High School and Transfer Counselors

Here's some quick facts about the University of Minnesota Crookston you can share with potential students:

Admission Requirements and Test-Optional

4 years vs. 4 hours. Prospective students do not need an ACT or SAT score to apply. We believe they are more than just four hours in a testing room. The work they put in during their four years of high school is more important. Effort trumps test scores and we look at each student as a whole person.

More about Holistic Admissions

Academics

We offer a variety of both on-campus and online majors, minors and certificates, including a honors program.

See all academic programs

Tuition and Scholarships

University of Minnesota Crookston is very affordable with flat-rate, no out-of-state tuition and a wide-variety of grants, scholarships, loans and work-study employment.

Tuition & Costs

Scholarships and Grants

The Post Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) is a state program that gives students capable of working at the post-secondary level an opportunity to receive post-secondary credits while completing high school graduation requirements. 

More about PSEO

College in the High School (CIHS) is a University of Minnesota Crookston program that delivers University courses, in collaboration with area high schools, to advanced high school students. 

More about CIHS

Writing Letters of Recommendation

You may be asked to write a letter of recommendation for a student, and this will help you form one that speaks to the student's specific qualities, attainments, and personal anecdotes with concrete examples. We encourage students to request letters of recommendation from people who know them well and can truly speak to their academic abilities, accomplishments, and efforts because it's important to note that the letter of recommendation is certainly a part of the application that gives depth and meaning to other parts of the application.

Context is everything. School profiles and school reports have always provided good context for us, but we also rely on the letter of recommendation to provide additional context about a student's academic development and scholastic potential.

• The transcript provides vital information on how much a student challenged themselves academically-- whether they have particular academic strengths or weaknesses, how they performed in high school, whether there were trends (up or down), and where the student stands in relation to their class.
• The school profile gives indications of the rigor of the high school and the academic opportunities offered to students (such as College in the School classes, AP classes, IB classes, etc.)
• A listing of extracurricular activities tells us about a student's interests and what they have been dedicated to outside of the classroom. It also tells us about and family/work responsibilities that a student manages.
• Recommendations give life to all of these things. They explain unusual circumstances and highlight outstanding strengths. They are a way to distinguish students during the review process.

Our recommendation about your recommendation:

• Spend time adding at least one thing that you could only say about that student and do so descriptively or use an example
• Capture the character of the student as well as the academic substance
• Don't only focus on their ability but also include what motivates them
• Connect it to the rest of the student's application if you can (the transcript, the context of the school, extracurricular involvement, and the test score if a student chooses to submit it)

Remember, we are not grading your writing ability, we're just trying to discover what you know about a student that could help us make an admission decision. 

Letters of recommendation can be sent three ways:

• Electronically through the recommender portal (notified through your email)
• Emailed to umcinfo@umn.edu
• Mailed to the Office of Admissions 2900 University Ave., Crookston, MN 56716.

For tips and tricks to help your students through the college search, download our:

College Planning Guidebook