It's Not Too Late

Originally published in Hindustan Times, Education Supplement

It’s not too late! If you don’t have a plan for college either for June in India or for August abroad there are still options. Despite the promise of what the future holds, many students reach this time of year with a feeling of dread or disappointment. Due to poor planning, overconfidence or simple bad luck some students do not have an inspired plan for their first year of college. If this is you, there is still hope for study abroad options. 

In early May the US’s National Association of College Admissions Counselors comes out with a list of colleges in the US and a few other countries that still have open seats for qualified applicants in Fall 2013. This year there are 210 colleges on the list. Though you may not have heard of some of these colleges, Forbes magazine reports that there are at least 50 colleges ranked among Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” that are offering admission for Fall 2013. Among these is Juniata College, as small liberal arts institution in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, with attractive policy of offering $2,000 “friendship grant” to any international student it admits, with the possibility of more aid for merit. Juniata is a great example of a college you may not have heard of, but which may offer you tremendous new opportunities. In fact Juniata College was in Loren Pope’s book Colleges that Change Lives.

Not interested in a small college or Liberal arts? No worries there are also several outstanding public colleges on the list. For example included is The University of Maryland in College Park, MD, which is ranked, 17^th among Public Universities by US News and World Report, has four Nobel Laureates on faculty and has excellent schools of Engineering and Business. University of Maryland was also identified as one of the best colleges from which graduates are likely to get a job in a Wall Street Journal  survey of recruiters. Other excellent, large, public colleges listed are Colorado State, Arizona State and University of Arizona.

For techies, Michigan Tech, Illinois Institute of Technology and Missouri University of Science and Technology are also on Forbes’ list. And, incidentally, these institutions also offer degrees in business, design and humanities.

Not looking at going to the US? Check out the American College in Dublin with majors in international business, finance, accounting and hospitality management. Or, for out of the box thinkers, the ECLA Bard program, which offers a four-year liberal arts degree run by the US based Bard College. The program is unique in its concentration on “art and aesthetics, ethics and politics, or literature and rhetoric”.  (As a side note, Bard College is also affiliated with Bard College- Simon’s Rock a unique opportunity for students as young 10^th grade to start an “early college” experience.) In London there is Richmond American International University, which boasts a diverse student population of students from over 100 countries and an impressive record of post-graduate placements. As a bonus at Richmond, SAT scores are optional for admissions consideration.

To find out more about open seats at these colleges, contact them directly either by email or phone—the University admissions webpage is unlikely to have information on the acceptance of late applications. At this stage information can change quickly and the requirements for International