admiral's Perspective: USEFUL LINKS. In the column to the right (under the Index by Subject), we have added useful and interesting links. This will be an ever expanding list as we come across links that we think you will find helpful or that you suggest that we add. The links include both websites that you are certainly familiar with (like Family Connection and the College Board) as well as other College Admissions related blogs. Please let us know if you have favorite go-to websites or blogs to share with our readers!

College Spotlight--Penn State University (visiting 11/11)

Link: Penn State Univ

The largest campus in the Penn State system, University Park is home to a diverse population of about 35,000 undergraduate students. Penn State University Park students enjoy passing iconic buildings like Old Main daily, while also taking advantage of amenities in new facilities like the Information Sciences and Technology Building or the Life Sciences Building.


Penn State University Park is located in the small city of State College, a quintessential college town with its small eateries and quirky shops that line the street marking the border between downtown and campus. Nestled near the base of Mount Nittany, the surrounding area of central Pennsylvania is known as “Happy Valley.”

Freshmen at University Park are guaranteed on-campus housing, and, in subsequent years, offered housing through an easily managed lottery system. Approximately 13,000 students live on campus. Six residence hall areas offer traditional, dormitory-style living. On-campus housing is guaranteed and mandatory for first-year students.

The diverse community hosts students from all fifty states and more than one hundred countries, with a typical annual student population of more than 40,000.

The campus houses eleven of the University’s undergraduate colleges, the Graduate School, Schreyer Honors College, and a campus of Penn State Dickinson School of Law. It is the base for the University Libraries, which serve all the campuses in the Commonwealth.

The Nittany Lions football team plays at Beaver Stadium on the campus and other Big Ten sporting events are held in the playing fields and in the Bryce Jordan Center, a multipurpose arena for University ceremonies such as commencement, sporting events, and entertainment.

Penn State University Park Virtual Tour

College Spotlight--Franklin & Marshall College (visiting 11/8)

Link: Franklin & Marshall College

Franklin & Marshall was established in 1787 with a gift of 200 British pounds from Benjamin Franklin, and is located in historic Lancaster, a dynamic city with a thriving arts scene.
The College enrolls 2,200 students. The average class size is 19 students, and the faculty-to-student ratio is 10:1. Our students receive more than $500,000 in research grants every year.

At Franklin & Marshall, we emphasize learning by doing, not just by listening and watching.

All students are lifelong members of a College House, five distinct hubs of academic, extracurricular and social engagement in a residential setting. Guided by faculty dons and administrative prefects, students govern their houses, develop leadership skills, and create their own social and intellectual programs.

Students may join one or more of the College’s 76 clubs and organizations, ranging from anime to Ultimate Frisbee. More than three-quarters of students participate in community service, and a quarter of students belong to one of 10 Greek organizations.

Our scholar-athletes compete in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference. The College fields 27 athletic teams—13 for men and 14 for women.

Students may study abroad in any of 200 locations around the world. Each year, one-third of our students goes abroad or enrolls in a travel course. On campus, 87 percent of students have studied at least one of the 11 foreign languages we offer.

Our students seek to learn by doing, not by listening and watching. They embrace the opportunity to work side by side or in small groups with faculty members on research projects that have real-world applications. And when given the choice of being a scholar, an athlete, an artist, a leader or a volunteer, they are most apt to choose “all of the above.”

This is who we are.

College Spotlight--Johns Hopkins University (visiting 11/4)

Link: Johns Hopkins University



The Johns Hopkins University opened in 1876, with the inauguration of its first president, Daniel Coit Gilman. "What are we aiming at?" Gilman asked in his installation address. "The encouragement of research ... and the advancement of individual scholars, who by their excellence will advance the sciences they pursue, and the society where they dwell." The mission laid out by Gilman remains the university's mission today, summed up in a simple but powerful restatement of Gilman's own words: "Knowledge for the world." What Gilman created was a research university, dedicated to advancing both students' knowledge and the state of human knowledge through research and scholarship. Gilman believed that teaching and research are interdependent, that success in one depends on success in the other. A modern university, he believed, must do both well. The realization of Gilman's philosophy at Johns Hopkins, and at other institutions that later attracted Johns Hopkins-trained scholars, revolutionized higher education in America, leading to the research university system as it exists today.

After more than 130 years, Johns Hopkins remains a world leader in both teaching and research. Eminent professors mentor top students in the arts and music, the humanities, the social and natural sciences, engineering, international studies, education, business and the health professions. Those same faculty members, and their research colleagues at the university's Applied Physics Laboratory, have each year since 1979 won Johns Hopkins more federal research and development funding than any other university.
The university has nine academic divisions and campuses throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the School of Education and the Carey Business School are based at the Homewood campus in northern Baltimore. The schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing share a campus in east Baltimore with The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Peabody Institute, a leading professional school of music, is located on Mount Vernon Place in downtown Baltimore. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies is located in Washington's Dupont Circle area.

The Applied Physics Laboratory is a division of the university co-equal to the nine schools, but with a non-academic, research-based mission. APL, located between Baltimore and Washington, supports national security and also pursues space science, exploration of the Solar System and other civilian research and development.

Johns Hopkins also has a campus near Rockville in Montgomery County, Md., and has academic facilities in Nanjing, China, and in Bologna, Italy. It maintains a network of continuing education facilities throughout the Baltimore-Washington region, including centers in downtown Baltimore, in downtown Washington and in Columbia.

When considered in partnership with its sister institution, the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, the university is Maryland's largest employer and contributes more than $10 billion a year to the state's economy.

The mission of The Johns Hopkins University is to educate its students and cultivate their capacity for life-long learning, to foster independent and original research, and to bring the benefits of discovery to the world.