The Associated Press is reporting that over the past five years, roughly half of U.S. Congressman have nominated more than 100 students each for appointment to the Naval Academy, Military Academy and Air Force Academy. However, congressman representing minority districts nominated far fewer students.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York City was the lowest among House members who served the entire five-year period and she only nominated four students. At second lowest was Rep. Charles Rangel, whose New York City district includes Harlem, with eight nominations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose San Francisco district is 29 percent Asian, was also near the bottom, with 19.

This report comes at a time when the service academies are actively recruiting minorities. For any readers who are not familiar with the top three service academies, they offer first-rate educations at no cost. Graduates agree to serve as commissioned officers for a period that generally runs for five years.

Please don't hesitate to call us at 703.242.5885 to learn more about how we can assist you with your service academy applications.

If your essays to a selective school do not adequately convey specific reasons for why you want to attend that specific school, you might as well not even waste your money to submit the application.

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The number of international students in the United States for the 2008-2009 academic year increased 8% to 671,616, an all-time high according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). According to the report, the University of Southern California hosted the largest number of international students (7,482) with New York University in second place (6,761) and Columbia University in third place (6,685). The IIE also reported that India, China, and Korea send the most students to the US. Here at AdmissionsConsultants, we believe the increase in foreign enrollment is driven by many factors, including: American education's strong international reputation, the rising middle classes in Asian countries, and economic development in cultures that value education very highly.

Study abroad programs are becoming more popular and they are becoming more popular with students outside of business and social science. (The latest data from the Institute of International Education indicates over 260,000 American students spent a semester abroad in 2007-2008; a 8.5% increase from the previous year.)Also of note, is that while the United Kingdom remains the most popular destination for US students (up 2% in 2007-2008) the largest increases are being seen for schools in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

The cost of studying in developing countries is often much less than in Europe and we have alumni clients who have shared many positive experiences about studying abroad in India, China, Japan, and Korea.

If studying abroad is important to you, then be sure to incorporate it into your school selection decision making process. Be sure to also understand if you will be paying your own school's tuition rate if you study abroad or if you will be paying the tuition rate of the overseas school.

If you are considering transferring to a different school, you should consider that how much you will likely get out of the experience is partially determined by the kind of school you transferred from.

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