How to Choose the Right Match Schools

How to Choose the Right Match Schools This post is the second part of our three-part series on how to choose the right reach, match, and safety schools. Over the course of the next few weeks, visit the Varsity Admissions Blog for advice on how to tackle this part of the admissions process. Match schools are perhaps the most important colleges to apply to, because you have a reasonable chance of gaining acceptance and would fit in with the average students there. However, it can be difficult to determine which colleges your budget and academic and extracurricular interests appropriately match. When searching for match schools, its important to note how your grades compare and if the schools will support your academic goals, among other items. Here is how to choose the right match schools for you: Choose the right match schools by seeing how your grades compare You can determine which colleges and universities provide you with the best chance of acceptance by comparing your GPA and standardized test scores to those of a schools average admitted student. Most colleges and universities list their acceptance statistics on their websites. You may also be able to find this information by asking your high school guidance counselor. He or she can guide you to schools that are an appropriate academic match. [RELATED: 3 Questions to Ask Your Guidance Counselor About College] Choose the right match schools by identifying your academic interests Besides finding match schools based on your grades and test scores, you should also try to find matches based on your academic interests. What kinds of school subjects are you interested in studying? What type of career do you want to pursue? For example: If youre good at English and want to pursue a career as a writer, you might look at colleges with well-established writing programs. If youre interested in biology and want to pursue a career in medicine, you might look at universities with pre-medical training programs. [RELATED: How to Choose the Right Reach Schools] Choose the right match schools by examining your extracurricular interests Academics are only one part of college. Its also important to pursue your outside interests, like sports, school government, or clubs. Once youve used your grades and academic interests to narrow down your search for match schools, check college and university websites to research their extracurricular offerings. Often, schools have pages listing clubs and other extracurricular programs. Your match college should offer at least one extracurricular activity that youre interested in continuing in college. Choose the right match schools by considering your budget Academic and extracurricular interests are important, but its also essential to consider the cost of college when determining your match schools. Talk to your parent or guardian about your budget to help pinpoint a comfortable price range. Remember not to automatically shy away from schools that might be too expensive, because scholarships, grants, and work-study opportunities may be available. Investigate these opportunities when looking for match schools. [RELATED: What Every Student Should Know About Applying for College Scholarships] Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

The Best Places for Landscape Photography in South America.

The Best Places for Landscape Photography in South America. Find Latin America’s Greatest Spots for Landscape Photographers. ChaptersWhat is Landscape Photography?What Makes a Landscape Photograph Good?Some Great Spots for Landscape Photos across Latin America.Apart from with gap-yearing teenagers, Latin America doesn’t get much attention from our part of the world. The usual connotations are of drug gangs and dictators, massive wealth inequality, more drug gangs and dictators, football, and they all speak Spanish. Except, of course, they don’t.Stupid stereotypes are far too easily fallen into. And with stupid stereotypes come massive generalisations, a reluctance to correct oneself, and, usually, fear.But, again, it’s all stupid. Because the countries of Latin America are as different as England to Italy, France to Finland, and Poland to Portugal. This is, after all, a whole continent we’re discussing â€" a continent nearly twice the size of Europe. It shouldn’t be so surprising that there is a lot of stuff going on there.Behind the reductive stereotypes, we find a place so beautiful, so disarmi ngly wonderful, that it’s just baffling that the stereotypes have stuck. Here, you have sky-scraping mountain peaks and tropical beaches. You have the largest rainforest in the world and driest desert. You have immeasurable plains and endless coastlines.And that’s to say nothing of the people, the food, the culture, the music.But here we’re talking about spots for landscape photography. And rest assured, if you are heading to South America, you’ll find plenty all by yourself.Check out our piece on landscape photography in Europe. The landscapes of MexicoAnd this complicates our sense of what a landscape photograph can be. It isn’t just about lonely mountains or wild plains. It’s about everything around us. A cityscape or seascape is a landscape; street photography, engaging with an urban landscape, is a landscape photography. Types of photography like wildlife photography and nature photography overlap with our style â€" but so can portrait photography, night photography, aerial photography and even food photography.A landscape photo can really be anything you want it to be.Take a look at our article on landscape photography in the USA.What Makes a Landscape Photograph Good?However, a good landscape picture is not something so straightforward. You’ll have seen the sumptuous landscapes of Sebastião Salgado or Fay Godwin, say, and really these are not things that are easily reproduced.Anyone can put on the panorama setting on their iPhone and get a decent enough shot, and most people love taking photos o f every hill or cliff top they see.Yet, to be a professional photographer â€" and to make great photos â€" you need something else. You need a real knowledge of the range of photography skills, photography equipment, and photography techniques.You need to understand the difference between wide angle lenses and fisheye camera lenses. You need to understand long exposure, shutter speed, and depth of field do to your landscape pictures. You need to think about foreground and background, white balance, and natural light.And on top of this, you need to practise your compositional skills. Also, you need to be prepared to commit the time to get exactly the shot you are after â€" whether at sunset, sunrise, or at night.A lot of work goes into making great pictures â€" so don’t take this for granted.Check out the best spots for landscape photography in Africa.Some Great Spots for Landscape Photos across Latin America.It’s worth saying, at the beginning of this list, that part of the task of the landscape photographer is to scout locations, explore your own areas, and find, yourself, the composition and forms that you want to create.Given this, all of South America â€" in the same way as all of the rest of the world â€" is a potentially glorious landscape photograph. Bear this in mind when you start on your photography journey: it’s not so much the location that makes a great photograph so much as the way that you represent and capture it.However, having said this, a great location â€" an inspiring landscape â€" can be the perfect motivator for you to learn and develop your passion in photography. Because there is nothing like a beautiful place to keep you going.So, here are some top spots across the whole of Latin America (not just the south!). It’s a beautiful continent â€" so there are many many more we have left out.Read about the best places for landscape photography in Asia.The Atacama Desert: Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina.Let’s start with the Atacama De sert, the driest place on Earth. Spreading across Chile, parts of Argentina, and into the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, it has some of the most striking landscapes of on the planet.There is a reason why one of the most famous places in the area is known as Valle de la Luna (or, ‘Valley of the Moon’). And that’s because it is a completely otherworldly place. Head up to the northern parts of the south of Bolivia, and you’ll see the likes of Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorado.The colours are just breath-taking. The Andes are full of stupendous views.Mexico’s Sierra Mixteca.We have an image of Mexico that usually involves plenty of cacti. The place to go to see such a landscape would the Sierra Mixteca, which crosses the states of Puebla and Oaxaca.The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve is a highlight, where the collection of plants makes for a really startling experience, but the Sierra is a wonderful place to take your camera.The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.Everyone’s favourite wildlife haven, the Galapagos are largely off-limits without a permit. If you do manage to get there, then good for you.Alongside the turtles for which it is famous, the landscape itself is gorgeous â€" a volcanic archipelago of nineteen islands surrounded by the bluest of blue seas.Their reputation speaks for itself.The Amazon, Brazil.And to the Amazon, the lungs of the world. Not much really needs to be said about its beauty, its vastness, its global significance.It’s telling that there are still areas un explored â€" and let’s keep it that way. But there’s plenty of it for you to explore. And its mists, its lush vegetation, its fierce and varied wildlife are all reasons to go.Words really are not enough. Take photos instead.Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia.Immortalised by countless works of travel literature, the mythic Tierra del Fuego (the Land of the Fire) sits at the southern tip of South America, in Patagonia.It’s a mix of waters â€" rivers, lakes, glaciers â€" and the most dramatic mountain peaks outside of the Dolomites. It’s an incredibly special place, with some of the most recognisable colours and landforms in the world.The Pampas, Argentina.The Great Plains of Latin America, the Pampas are the never-ending grasslands of the south. Once inhabited by the gauchos, the iconic Argentinian cowboys, and travelled by the legendary Butch Cassidy, the Pampas remain a sort of Wild West.Flat but atmospheric, with mountains imposing in the distance, they are a majestic place. The Galapagos Islands' most famous resident.The Andes.The Andes are the longest continuous mountain range in the world, passing from the top to the southern tip of South America. Considering that it is just so damn long, the possibilities for exploring are endless.Some of the most beautiful places along the mountain belt â€" although this is all totally disputable â€" are in Peru. Try the Cordillera Blanca, with the Huascarán National Park, which has some of the higher peaks in the Andes. Expect snow and cracking views.Guajira Peninsula, Colombia and Venezuela.For something a little different, try the Guajira Peninsula, which is shared between Colombia and Venezuela. It’s known as the home of the ethnic group, the Wayuu, an indigenous community.On this peninsula, which sticks out into the Caribbean Sea, you’ll find the Parque Nacional Natural Macuira. It’s dominated by a desert which fades into the beaches, with dry vegetation around. Parts of it have a sort of desolate, end-o f-the-world feeling to them.Read about photogenic landscapes across the world.