When you’re looking at colleges, you might come across the term “consortium,” which refers to a group of colleges that collaborate to expand the resources and opportunities available to their students. For high school students considering their future college options, it’s important to understand what consortium colleges can offer. Let’s dive into what these consortiums are and highlight some examples to help you see the unique opportunities they provide.

Embarking on the U.S. college application journey as an expat can feel as puzzling as your first day at your new international school — despite your well-developed cultural adaptability, cross-cultural communication skills, and unique global perspective. Having spent my formative years attending an American school in the Netherlands, I felt equally perplexed by the U.S. college admissions process. I was excited at the prospect of living in the U.S. for the first time since I was four years old; however, I was scared to be an ocean away from my family and nervous about how to navigate the process.

Embarking on the college journey feels like stepping into a world full of unknowns. With tests, essays, and recommendation letters swirling around, one important factor often gets pushed to the side — visiting colleges in person. That’s where fly-in programs come in.

You’ve just been admitted to the school of your dreams. You are over the moon, sharing your excitement with your family — until you see the financial aid package. What?! Where did that number come from?

“I got a B in AP Calculus,” a student recently said to me. “I guess I won’t have a shot at my dream schools, since I know colleges automatically reject students who don’t have straight A’s.” This is a conversation I often have with students this time of year. I assured my student that one B on his otherwise flawless transcript does not make it or break it. However, having worked in the admissions office at Columbia University — which has a 4.1% acceptance rate — I’m not naive about the selective review process.

If you surveyed the participants of an average college freshmen orientation, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the incoming class has a variety of experiences and backgrounds. However, it might be surprising to learn about the growing number of students who chose to take extended time between completing high school and enrolling in a university of their choice.

When it comes to researching colleges, there is certainly not a lack of information available — so much so that it can be overwhelming to figure out which data points are most useful. Numerous ranked lists are published annually, there are websites that provide students’ reviews of colleges, and then there’s my personal favorite, the thick, desktop Bound-For-College Guidebook.

As a University of California alum and California native, I cannot imagine another institutional system that truly offers something for everyone. From STEM to humanities, research to innovative arts, extremely focused students to those still figuring out their next steps, highly selective campuses to those with a great foundation for exploring yourself, the UC system packs it all in one and offers limitless options to explore, develop, and shine! 

So, you’re a high-level athlete who wants to compete collegiately. You’ve committed time, effort, and energy to being the best athlete you can be, competing for your high school team, your club team, working on speed and agility, lifting weights, and developing your skill set.

Have you dreamt of an intimate and intellectually rigorous college experience, one where you engage in deep classroom discussions around a single table with your professor and classmates? Seminar style classrooms, like the one described above, is the bread and butter of liberal arts colleges.