All Star Essays College News

Harvard Checking Authorship of Application Essays?

2007-05-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

College applicants who are tempted to cut corners on their application essays by using 'boilerplate' text or by following an 'model essay' template might want to consider this news item:

According to the Harvard Crimson, Harvard University is one of several schools that is now using plagiarism detection software to verify the originality of application essays.

Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons told the Crimson that his staff catches "a handful" of suspect essays each year.

And most of those catches, he implied, have less to do with anti-plagiarism software than they do with admissions officers' own sense of what does and does not sound like an applicant's own writing.

Just a few of the clues that set off an admissions officer's internal alarm are: an essay that is far superior in writing to the rest of the application or to the applicant's SAT or ACT writing sample; an essay that sounds an awful lot like essays submitted by other applicants; and an essay that sounds too much like one of the 'model college application essays' in wide circulation.

Source: "Colleges Use Web Plagiarism Checks," by Aditi Balakrishna, the Harvard Crimson, April 10, 2007

MIT Releases 2007 Decisions

2007-03-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

MIT released its 2007 admissions decisions on March 16. Just 12.3 per cent of this year's applicants received an admissions offer:

Applications received: 12,443

Accepted - Early Action: 390
Accepted - Regular Decision: 1,143
Total Accepted: 1,533

Waitlist Offers: 499

Source: Matt McGann '00, Admissions Blog at MIT.edu

ACT and SAT Now Accepted Everywhere

2007-03-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's now official -- every U.S. college or university that requires a standardized test score for admission now accepts scores from either the SAT or the ACT.

Harvey Mudd College, the engineering and technical school of the Claremont College Consortium, will begin accepting ACT scores for the first time this fall. Wake Forest University, another late adapter of the ACT, began accepting ACT scores for this year's admissions.

One of the main differences between the SAT and the ACT is that the writing component of the SAT is mandatory, while the ACT writing test is optional.

To date, most schools are not making much use of writing scores from either test in their admissions decisions. Anecdotal evidence suggests that when colleges do draw on a SAT or ACT writing sample to make an admissions decision, it's often to check whether an applicant wrote their own essays. An application that includes highly sophisticated essays but a barely literate SAT or ACT writing sample is going to raise a red flag.

U Penn Accepts 29% of ED Pool

2007-02-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

The University of Pennsylvania's Early Decision acceptance rate rose slightly this year, with 29 per cent of early applicants for the Class of 2011 receiving acceptance letters.

Last year, U Penn's ED acceptance rate was 28 per cent. This year's rate was higher partly because fewer students applied under the early deadline.

The ED admits will fill 48 per cent of the places that U Penn has available for freshmen in Fall 2007. Their average SAT scores are 697 in Critical Reading, 722 in Math, and 705 in Writing.

Source: "29% of Early App Students Admitted," by Jon Meza, the Daily Pennsylvanian, January 12, 2007

Harvard Opens Secondary Fields Option

2007-01-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

Students graduating from Harvard this spring will be the first class in the University's history with the option of listing a 'secondary field,' or minor, on their diplomas.

To graduate with a secondary field, a student will have to take a sequential set of four to six courses approved by the University. To date, 49 secondary field programs have been approved, ranging from Anthropology to Celtic Languages to East Asian Studies to Evolutionary Biology.

Additional secondary field programs in global health, archaeology, and other disciplines are under review.

Source: "Secondary Fields Open to Seniors," by Johannah S. Cornblatt, the Harvard Crimson, January 31, 2007

Over 50,000 Apply to UCLA for Fall 2007

2007-01-24T14:50:00.000-08:00

Almost 50,700 high school seniors have applied to the University of California - Los Angeles for freshman admission this fall.

This year's applicant pool is 5.1 per cent larger than last year's and sets a record for the number of applications received by UCLA in a single application season.

UCLA typically receives more applications than any other college or university in the U.S. The University admits about 25 per cent of applicants on the basis of a holistic admissions review that considers personal achievements and evidence of character in addition to high school academic records and standardized test results.

Source: "UCLA Remains the Country’s Most Popular University with More Than 50,000 High School Seniors Applying for Fall," press release, UCLA (Los Angeles, CA), January 24, 2007

Duke Gets Near-Record Number of Applications

2007-01-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

Duke University received nearly 18,500 applications for seats in its Class of 2011. That's significantly fewer than the almost 19,400 it received last year, but still marks the second-highest number of freshman admissions received in one year in the school's history.

Duke admitted 475 students during its Early Decision round in December. It expects to accept enough students through the Regular Decision round to fill the approximately 1, 665 seats it still has open for Fall 2007.

Source: "Applicant Pool to Duke Is Second Largest in School History," press release, Duke University (Durham, NC), January 9, 2007

U. of Mich. Delays Making Admissions Decisions

2007-01-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

The University of Michagan has announced that it will not begin making Fall 2007 admissions decisions until January 10, approximately one week later than orignially planned. The delay affects applications for freshman, transfer, graduate, and professional school admissions.

The delay arises from ongoing legal developments concerning the consideration of race in admissions decisions at Michigan universities.

Last November, Michigan voters voted in favor of a referendum that requires publicly-supported institutions to refrain from using race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin in admissions decisions, effective January 1.

The University of Michigan was one of several schools that went to court in mid-December to request a six-month delay in implementing the new law. They argued that introducing new admissions policies on January 1 would mean using two sets of standards for the 2007 applicant pool -- one for candidates whose applications were read before January 1, and another for applicants whose files were read later. (The University of Michigan has been accepting freshman applications on a rolling basis since last August.)

A U.S. District Court initially granted the request for a delay. On December 29, however, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision, effectively ordering schools to adopt the new law as originally planned.

University officials say that admissions offices are free to communicate decisions that were made before December 29 to applicants. Other decisions will be put on hold until January 10.

Source: "U of M Delays Admissions Decisions," AP (Lansing, MI), January 3, 2007

Yale Accepts 19.7 Per Cent of Early Applicants

2006-12-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

Yale University accepted 19.7 per cent of this year's Early Action applicants.

Yale received 3,594 EA applications for the Class of 2011 and accepted 709. Last year, 4,008 applications were received, and 724 were accepted.

The 709 EA admits will comprise approximately 45 per cent of the Class of 2011.

Source: "Admit Rate Rises to 19.7 Per Cent," by Kimberley Chow, the Yale Daily News, December 20, 2006

Early Admissions Outcomes at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton

2006-12-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

Harvard University accepted 875 of this year's Early Action applicants from a pool of over 4,000, making for an EA acceptance rate of just under 22 per cent.

Priceton's Early Decision acceptance rate was 26 per cent, with admissions offers being extended to 597 applicants out of a pool of 2,276.

Stanford accepted 750 of its 4,644 Early Action candidates, marking a 16 per cent EA acceptance rate.

MIT Admits 11 Per Cent of Early Applicants

2006-12-14T10:33:00.000-08:00

MIT's Early Action applicant pool grew by about 13 per cent this year, contributing to a slightly lower acceptance rate than was seen last year.

MIT accepted 11 per cent of this year's EA applicants. An equal number of EA applicants were denied. The remaining applications were deferred to the regular admissions round.

MIT's non-binding Early Action program usually has an admit rate close to that for the same year's overall applicant pool. MIT limits the number of students admitted through Early Action to 30 per cent of the incoming class, and typically defers the majority of EA applicants to the regular pool.

Last year, 295 of the 2,370 EA applicants deferred to the regular pool were ultimately admitted to MIT, making for an acceptance rate of 12.4 per cent for deferred candidates. The overall acceptance rate for the year was 13 per cent.

Sources:

"MIT Early Applications Up 13%," by Emily Sachar, Bloomberg, December 13, 2006.

"Admissions Statistics," posted to the MIT Admissions webpage

Lake Forest Goes SAT-Optional

2006-12-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

Lake Forest College, a well-regarded liberal arts college located in the Chicago suburbs, has announced its switch to a SAT- and ACT-optional admissions policy.

Starting immediately, applicants can choose whether or not to provide SAT Reasoning Test or ACT scores with their applications.

Lake Forest will, however, continue to require a SAT or ACT score from applicants who want to be considered for a Presidential, Prarie State, or Trustee's scholarship.

Like other schools that have made standardized test scores an optional part of the application package, Lake Forest says its experience has shown that academic records and community involvement have proven a better predictor of college success than ACT or SAT scores are.

Lake Forest received almost 2,200 applications for seats in its Class of 2010. The 385 students who enrolled this fall represent the second-largest freshman class in the College's history. The application deadline for fall 2007 admissions to Lake Forest is February 15, 2006.

Source: "Quick Takes," Inside Higher Education, December 5, 2006

Nearly One-Third of '04 HS Grads Took AP or IB Courses

2006-11-29T12:59:00.000-08:00

You have every reason to be proud of doing well in an AP or IB class -- but you may want to think twice if you think that achievement will be enough to make your college application stand out from the crowd.

According to a study recently released by the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, over 30 per cent of the students who graduated from U.S. high schools in 2004 had at least one AP or IB course on their transcripts.

AP and IB courses were even more common among students in demographic categories associated with high rates of college attendance. 43.6 per cent of students whose parents attended college took AP or IB courses, as did over 50 per cent of students from high-income households.

Source: "Academic Pathways, Preparation, and Performance," The National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (Washington, DC), 2006

Early App Volume Down at Yale and Brown, Up Slightly at Princeton

2006-11-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yale University saw a surprising drop in the number of people applying for freshman admission under its non-binding Single Choice Early Action Program this fall.

Just 3,541 people applied under the program this year, compared to 4,084 last year. The change amounts to a 13 per cent decline in the number of EA applications received.

Some observers think that the record-low acceptance rates Yale posted last year may have discouraged some prospective students from applying this fall. Yale accepted fewer than 1 out of 5 EA applicants last year.

Brown University saw a much smaller decline in Early Decision applications, with this year's volume falling by just over 2.5 per cent from last year.

Princeton University's Early Decision application rose modestly, by 1.7 per cent.

Unlike Yale's non-binding SCEA program, Brown and Princeton's Early Decision options are both binding.

Harvard Approves 9 Secondary Concentrations

2006-11-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Beginning this spring, Harvard students will have the option of graduating with a degree reflecting a minor field of study in addition to their primary concentration.

The University's Education Policy Committee has already approved 9 proposals for secondary degree concentrations so far. A total of 15 to 20 secondary concentration programs are expected to be approved before the end of this year.

The fields that have already been approved for secondary concentrations are Earth and Planetary Sciences, Folklore and Mythology, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Philosophy, Romance Languages and Literatures, Sociology, and Visual and Environmental Studies.

To qualify for a secondary concentration, students must take 4 to 6 designated courses. At present, only one course may be used to fulfill both a secondary concentration requirement and the University's core curriculum requirements.

Source: "Nine Secondary Fields Approved," by Peter R. Raymond, the Harvard Crimson, November 17, 2006

New U. of Georgia Curriculum Stresses Quant Skills & Foreign Language

2006-11-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

The University of Georgia is considering revisions to its undergraduate core curriculum that would put more emphasis on quantitative skills and knowledge of foreign languages and cultures.

The revisions, which have been approved by the University Senate but are still under review by the Board of Regents, would involve the following changes:

Students would be required to take at least one course in the physical sciences.
The humanities requirement would be renamed "World Languages and Culture, Humanities and the Arts," and the number of required credits would double from 6 to 12 units.
Students would be required to take two classes in quantitative reasoning instead of the one that is required now.

If the Board of Regents approves the changes, the University Council will begin determining which courses would fulfill which requirements. Students would probably not see actual changes to their graduation requirements until fall 2008.

Source: "More Science, Less Social Science," by Paul D. Thacker, Inside Higher Education, November 14, 2006

U. Michigan Seeks to Continue Holistic Admissions

2006-11-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

The University of Michigan is seeking court approval to continue its present admissions practices for a year. This would mean waiting until the next application season to implement any changes dictated by Tuesday's passage of a proposition banning consideration of race and gender in public education and personnel decisions, including college admisisons.

University officials say they want to avoid a situation where students who applied before November 7 are judged by different standards than students who applied after that date are. The University has been accepting applications for fall 2007 and making admissions decisions on a rolling basis since August.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in 2003, the University of Michigan ended the practice of awarding additional points to undergraduate applicants for belonging to certain minorities. It adopted a holistic admissions system under which applicants are judged on qualities such as extracurricular achievements, leadership, special skills, life experience, and recommendations in addition to academic achievement.

The University of Michigan is one of the most highly-regarded public universities in the U.S., and among the most competitive to win admission to. For fall 2006, the University accepted 47.4 per cent of undergraduate applicants. The middle 50 per cent of this year's entering class of 5, 399 students scored between 27 and 31 on the ACT and between 1900 and 2160 on the SAT. Over half had a high school GPA of 3.9 or higher.

17.5% of MIT Freshman 'Flagged' for Poor Class Performance

2006-11-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Approximately 17.5 per cent of MIT freshmen were warned this year that they were in danger of failing one or more of their first-semester classes, the MIT Tech reports.

Historically, just under one-fifth of MIT freshmen receive 'fifth week flags.' The warnings serve as an early warning for students and advisors, alerting them to academic problems while there is still time to address them.

Faculty point out that fifth-week warnings come at a time when most classes have given only one exam and when many students are still adjusting to MIT's learning environment. The great majority of students who receive flags go on to finish the course in question with a passing grade.

Source: "Number of Flags Higher for 8.01," by Nick Bushak, the MIT Tech, November 3, 2006

Penn State Expects Record Application Volume

2006-11-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Admissions officials at Pennsylvania State University are encouraging applicants to apply no later than the November 30 priority deadline in order to maximize their chances of winning enrollment in what is expected to be a highly competitive admissions season.

Penn State received almost 94,000 applications for fall 2006 admissions. This year's applicant pool is expected to be even larger, with one estimate projecting a total application volume almost 25 per cent higher than last year's.

Penn State will continue to receive and review applications submitted in the winter and spring, under its normal rolling admissions procedures. However, officials caution that students who apply after the November 30 deadline may risk finding that popular programs have already been filled by earlier applicants.

Sources:

"Penn State's Student Population: Admissions Increase Presents Problems," the Daily Collegian (Pennsylvania State University), October 30, 2006

"Students Advised to Apply Early," press release, Pennsylvania State University, October 30, 2006

College Costs Still Rising, But More Slowly

2006-10-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

This year's College Board survey of higher education costs has found that tuitions at U.S. colleges and universities continue to rise, but at a slower pace than in previous years.

Students at public colleges and universities now pay an average of $5,836 in tuition and fees each year, 6.3 per cent more than in 2005.

Students at private schools now pay an average of $22,218, which is 5.9 per cent higher than last year.

The College Board report had even better news for students enrolled at two-year insititutions, where prices grew by only a couple of percentage points. Students eligible for financial aid may actually be paying slightly less to attend community colleges than they did a year ago.

Source: "College Tuition, Fees Up at Four-Year Public Schools," Associated Press, October 24, 2006

Georgetown Adds Farsi to Foreign Language Offerings

2006-10-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Georgetown University has added Farsi (Persian) to its list of foreign language classes.

Georgetown has offered Farsi as a summer course since 2003, but this is the first time that it has offered it as a foreign language course during the academic year.

Two classes, both taught by a native speaker, are being offered: Non-Intensive First Level Persian, for beginners, and Intermediate Persian I, for students who already have some knowledge of the language. Faculty, noting that student interest was high enough to quickly fill this semester's two classes, hope to expand course offerings in the future.

Farsi, which is spoken in Iran and parts of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, is one of several foreign languages which has become more popular on college campuses in recent years. Other U.S. colleges and universities which offer a Farsi or Persian language program are Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Emory, and the University of Virginia.

More Students Taking Both the SAT and ACT?

2006-10-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

The number of high school students who either took or registered to take the SAT or ACT exam in October is significantly higher this year than it was a year ago, according to the organizations that administer the tests.

ACT registration has increased by about 17 per cent, and SAT registration increased by just under 16 per cent.

Educators and testers think that some of the increase may be due to students taking both the SAT and the ACT. The biggest increases in ACT registration took place in the Eastern U.S., where the SAT is the more traditional college entrance exam. Observers think that last year's problems with incorrect score reporting for the SAT, and anxiety over the longer length of the new SAT, may be causing students to hedge their bets by getting an ACT score for their college applications as well.

Source: "SAT, ACT See Number of Test-Takers Rise," by Justin Pope, Associated Press, as carried by the Washington Post, October 18, 2006

Union College Drops SAT/ACT Requirement

2006-10-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Union College has joined the ranks of selective colleges that no longer require prospective students to submit standardized test scores as part of their application package.

The change will take effect in the 2007-2008 application season and will apply to all applicants except those applying for the Leadership in Medicine program.

Admissions Dean Dan Lundquist told the Business Review of Albany, New York, that "We have learned that the best predictor of academic success is a past record of academic achievement in a demanding, rigorous class roster." Applicants who think their SAT or ACT score will strengthen their case for admission are welcome to submit the score, but the scores will no longer be required of any applicants.

The freshman class entering Union College this fall had an average SAT score of 1240.

Source: "Union College Joins Trend of Dropping SAT, ACT Requirement," the Business Review (Albany, NY), October 16, 2006

Gettysburg College Goes SAT-Optional

2006-10-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania's Gettysburg College has joined the ranks of selective liberal arts colleges that have adopted a SAT and ACT-optional admissions policy.

Faculty voted to change the College's standardized testing policy following a two-year study period.

Vice President for Enrollment and Educational Services Barbara Fritze told a local newspaper that Gettysburg staff and faculty had concluded that applicants' high school records were a better indicator of their academic potential than standardized test scores are.

Gettysburg is the 27th school on the US News & World Report's list of the top 100 US liberal arts colleges to go SAT-optional.

Source: "G-Burg Prospects Can Skip Tests," by Angie Mason - the York Daily Record, October 12, 2006.

Carrel Shortage Plagues Wesleyan Thesis Writers

2006-10-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Almost 70 Wesleyan students working on senior theses this year have not been assigned a research carrel at the University's Olin Library, the campus paper reports.

According to the Wesleyan Argus, 69 students have been placed on the wait list for carrel space this fall, compared to just 35 last year. In a typical year, about 15 waitlisted students are eventually assigned carrel space.

The carrel shortage is being caused by an increase in the number of students seeking carrel space and a temporary decrease in the number of available carrels as a result of building renovations.

Library officials say that it is difficult to expand carrel space because most of Wesleyan's carrels are actually small rooms with doors. 88 of the 108 students who are currently assigned to carrels have use of these 'single' carrels. 6 students are assigned to double carrels and the remaining 8 are assigned to group carrels.

The Olin Library uses lottery system to assign research carrels to students working on theses and senior essays. Each year, about a third of Wesleyan students opt to pursue a senior thesis in the Social Sciences, Sciences, or Arts and Humanities. A list of recent theses is available on Wesleyan's website: http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/academics/academics-research.html

Source: "Space Case: Thesis Writers Suffering from Carrel Shortage," by Arie Eernisse, the Wesleyan Argus, October 6, 2006

NYU Sticks By Early Admissions

2006-09-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

Admissions officials at New York University told the campus newspaper that NYU will continue its early admissions program regardless of what Harvard, Princeton, or other schools do.

Viceprovost for Admissions and Financial Aid Barbara Hall told the Washington Square News that NYU's Early Decision program does not have the same impact on low-income applicants that Harvard's SCEA or Princeton's ED programs do.

"Early decision students get the same award a regular student will get," Hall said, eliminating the concern that the binding nature of ED acceptances might put early applicants at a disadvantage in negotiating financial aid.

Hall noted that NYU's ED program is unusual in another respect as well. Early applications to most colleges and universities have three possible outcomes: admit, deny, or defer to the regular admissions pool. By contrast, NYU either admits or denies all ED applicants in the ED round.

Hall said that NYU saw no point to deferring decisions. "If a student isn't admissible in December, nothing is going to make that student admissible in February," she said.

Just under 29 per cent of NYU's Class of 2010 was admitted under the school's binding ED program. NYU's overall acceptance rate in 2005-2006 was 28.4 per cent, compared to roughly 37 per cent for the ED pool.

Source: "NYU Will Keep Its Early Decision Program," by David Idol, Washington Square News, September 25, 2006

Princeton Will End Early Admissions Next Year

2006-09-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

Princeton University has announced that it will end its early admissions program next year.

Applicants for Fall 2007 admission are the last cohort who will have the option of applying under Princeton's binding early decision program.

Princeton officials said that they began review of the University's early decision program some weeks ago, prior to Harvard's announcement that it was ending early admissions. Like Harvard, Princeton said that a desire for greater equality in admissions was the main reason for ending early admissions.

About one-half of Princeton's Class of 2010 was admitted through early decision. Princeton's acceptance rate for the 2005-2006 ED pool was 26.8 per cent, compared to 10.2 per cent for the regular pool.

Source: "Early Admissions Dropped," by Mike Shapiro and Chip McCorckle - the Daily Princetonian, September 19, 2006

Brown Goes Paperless - Almost

2006-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Starting this year, Brown University is no longer including a printed copy of its application form in the viewbook it sends to prospective applicants.

Admissions officers told the campus paper that the decision was made for reasons of effectiveness and economy. Only a quarter of 2006 applicants used paper applications, and most of them downloaded the form from Brown's website rather than using the printed copy included in the viewbook.

Brown Dean of Admission Jim Miller told the Brown Daily Herald that although his office printed 85,000 viewbooks for the 2005-2006 application season, only around 1,500 applicants used the printed form it included.

This year's viewbook will include a postcard that applicants can mail to Brown to request a printed application. Brown will use the money saved by omitting the application to help pay for a larger print run of viewbooks.

The BDH polled other Ivy League universities on their use of printed applications and found that at least two, Princeton and Dartmouth, will continue including a paper application in their viewbooks.

Source: "Admissions Office Scraps Paper Apps with Viewbooks," by Zachary McCune - the Brown Daily Herald, September 14, 2006

Harvard Says 'So Long' to Early Admissions

2006-09-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

One of the inherent advantages enjoyed by college applicants who apply under early admission programs is that the simple fact of applying early communicates a student's strong interest in attending the school in question.

Starting next year, applicants to Harvard will no longer be able to call on this option. Harvard has announced that, beginning with 2007-2008 application season, all applications will be accepted and reviewed under the regular January 1 deadline.

This move may force some of next year's applicants to make a clear (or clearer) choice between Harvard and other selective schools early in the application season.

All but one of the other Ivy League member schools look set to continue their early decision programs. It's well known that they admit a disproportionately large share of their students from EA applicant pools. So what happens if Harvard is your top choice school, but you're also sincerely interested in Princeton?

You think you might increase your chances at Princeton by applying early, but Princeton's ED program is binding. If you were accepted at Princeton you would have to give up your dream of Harvard.

The answer to this quandary is obvious: you should apply to both schools under the regular, non-binding admissions deadlines. However, that resolution may not be that easy to accept for someone who has their heart set on the Ivy League and who thinks they need every admissions advantage they can get.

Harvard's move will also mean that no one will know whether or not they've been accepted before the April 1 notification date. That may be longer than some people can bear to wait. Some applicants may opt to apply for early admissions to other schools rather than endure the anxiety of waiting until spring to learn their college admissions outcomes.

Ironically, the gesture of foregoing the chance of winning early admission to another selective school in order to keep in the running for Harvard -- and the implicit willingness to wait until spring for an admissions decision -- might provide the same expression of strong interest in Harvard that applying under its early action program would have if it were still in effect.

Hobart & Smith Enroll Largest Freshman Class in 20 Years

2006-09-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Unexpectedly high admissions yield at Hobart and William Smith Colleges has resulted in the paired schools welcoming their largest incoming class in almost two decades, resulting in a housing squeeze that has moved some upperclassmen off campus.

Hobart & Smith welcomed 594 first-year students to campus this fall, making for a freshman class almost 9 per cent larger than the 545 students being planned for.

School officials told the local newspaper that they realized over the summer that the Colleges would face a housing crunch this fall because of the high yield. The Colleges responded by renting an off-campus apartment building where about 40 seniors and juniors are now living. Normally, almost all Hobart & Smith students live on campus for all four years of their time at the Colleges.

Hobart & Smith officials noted that this year's spike in freshman admissions coincides with pre-existing plans to expand total enrollment. The College had already been planning to increase enrollment to about 2,000 students over the next two years, up from the previous level of 1,850. Dean of Admissions Don Emmons told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that the jump in first-year enrollment "actually comes at a good time for us." The colleges have the faculty and other resources needed to maintain educational quality for the larger freshman class, he noted.

Hobart & Smith's rising profile contributed to this year's jump in admissions yield, school official think. "I think I've got more kids in my [applicant] pool that have us as a first or second choice," Emmons said.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are coordinating liberal arts colleges located in Geneva, New York, an upstate city about an hour's drive from Rochester, Syracuse, and Ithaca. Each school (Hobart for men and William Smith for women) has its own dean and its own admissions office, but the schools jointly operate co-ed living and campus facilities and classes. Applications to Hobart & Smith have increased by a third over the past 8 years.

Source: "Colleges Make Way for Freshman Class," by Matthew Daneman. The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, September 12, 2006.

Housing Shortage Causes Brown Transfer Numbers to Plummet

2006-09-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

The number of transfer students enrolling at Brown University this acadmic year is sharply lower than the number enrolled in past years, the Brown Daily Herald reports.

A total of 195 students transfered to Brown in 2005 -- 145 in the fall and 50 in the spring.

This year, by contrast, only 42 transfers will come to Brown. 22 transfers enrolled this fall and another 20 are expected to enroll in the spring.

Brown Dean of Admission Jim Miller told the Herald that transfer admissions were reduced because of a shortage of on-campus housing. Last year, a number of transfer students and other undergraduates had to be assigned to converted lounges because other housing was not available. Transfer admissions were lowered this year to avoid a repeat of that situation.

In the past, Brown enjoyed a reputation as an exceptionally "transfer-friendly" university, based both on the number of transfers it accepted each year and on the support extended to transfer students.

Source: "Transfers: Going the Way of the Buffalo?" - editorial, the Brown Daily Herald, September 7, 2006

New SAT Makes It Harder To Be Perfect

2006-09-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

The essay requirement added to the revised SAT Reasoning Test has caused the number of students acing the test to plummet, the New York Times reports.

In 2005, over 1,000 students achieved a perfect 1600 SAT score, having scored 800 on both the math and verbal sections of the old SAT I.

This year, fewer than 250 students achieved a perfect 2400 on the revised version of the exam.

The essay seems to have made the difference between a perfect score and a near-miss in many close-but-not-quite-there cases. Just over 4,100 test-takers got a perfect 12 on the written essay -- and, evidently, only a small number of those students also scored 800s on the math and reading sections.

According to the NYT, a College Board analysis of high-scoring essays found that:

- Longer is better. Essays longer than one page were more likely to receive high scores than shorter essays were.

- Longhand is better. Essays written in longhand (cursive script) were more likely to receive high scores than printed essays were. (We suspect that this might be more a reflection of the 'longer is better' tendency than an independent factor, since it's easier to fill paper quickly when you're writing longhand than it is when you're printing.)

- Third-person is better. Essays written from the third-person perspective ('she,' 'he,' 'they,' 'one') were somewhat more likely to receive high scores than those written from the first-person perspective ('I' or 'we') were.

Source: "Perfect's New Profile, Warts and All," by Tamar Lewin. The New York Times, September 3, 2006

Know Your Rights as a College Applicant

2006-09-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

The National Association for College Admission Counseling has published a brochure outlining students' rights in the college admissions process.

These rights include:

- Freedom from high-pressure and/or misleading sales tactics on the part of admissions representatives
- Access to complete and accurate information about the cost of attending an institution
- Access to complete and accurate information about enrollment and withdrawal procedures, including refund procedures
- Information on the completion and graduation rates for enrolled students
- Information about 'transfer-out' rates (i.e., how many community college students successfully transfer to 4-year schools)

For more information, download the brochure from the NACAC website:
http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ForStudents

Fordham Admits Most Competitve Class Ever

2006-09-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Fordham University's Class of 2010 was selected from the most competitive applicant pool in the school's history, the campus paper reports.

Over 18,000 people applied for fall 2006 admission to Fordham, almost one-third more than the roughly 15,100 who applied the previous year.

The larger applicant pool caused Fordham's acceptance rate to drop to 46 per cent. Fordham's 2004 acceptance rate was approximately 55 per cent, and in the mid-nineties it was roughly 70 per cent.

Admissions officials said that this year's applicant pool was not only larger but also more accomplished. The average SAT score of this year's admits was 1205, compared to 1121 for the Class of 2000.

One Fordham program, the B.F.A. in Dance, accepted fewer than 15 per cent of its applicants this year. Although the program is less than ten years old, it has become one of the most competitive dance programs in the U.S., partly because of its affiliation with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. (Applicants must be accepted both by Fordham and by the Alvin Ailey audition panel.) Another reason for the dance program's status lies in its remarkable success in helping students find work in their field after graduation, with roughly two-thirds of graduates finding employment related to dance.

Source: "Class of 2010 Highly Selective, Highly Prepared for Success," by John DeSio - Inside Fordham online, August 24, 2006

Black Enterprise Names Top Colleges

2006-08-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Black Enterprise magazine has released its 2006 list of the 50 best U.S. colleges and universities for black students.

The top 10 schools on the list are:

1) Florida A&M University
2) Howard University
3) North Carolina A&T State University
4) Harvard University
5) Spelman College
6) Hampton University
7) Stanford University
8) Columbia University
9) The University of Pennsylvania
10) Wesleyan University

Black Enterprise compiled the list on the basis of survey data showing the rate of graduation for black students, the quality of the academic and social environment black students found on campus, and other factors.

For more information, see the September issue of Black Enterprise, available on newstands this week.

GMU Drops SAT Requirement for Certain Applicants

2006-08-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Beginning this year, George Mason University will no longer require SAT or ACT scores from high school students with a 3.5 or higher GPA.

Dean of Admissions Andrew Flagel told AP that the change was adopted on the basis of a three-year study of GMU students that found little connection between standardized test scores and academic performance.

GMU will ask applicants who choose not to submit SAT or ACT scores to submit two additional letters of recommendation.

One exception to the new admissions policy concerns applicants who want to play basketball or another intercollegiate sport at GMU. They still have to provide SAT or ACT scores regardless of their high school GPA because test scores are used to determine NCAA eligibility.

This policy change makes GMU the first public Virginia university to make standardized test scores optional for any applicants.

Source: "No SAT Test Required for Some Applicants at George Mason University." AP (McLean, VA), August 25, 2006, as posted to the CNN website.

Basic Stats for MIT's Class of 2010

2006-08-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

The following, preliminary figures for students entering MIT this fall were posted to an MIT website:

Applications received for fall 2006: 11,373
Acceptance rate – 13%
Yield – 67%

Male – 52%
Female – 48%
Underrepresented minorities – 16%
International students – 8%

Median SAT scores – Verbal, 740; Math, 780

Minnesota Students Get Top ACT Scores

2006-08-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row, Minnesota students turned in the best overall ACT performance in the nation.

The 67 per cent of Minnesota secondary school graduates who took the ACT had an average composite score of 22.3. The national average was 21.1.

Iowa and Wisconsin students ran a close second to their Minnesota peers. The average score for Wisconsin students was 22.2, and for Iowa students it was 22.1.

Several states reported even higher average ACT composite scores than Minnesota did. Connecticut students scored an average of 23.1, Massachusetts students scored an average of 23.0, and Washington students scored an average of 22.9. In those states, however, only a small minority of high school graduates took the ACT -- 12 per cent in Connecticut, 13 per cent in Massachusetts, and 15 per cent in Washington.

Illinois and Colorado are the two states where all high school graduates are required to take the ACT. Their students' average scores were 20.5 (in Illinois) and 20.3 (in Colorado).

Outside of Illinois and Colorado, the states where the highest percentage of students took the ACT were Tennessee (93 per cent), Mississippi (93 per cent), and North Dakota (80 per cent). The states with the lowest ACT registration were Delaware (5 per cent), Rhode Island (8 per cent), and New Jersey (8 per cent).

Sources:

"Minnesota Again Tops Nation on ACT Exams" - The Associated Press, August 16, 2006, as carried on the website of KARE-11 (Minneapolis - St. Paul)

"2006 Average ACT Scores By State" - table posted to ACT website

U of Iowa Enrolls Largest-Ever Freshman Class

2006-08-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

The University of Iowa will welcome between 4,250 and 4,300 first-year students to campus this fall, making for the largest freshman class in the school's history.

This year's freshman class outnumbers last year's by approximately 400 students.

University of Iowa officials say this year's admissions yield was higher partly because of the school's rising academic reputation and partly because of the University's efforts to reach out to students from neighboring states.

Other Iowa schools are seeing unusually large freshman classes this year, too. Iowa State University expects to enroll between 3,900 and 4,000 first-year students, which is 130 to 230 more than it usually has. The University of Northern Iowa expects a smaller but significant increase in its student body.

Source: "U of I Freshmen Feel Squeeze," by Lee Hermiston. The Des Moines Register, August 17, 2006

2007 USN&WR College Rankings

2006-08-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

And they'rrrre out!...

The 2007 US News & World Report collge rankings, that is.

According to America's Best Colleges 2007, the top 10 U.S. national universities are:

1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. California Institute of Technology, MIT, and Stanford (tied)
7. University of Pennsylvania
8. Duke
9. Dartmouth, Columbia, University of Chicago (tied)

The top 10 liberal arts colleges are:

1. Williams
2. Amherst
3. Swarthmore
4. Wellesley
5. Middlebury
6. Carleton
7. Bowdoin and Pomona (tie)
9. Haverford
10. Davidson College and Wesleyan University (tied)

Princeton edged out Harvard for first place in the national university rankings this year partly because of the no-loan financial aid policy it introduced five years ago. The new policy has contributed to a spike in applications that in turn increased Princeton's scores on selectivity and popularity. Harvard has since adopted a similarly generous financial aid policy.

The University of Chicago credits its six-place jump from 15th place on last year's USN&WR list to 9th place this year on past errors in the survey data it submitted. Chicago officials said the school had been selling itself short on the number of small classes and on educational spending. Once it got those figures right, the school's overall score placed it in the top ten.

Reed College again placed in the middle of the USN&WR list of the top 100 liberal arts colleges despite its refusal to return rankings surveys. Reed has pointedly declined to answer USN&WR surveys since 1995. The boycott has done no harm to the popularity of the USN&WR's annual college guides, but it's done no harm to Reed, either. The College has continued to gain prestige and to attract a growing number of high-achieving applicants, and is arguably doing better on both scores than a number of higher-ranked schools are.

Sources:

"US News & World Report Announces Annual Rankings of America's Best Colleges" - press release, USN&WR (Washington, DC), August 18, 2006

"U of C Jumps to 9th in College Rankings," by Jodi S. Cohen - the Chicago Tribune, August 18, 2006

"Princeton, Harvard, Yale Top US News College List" - Bloomberg, August 18, 2006

"Is There Life After Rankings?" by Colin Diver - the Atlantic Monthly, November 2005

Schools Use Interactive Websites to Draw in Admits

2006-08-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

A growing number of colleges and universities are using virtual meeting spaces to turn admits into committed members of the school community.

The University of Chicago has credited its online networking site for admitted students with helping to increase that school's undergraduate admissions yield. Admissions officers say that the message boards and other interactive features on the website seem to reduce admits' concerns about the quality of social life at Chicago. As admits make contact with peers and current students, they not only decide that Chicago's reputation as a coldly intellectual environment is unfair, but develop a feeling of already belonging to the Chicago community.

Colleges and universities that are introducing networking sites for admits and freshmen this year include The College of William & Mary, Seton Hall, and Wellesley College.

In the near future, communications scholar Steve Jones told USA Today, "virtually every college will have something like this...."This has become such a familiar mode of communication for teenagers; it's basically meeting them on their own turf. It makes it more comfortable to get information they might not otherwise get."

Source: "Colleges Connect Students Online," by Janet Kornblum. USA Today, August 15, 2006.

U of California Campuses Prepare for Bumper Crop of Freshmen

2006-08-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

A number of campuses in the University of California system are bracing for higher-than-expected freshman enrollment this fall.

Almost 750 more first-year students than expected accepted admissions offers to UC Davis this year. That amounts to a freshman class that is roughly 6 per cent larger than expected. To accommodate the increased number of students, UC Davis administrators are converting dorm rooms from doubles to triples, renovating common rooms into residence space, and expanding advising and health services.

Other UC campuses coping with population surges are UC San Diego, which has about 350 more freshmen than expected, and UC Irvine, which is about 400 students over its usual enrollment.

Enrollment is unexpectedly high at some private California schools as well. Santa Clara University received approximately 150 more confirmations from admitted applicants than it expected, making for its largest-ever freshman class.

California's experience reflects admissions trends across the U.S. Colleges and universities in New Hampshire, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island also received unusually high numbers of acceptances from admits this year. Some observers have noted that this trend is especially strong at state universities, and suggest that tuition costs may have reached a tipping point where a greater percentage of Americans will choose less expensive public schools over private colleges and universities.

Source: "State Campuses Struggle With Enrollment Surge," by Tanya Schevitz - the San Francisco Chronicle, August 14, 2006

Schools Still Making Limited Use of SAT Writing Scores

2006-08-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

The half-hour essay that was added to the SAT last year has probably caused more confusion and consternation among test-takers than any other part of the revised exam. We're still hearing questions like, "Which matters more -- what I write about or how I write it?," "How long does my essay need to be?," and "Do I have to quote 'great books' like The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter to get a high score?"

Not surprisingly, a lot of test-takers also ask an obvious follow-up question: "What do colleges and universities do with my SAT writing score, anyway?"

The answer is, in most cases, not much.

Colleges are reserving judgment on the validity of the SAT writing test as a predictor of academic success until they've had an opportunity to how several classes of incoming students have performed as undergrads. Until then, SAT writing scores will play a limited role in the assessment of applicants' academic qualifications. Many schools say they will not begin considering SAT writing scores in admissions decisions until 2008 or 2009.

That's not to say, however, that the writing score is always irrelevant to admissions decisions -- or that college-bound students shouldn't make an honest effort to perform well on the SAT essay and the multiple-choice writing section.

A high writing score can be one more thing that draws favorable attention to your file and sets it apart from the competition. Admissions officers at several schools have said that a high writing score can be the thing that tips the scales in favor of one applicant over another. This seems to be the case most often at selective schools where admissions officers have to make difficult choices between applicants with similarly strong profiles.

Writing scores have the potential to draw unfavorable attention to an applicant's file, too. An application that includes a brilliant essay but a miserable writing score may leave admissions officers wondering whether the same person who took the SAT wrote the essay. Suspicions that an applicant submitted someone else's writing as their own can be enough to move an application to the reject pile.

The bottom line is that you should do your best to master the basic writing skills that will earn you a good score on the essay and writing section of the SAT. Don't do this just for the sake of the SAT writing score. Do it because good writing skills will serve you well throughout your college years and beyond. The SAT writing test is an ordeal you'll have forgotten about within half a year. The ability to write well is a valuable asset that you'll be grateful for forever.

Northwest College Tour Schedules

2006-08-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

If you're headed to the Northwest to tour college campuses this month, you might want to take along the following notes about campus tour schedules. (Please note that tour schedules are subject to change -- it's a good idea to call each school to confirm tour availablity before making plans for a trip.)

Reed College - Campus tours are scheduled for 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. (That schedule may change during New Student Orientation, which takes place August 23 to 27. Call the Admissions Office at 1-800-547-4750 ahead of time to check.)

Seattle Pacific University - Campus tours begin at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. More detailed tours are given on Summer Visit Days, which are scheduled for August 11 and 18. (Tel: 1-800-366-3344)

Seattle University - Campus tours begin at 10 a.m, 12 noon, and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. (Tel: 206-296-6000)

The University of Oregon - Campus tours are held at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Admissions information sessions are held at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday through Friday, and at 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays. (Tel: (800) BE-A-DUCK)

The University of Washington - Campus tours begin at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Admissions staff also hold information sessions at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays. All campus offices will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on September 4; the Saturday tour for September 2 is also cancelled because of the holiday weekend. (Tel: 206-543-9686 )

Source for information on Seattle-area college tours: "Before Applying to College, Be Sure to Tour Campus," by Christine Frey - the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 1, 2006

If You Want to Take Your Horse to College...

2006-07-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Adrian College (a private, four-year liberal arts college located in southern Michigan) recently announced a partnership with a local boarding stable that makes it possible for students to bring their horses to school with them.

That news item got us wondering how many other U.S. colleges and universities offer a similar service. Here's a list of some of the schools our research turned up:

Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, New York) allows students enrolled in its riding program to board horses at the school's Riding Center.

Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Massachusetts) allows students to board horses at its Equestrian Center. Students are encouraged to apply for stable space early, as demand often exceeds supply.

Sweet Briar College (Sweet Briar, Virginia) allows students to board horses at its Riding Program facilities. Priority goes to upperclassmen enrolled in the Riding Program.

Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana) has stables where students who belong to the school's barn cooperative can board horses. There is often more demand for stable space that the school can meet, so students are encouraged to apply for space early.

Students at Stanford University (Stanford, California) can board horses at a special student rate at the University's historic Red Barn.

Baylor University (Waco, Texas) is currently building a new equestrian center which will have over 20 stalls. A women's equestrian team was recently added to Baylor's roster of intercollegiate sports.

A surprising number of schools that do not have their own on-campus stables list some kind of affiliation with a local commercial stable. These local stables often serve as the base of operations for a school-affiliated riding team or club. If you're interested in bringing your horse to college, or simply in riding while you're at college, contact the colleges and universities you're interested in to see what facilities are available.

Providence College Drops SAT/ACT Requirement

2006-07-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

Providence College has become the latest institution to adopt a 'test-optional' admissions policy that makes SAT and ACT scores an optional part of the undergraduate application.

Applicants who want to submit SAT or ACT scores may do so, but those who choose not to submit scores will receive equal consideration in the admissions process.

Providence College has followed a holistic admissions policy for years. School officials say that their experience shows that a student's high school curriculum and grades are a better predictor of college success than standardized test scores are.

The shift to a SAT- and ACT-optional admissions policy is part of Providence's efforts to remain accessible to economically disadvantaged students. College officials are concerned that lower-income students may be discouraged from applying to Providence if they think they need to take test prep courses or take the SAT or ACT multiple times in order to be competitive for admission.

For Providence's Class of 2010, the 25th to 75th percentile SAT scores were 1120 to 1290.

Providence College is a four-year liberal arts college located in Providence, Rhode Island, with a student enrollment of approximately 3,800. It was founded with the primary mission of providing a quality liberal arts education to first-generation immigrant and multicultural students. It is the only U.S. college or university run by the Dominican Friars.

Source: "Providence College Drops SAT/ACT Requirement as Second Initiative Designed to Close 'Student Accessibility Gap'" - press release, Providence College (Providence, RI), July 26, 2006

Florida Students Pack Summer Sessions

2006-07-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

The St. Petersburg Times reports that a growing number of Florida college students are using summer classes to catch up on degree requirements and to shorten the time they need to complete their programs.

Over 176,000 students are enrolled in summer classes this year at Florida's 11 state-supported universities. Three schools -- the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida -- have over 27,000 students on campus this summer.

Florida officials see summer sessions as a way of coping with the rapidly growing enrollment at Florida's universities. A state law already requires students to take at least nine credit hours during a summer session in order to receive a degree.

Source: "College in Summer," by Shannon Collevecchio - the St. Petersburg Times, July 24, 2006

Black Enrollment at UCLA Hits 30-Year Low

2006-07-25T00:22:00.000-07:00

Blacks will make up less than two per cent of the freshman class entering UCLA this fall, marking the lowest level of black enrollment at that institution in over thirty years.

Black enrollment at the University of California's flagship campuses has declined sharply since 1996, when California voters passed a referendum barring the use of race in admissions decisions. Backers of that law say that under-performing public schools that fail to prepare students for competitive college admissions are to blame for this trend.

Meanwhile, Yanina Montero, UCLA's vice chancellor for student affairs, calls the current state of black enrollment "a crisis." "We are not able, with these numbers, if they continue to decline, to have a critical mass of African-American students on campus to provide them with a positive experience, as well as maintaining the quality of the educational environment," she told National Public Radio in a report broadcast on July 24.

Source: "Black Student Enrollment at UCLA Plunges," by Elaine Korry - Morning Edition, NPR, July 24, 2006

Study Concludes SAT Test Procedures Basically "Reliable"

2006-07-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

BoozAllen Hamilton consultants have concluded that the SAT is a 'reliable' testing process but could be improved if certain safeguards were put in place. The recommended safeguards included providing number 2 lead pencils to test-takers and adding an 'anchor point' to test answer sheets to ensure correct alignment in OCR readers.

The College Board asked BoozAllen Hamilton to look at its test administration and scoring procedures in the wake of this spring's controversy over incorrect scoring of some of last October's SAT exams. The consultants were asked to look at overall exam procedures rather than at what happened specifically with the October test.

Critics say that the study failed to address their core concerns about the SAT's validity and fairness.

Source: "Report Finds SAT Scoring Now 'Reliable' Overall," by Mary Beth Marklein - USA Today, July 20, 2006

Women's Colleges Get High Marks for Educational Quality

2006-07-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Female students at women's colleges give their educational experience a higher rating than women studying at co-educational institutions do, according to a recent study by Indiana University's Center for Postsecondary Research.

Female students who took part in the study were more likely to describe educational experiences such as actively participating in classroom discussions, working with peer groups, and having discussions with faculty members outside of class as 'frequent' if they attended a women's college.

Researchers noted that women's colleges also seemed to provide female students with more and better faculty mentoring and more opportunities to play a leading role in student government and other organizations.

“There’s an ethos created [at women’s colleges] where women are taught, ‘this is what you are supposed to do,’ ” Jillian L. Kinzie, associate director of the Center for Postsecondary Research, said. “You are supposed to speak up in class, supposed to do well in math, supposed to take advantage of educational opportunities.”

Source: "Validation for Women's Colleges," by Elia Powers - Inside Higher Education, July 14, 2006

Study: CC Transfers Take Longer to Finish BAs

2006-07-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

A study by a Vanderbilt University professor has found that only 14 per cent of college students who begin their studies at a community college actually finish their programs and receive a bachelor's degree within six years.

One reason for this low completion rate is the difficulty students experience in transferring community college credits to four-year institutions.

Vanderbilt assistant professor William Doyle found that only about one-half of the students he surveyed were able to transfer all of the credits they earned at a community college to a four-year college or university. The degree completion rate among these students was good, with 82 per cent going on to receive their degrees within six years.

Students who were not able to transfer all of their community college credits had a markedly worse completion rate. Only 42 per cent finished their degree programs within six years, whereas 36 per cent were still taking classes at that point.

It's disturbing to see these research findings come out at a time when a growing number of students are opting to start their degree programs at community colleges. As we've noted ourselves, there are good reasons to go this route. Attending a community college can help students reduce their educational costs, and in some cases a freshman might receive better academic training at a community college than he or she would get at a large university.

We suspect that the transfer agreements presently being worked out between many state universities and community colleges will reduce the problems students encounter in trying to transfer credits. It will be interesting to see what the degree completion rates for transfer students in these state systems look like several years from now. We expect they will be much higher than they are today.

That said, there are at least two other key factors that determine a transfer student's success or failure in finishing a degree: personal motivation and planning. The students in Dr. Doyle's study who were able transfer all of their credits probably didn't achieve that outcome by accident. They probably thought ahead about what courses and credits they needed for their degrees and selected appropriate classes at their community colleges. We would encourage anyone planning to transfer from a community college to a four-year institution to do the same.

The lesson that college applicants should draw from Dr. Doyle's study isn't that it's a bad idea to begin your studies at a community college. For some people, it's a wise choice. However, students who follow this course must be prepared to be more proactive in managing their progress toward their degree. They may not have as much advising support as their peers at four-year colleges do, and they probably have a far narrower choice of appropriate classes. These are not insurmountable problems. Smart students will do what research they can ahead of time to map out what they need to do to position themselves for a successful transfer.

Source: "Few Transfers Get Bachelor's," by Kathy Lynn Gray - the Columbus Dispatch, July 13, 2006

Small Colleges Use Football Programs to Draw Male Applicants

2006-07-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

A growing number of small colleges across the U.S. have discovered a relatively easy, even fun way to attract more male applicants: football.

The New York Times reports that nearly 50 colleges have either created or resurected football programs over the past decade. JoAnne Boyle, president of New Jersey's Seton Hill University, explained how the move had paid off for her school. "I could have started a spiffy new major of study, spent a lot of money on lab equipment and hired a few new high-powered professors," Dr. Boyle told the Times. "I might have gotten 25 more students for that....Instead, I started a football team, brought in hundreds of paying students, added a vibrant piece to our campus life and broadened our recognition factor."

As has been widely reported over the past year, the applicant pools and student bodies at many small colleges are increasingly dominated by women. This worries college administrators both because they see gender balance as a campus diversity issue and because applications from all students tend to drop off if a school is perceived as overwhelmingly female.

Shenandoah University, a four-year institution of about 3,000 students located near Winchester, Virginia, saw its undergraduate enrollment go from 35 per cent male to 41 per cent male after it added a football program. University President James A. Davis told the Times that "I said no to football for 15 years, but I was wrong. Football is the best draw of qualified male applicants that there is anywhere."

Football appears to attract more working-class and minority applicants to colleges, too. Mike Kemp, the football coach at Utica College in upstate New York, told the Times that the football program that Utica began in 2001 had proven a valuable means of reaching out to high school seniors from blue-collar backgrounds who might not otherwise have thought seriously about attending college.

"I come across high school football players from blue-collar backgrounds, and as seniors in high school, they're not sure what they're going to do," Kemp told the Times' reporter. "They're considering a college here or there. But if you give them a chance to keep playing football, then they get motivated to come....We kind of trick them into seeing that getting an education is the real benefit."

Does this mean that the University of Chicago, the U.S. school most famous for not fielding a football team, might change its ways? Probably not. Unlike the schools described in the Times story, Chicago has no problem attracting enough male applicants to maintain a roughly even balance of male and female students.

For many smaller and lower-profile U.S. colleges and universities, however, a football program might be just the ticket to maintaining the number and quality of students that a college needs to provide a lively educational experience.

Source: "Small Colleges, Short of Men, Embrace Football," by Bill Pennington - the New York Times, July 10, 2006

Chicago's Uncommon App Goes Online July 18

2006-07-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

The University of Chicago plans to have the 2006-2007 version of its The Uncommon Application up and running starting Sunday, July 18.

To access The Uncommon Application, go to: https://uncommonapplication-y.uchicago.edu/

To get an idea of Chicago's admissions process, see last's year's Uncommon Application Blog: http://uncommonapplication.blogspot.com/

2007 Common App Now Online

2006-07-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

The 2006-2007 Common Application is now online. Applicants can use it to submit printed or online applications to 299 different U.S. colleges and universities.

The Common App has created five new forms to support specific application needs. These include a Common Early Decision Agreement, an Arts Supplement, an Athletic Supplement, and an International Supplement to the Secondary School Report.

Another change to this year's Common App is the addition of a question about disciplinary history to the application form.

23 colleges and universities joined the Common Application this year. They include:

The California Institute of Technology
Catholic University
Creighton University
Drexel University
Geneseo College (SUNY's honors college)
The University of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
The University of Pennsylvania
Seton Hall University

Many other outstanding educational institutions, including 6 of the 8 Ivy League schools, accept the Common Application. (Brown and Columbia are the two Ivies that do not.)

Many of these schools require their own, supplemental application form in addition to the Common App. Make sure that you understand what the schools you are targeting expect, and that you complete and submit all of the necessary application forms, essays, recommendation letters, and school reports.

For more information, go to the Common Application website: www.commonapp.org.

Julliard Adds Bachelor's Degree Program for Guitar

2006-07-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

The Julliard School has created a new Bachelor of Music Degree Program for Guitar, with classes beginning this fall.

The program is headed by renowned classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, who created Julliard's gradate programs in guitar in 1989. Isbin will also give private lessons to students and teach master classes in guitar performance.

Applications for the bachelor's program in guitar must be submitted by December 1, 2006. Class size will be limited. For more information about the program and application requirements, including the audition repertoire, see "The Julliard School to Begin Its First Undergraduate Bachelor of Music Degree Program in Guitar" - press release, The Julliard School (New York, NY), June 22, 2006
(http://www.juilliard.edu/update/press/current_releases.html).

CommonApp Essay Questions for 2006-2007

2006-06-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Applicants who want to get an early start on applications to schools that accept the Common Application can go ahead and start working on their essays now. The 2007 Common Application will not be available until early July, but the Common App confirms that it will use the same essay prompts this year that it used last year.

The essay prompts are:

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
Topic of your choice.

For more information, see the "Common Questions" page on the Common Application website (www.commonapp.org).

High Yield Forces SIU Campus to Cap Fall '06 Enrollment

2006-06-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

We've posted a number of items lately about universities experiencing higher-than-expected applicant yield this year. Here's an unusual twist on that story:

Southern Illinois University's Edwardsville campus has enrolled so many more freshmen than it expected to this fall that school officials decided to cap fall enrollment. Admits who did not inform the school of their intent to enroll by the cut-off date are being told that there is no more room at the University this fall.

So far, about 50 students have been affected by the cap. They may be able to begin classes at SIUE in the spring.

SIUE received 6,041 applications in 2005-2006. It extended admissions offers to 4,369, expecting enough admits to enroll to fill a normal freshman class. Instead, it saw a 5 per cent increase in yield and the prospect of the school running out of class and dorm space. University officials decided to cap fall enrollment at 1,850.

We've noticed that many of the schools reporting exceptionally large increases in yield this year are large public universities. This may reflect increasing concern among applicants and parents about college costs.

Source: "For Colleges, Enrollment is Something of a Gamble," by Kavita Kumar - the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 18, 2006

Employers Woo Top College Grads

2006-06-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

2006 college graduates are headed for the best job market that newly-minted degree holders have seen in years.

The current issue of Forbes reports on the array of tempting first job choices being offered to this year's graduates -- and on what options are proving popular.

Wall Street firms like JPMorgan Chase, Golman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley are offering as much as $60,000 in salary plus bonuses to secure the services of elite college graduates as analysts and traders. A career services officer at Duke said that hedge funds were also hiring grads and interns to fill their ranks.

Google and Microsoft are actively recruiting college graduates to work on software development and product management. Google has been the top employer of Stanford grads for the past few years. Microsoft, according to one of its recruiters, targets top schools when looking for talent -- which is definitely the case now: the company is looking to hire about 1,000 grads per year.

A University of Pennsylvania career services officer noted, however, that Teach for America is one of the top first job choices among graduates there. She said that the program's reputation as a place where 'top people' come to serve was a major draw among students.

Similarly, the director of Stanford's Career Development Center told Forbes that some students were passing up on corporate and government positions in favor of internships at the World Bank. The interns' low pay is offset by their exceptional opportunities to network, he said, adding that the internships are especially attractive for students who have their sights set on graduate school.

Internships are increasingly useful as a means of entry to corporate employment as well. Goldman Sachs extends employment offers to over 70% of its interns, and IBM hires about half of the 60 undergrads accepted into its highly selective Extreme Blue internships each year.

Source: "Best First Jobs for College Graduates," by Tom Van Riper - Forbes, June 13, 2006

Purdue Prepares for Biggest Freshman Class Ever

2006-06-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Purdue University is getting its campus ready for the largest incoming freshman class in the school's history.

Approximately 7,715 first-year students are expected to enroll this fall. Dean of Admissions Doug Christiansen told the campus paper that the Class of 2010 "will be one of the largest, best prepared, and most diverse classes we have had in Purdue's history."

Purdue was able to increase the size of this year's freshman class because more upperclassmen are graduating early.

Purdue received over 25,000 applications for fall 2006 admission. Christiansen said that Purdue's rising profile and its graduates' success in the job market were major reasons for applicants' growing interest in the University.

Source: "Campus Preps for Large Class," by Joey Marburger - the Exponent, June 2006

4 of 10 UCLA '06 Applicants Had 4.0 GPA

2006-06-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

Approximately 21,000 of 47,258 students who applied to the University of California at Los Angeles for freshman admission in fall 2006 had a 4.0 or higher grade point average, the campus newspaper reports.

Fall 2006 application volume hit a record high for UCLA, which receives more applications than almost any other university in the country. Application volume has been increasing for years, leading UCLA's acceptance rate to drop from about 33 per cent in 1998 to about 25 per cent today. Undergraduate admissions director Vu Tran told the Daily Bruin that selectivity may have to increase further if the applicant pool continues to grow.

Faculty are seeing the impact of more competitive admissions in their classes. An English professor said that she used to routinely give some first-year students Fs on their papers, but that she seldom has to do that anymore because students are better-prepared for college-level work.

Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, dean of the UCLA graduate division, said that greater competition among UCLA undergrads had led to a difference in the motives for cheating. "The students caught [recently] weren't D students just trying to pass a class; they were B students trying to get an A," she said.

Source: "High GPAs No Longer the Key to Success," by Alexa Vaughn - the Daily Bruin, June 12, 2006

"Summer Shoppers" Keep Grinnell Admissions Officers Guessing

2006-06-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Des Moines Register reports that freshman enrollment is higher at Iowa's colleges and universities this year than it was a year ago, but that admissions officers are unsure of what those figures really mean. It appears that an unknown number of admits sent deposits to multiple institutions, implying that 'real' enrollment figures will not be known until later this summer.

An Iowa State University admissions officer told the Register that campus visits and registrations for summer orientation were up this May. He didn't take that as evidence that everyone who visited campus or registered for orientation was committed to attending ISU, however. He believes that some students are using the orientation session as part of their school 'summer shopping' process.

Jim Sumner, dean of admission and financial aid at Grinnell College, said it was clear that some of Grinnell's incoming freshmen had accepted admissions offers from other institutions as well.

Students gave the Register various reasons for sending deposits to more than one school. Some said they wanted to get a better feel for the communities that schools are located in before making a final choice. Others were hoping to use multiple acceptances as a way to leverage more financial aid from schools.

College and university officials expressed frustration at their inability to nail down a firm fall enrollment figure. Uncertain enrollment figures leave schools guessing how many residential hall places and class seats they will need for the fall.

In the end, however, it's students who suffer if enough admits use double depositing to leave their options open. "The more students are undecided, the harder it is for any university or college to make sure we have appropriate classes and courses," Iowa State University Director of Admissions Marc Harding told the Register. Other admissions officers have pointed out that double-depositing is unfair to waitlisted students who might have been offered class seats held by students who were juggling multiple admission offers.

Source: Shopping Around for Schools," by Lisa Rossi - the Des Moines Register, June 8, 2006.

For more on double depositing, look for out May 16 post in last month's archive.

Hobart and William Smith Make SAT Optional for Applicants

2006-06-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hobart and William Smith Colleges announced yesterday that they were adopting a SAT-optional application policy, becoming the most recent of several prominent liberal arts colleges that have done so.

Applicants may submit standardized test scores as part of a Hobard or William Smith application if they choose to, but the Colleges will no longer require scores. Admissions committees will instead base decisions on high school transcripts and other records that demonstrate an applicant's abilities and growth over a period of months and years.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are separate but coordinating colleges in Geneva, New York. Each school (Hobart for men and William Smith for women) has its own dean and its own admissions office, but the schools jointly operate co-ed living and campus facilities and classes. Students and alumni express enthusiasm for the schools' small class sizes, interdisciplinary curriculum, beautiful lakeside campus, and family atmosphere.

Applications to Hobart and William Smith have increased by 35 per cent over the past eight years. In the past three years, Hobart and William Smith has graduated students who went on to receive Fulbright Scholarships, a Goldwater Award, a Rhodes Fellowship, and a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Source: "Colleges Adopt SAT Optional Policy" - press release, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Geneva, NY), June 6, 2006

NACAC Database of Schools w/Spaces Available

2006-06-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has posted a publicly accessible database to its website of colleges and universities that are still accepting applications for fall 2006 admissions.

The database lists schools by state and indicates whether they have freshman and/or transfer spaces open. It also indicates whether campus housing and financial aid might be available.

To access the database, go to the NACAC website (www.nacacnet.org) and click on the link for "2006 Space Availability Results."

Creighton Students Get Decisions by Text Message

2006-06-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Creighton University appears to be the first U.S. institution of higher education to use text messaging to inform applicants of admissions decisions.

Director of Admissions Mary Chase told a student reporter that Creighton added a question to this year's application form asking students whether they would like a text message sent to them if they were accepted. A number of applicants welcomed that option.

Chase said that she and her staff decided to try text notifications after noticing how Creighton students used text messages to communicate with one another on campus.

Only positive admissions decisions were communicated to students by text. Formal notification of all admissions decisions was made by letter and email.

Chase was pleased with the outcome of this year's experiment, noting that many applicants appreciated receiving expedited information about their acceptance. She thinks it best to continue the program on an opt-in basis only, however, since some services charge users a fee to receive text messages.

Source: "College Tries Texting Letters of Admission," by Lexie Clinton - the Daily Cardinal, June 1, 2006

MIT Wins Alex Doonesbury

2006-05-31T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's official: Alex Doonesbury is heading for MIT this fall.

As noted earlier in this blog, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau invited Slate.com readers to vote on-line to determine which of three schools the 17-year-old aspiring engineer would attend.

The final results are in, and they are (after some controversy over how to deal with script-driven schemes to stuff the ballot box):

MIT - 48%
Rensselaer Technical Institute - 32%
Cornell - 19%

Cornell students insist their school would have fared better in the poll if they had not been too preoccupied with finals to come up with their own vote-rigging script.

Stanford Seeks Higher Yield

2006-05-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

The number of admitted students who have committed to enroll at Stanford University this fall rose to 69 per cent this year, up from 67 per cent last year. The 69 per cent yield is one of the highest in the University's history.

The yield rates at other selective colleges and universities range from approximately 80 per cent at Harvard to 73 per cent at Yale and 69 per cent at Princeton.

Stanford Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Richard Shaw told a Faculty Senate meeting in April that the two reasons admits cited most often for choosing another school instead of Stanford were tuition costs and geographic location.

Stanford recently introduced a new financial aid policy that is meant to make the University a more attractive choice for students from middle-income families. Families earning under $45,000 per year are no longer expected to contribute to a child's educational costs at Stanford, and families earning $45,000 to $60,000 are asked to contribute a reduced amount.

Stanford also hopes to increase its yield by expanding its Likely Admit Program. This initiative, which was introduced this year, reaches out to exceptional applicants prior to the regular decision mailing date. Selected students receive a letter in January and regular follow-up calls from Stanford faculty. In 2006, Stanford used the Likely Admit program to communicate with 121 applicants it considered likely to be admitted to any school they applied to. Shaw told the Faculty Senate that final yield figures for this group of applicants were not yet available, but that the program appeared to have been effective.

Source: "Admit Yield Increases by 2 Per Cent," by Shirin Sharif - the Stanford Daily, May 30, 2006

U of Delaware Ends Early Admissions

2006-05-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

The University of Delaware is ending its early decision admissions option, Inside Higher Education reports.

Director of Admissions Louis L. Hirsh said in a statement to admissions officials that the University had decided that its binding early admissions option was detrimental to students who need financial aid. Binding ED programs force applicants to accept or decline admissions offers before they can compare financial aid packages from other schools.

The University of North Carolina ended its early admissions program several years ago after concluding that the program undercut UNC's goal of increasing student diversity. Several other selective schools, most notably Harvard and Yale, have gone to non-binding early action programs that allow applicants to submit regular applications to other schools and then compare admissions offers.

The University of Delaware received over 21,800 applications for fall 2006. 86 per cent of Delaware residents and 43 per cent of out-of-state applicants were accepted. 3,241 students accepted their admissions offers.

Source: "Quick Takes," Inside Higher Ed, May 30, 2006

U of Wisconsin Admissions to Put More Weight on Essays

2006-05-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

The University of Wisconsin is adopting a new admissions policy that will give more weight to applicants' essays and less to measures such as class rank, GPAs, and test scores. The system-wide change will mean that Wisconsin students are no longer guaranteed seats at a UW campus.

Admissions officials said that the new policy is meant to do a better job of identifying applicants who will succeed as college students. They also hope it will promote diversity among UW students.

Admissions officers say that their priority is to identify well-rounded applicants who are likely to perform well as college students. Although academic preparation will continue to be the most important factor in admissions decisions, it will not be the only one. Admissions officers will also scrutinize applicants' essays for information about non-academic admissions factors such as life experience, interests, community involvement, and demographic background.

Under the previous UW admissions policy, Wisconsin high school graduates who were in the top 40 per cent of their class or who scored 21 or better on the ACT were guaranteed admission to the UW system.

Wisconsin is the latest state to move from guaranteed admissions to a holistic admissions policy. State universities in Oregon, Michigan, California, and Kentucky have also moved to more holistic admissions in recent years.

Source: "UW System to Alter Admissions Criteria," by Ryan J. Foley - The Wisconsin State Journal, May 25, 2006

Duke's Class of 2010 Takes Shape

2006-05-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Duke University's Class of 2010 will be one of the school's most selective ever, despite a small drop in admissions yield.

Duke received almost 19,400 applications in 2005-2006, exceeding last year's record-setting application volume by about 7 per cent. Duke's acceptance rate dropped to 21 per cent, the lowest ever for that school.

Approximately 40 to 41 per cent of 2006 admits have sent deposits to Duke, marking a slight drop from previous yield rates. Officials believe the decline arises from the ongoing controversy surrounding rape charges filed against members of the school's lacrosse team. Despite the change from last year, they note, this year's yield rate still falls within the 40 to 44 per cent range that is typical for Duke.

Duke officials are pleased with the quality and diversity of this fall's incoming class. 40 per cent of this year's admits describe themselves as students of color, compared to 37 per cent in 2005. International enrollment is expected to rise to about 7 per cent. Enrollment is almost equally divided between women and men.

Duke's admissions office expects to admit about 125 students off the waitlist to fill seats left vacant by this spring's lower-than-expected yield.

Source: "Duke Has Most Selective Admissions Year on Record" - press release, Duke University (Durham, NC), May 25, 2006

Technorati tags: Duke University

UNH Warns Senior Slumpers They May Lose Class Places

2006-05-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

The University of New Hampshire is warning 2006 admits not to let their grades slip during their last semester of high school. Anyone giving in to the temptations of 'senioritis' may find their admissions offer withdrawn.

Like many schools, UNH has a policy that says it will rescind admissions offers made to students who cannot explain declining academic performance in their senior year. The Univesity will now enforce that policy more strictly than it has in the past.

Director of Admissions Robert McGann says that the change in policy has nothing to do with UNH's unexpectedly high enrollment for fall 2006. He doubts that the University will rescind more than a few dozen admissions offers, a number that will not offset the approximately 300 'extra' freshmen who accepted places at UNH this year.

The reason for stricter enforcement, McGann said, is to maintain academic standards. The University has found that students who let grades slip prior to matriculation at UNH perform poorly in their first semester of college classes.

UNH was sending a message to admits that "senior year matters," McGann added. "It's important for students not to think they can stop working just because they've gotten into college."

The University of New Hampshire had expected to enroll a freshman class of approximately 2,700 students this fall. Instead, over 3,280 admits sent deposits for seats in the Class of 2010. The University hopes to prevent an on-campus housing crunch by encouraging enough students to live off-campus.

Sources:

"Message to High School Seniors: Don't Goof Off," by Melanie Asmar - the Concord Monitor, May 22, 2006

"Too Many Freshmen Say Yes to UNH," by Melanie Asmar - the Portsmouth Herald, May 22, 2006

2 More Schools Go SAT-Optional

2006-05-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

Virginia's George Mason University and Minnesota's Gustavus Adolphus College have both decided to make SAT scores an optional part of their admissions process.

GMU will no longer require students with strong high school academic records to include SAT scores with their applications. To qualify for this exemption, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and rank in the top 20 per cent of their class.

Gustavus Adolphus College is making SAT scores optional for all applicants, having concluded that standardized test scores had not proven a reliable predictor of post-secondary school academic performance. The school will rate applicants solely on the basis of college preparatory coursework, leadership, and extracurricular activities.

According to Fairtest.org, a nonprofit organization that reports on standardized testing, over 730 schools follow SAT-optional admissions policies. That list includes highly regarded colleges such as Hamilton and Bates. As we noted in an April 7 posting to this blog, however, college applicants should be careful to look at the details of admissions and class placement if they apply to schools with SAT-optional policies.

Cornell Woos Doonesbury's Alex

2006-05-23T10:41:00.001-07:00

Alex, the college-bound daughter of the title character of Gary Trudeau's long-running satirical comic strip "Doonesbury," might be on her way to Cornell University this fall -- or she might not.

The Ithaca Journal reports that, whatever the outcome of Alex's college dilemma, Cornell appreciates the free publicity.

Claudia Wheatley, an officer in Cornell's marketing and publications office, immediately sent a Cornell information packet to Trudeau after reading an episode of "Doonesbury" in which Alex expressed interest in studying engineering at that school.

Cornell's hopes rose last month, when Trudeau published a "Doonebury" installment in which Alex received a Cornell acceptance offer and announced her intention to enroll.

“It was probably the highlight of my year," Wheatley told the Journal.

The story is not over yet, however. Alex, who is known for changing her mind, remains undecided about which school to attend. Trudeau asked readers of Slate.com to vote in an on-line poll to determine which school Alex should go to.

As of this week, Cornell had been beaten out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Cornell students and alumni protested the results, with one writer suggesting that someone had rigged the on-line poll submissions to favor the other schools.

For a Cornell undergraduate, however, the real loser in the poll outcome was the comic strip, which would miss out on the satirical opportunities presented by Cornell's unique culture. Alex, the undergrad asserted, would have fit right in "at one of the most underrated, closetly bizarre universities in the country."

Source: "'Toon In: Will Alex Doonesbury Choose to Attend Cornell?" by Kerrie Frisinger - The Ithaca Journal, May 23, 2006

Technorati tags: Cornell University

Reed Puts Priority on Need-Based Financial Aid

2006-05-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Reed College has decided to continue its policy of offering financial aid exclusively on the basis of need rather than of merit, Dean of Admission Paul Marthers told Oregon Public Radio.

"Reed has decided that its limited financial aid funds will go to students based on their needing financial aid," Marthers said. "So Reed is a need-based only college -- there's no merit-based financial aid."

Reed's decision runs counter to a growing trend by colleges and universities to use merit-based aid offers to attract talented middle class students. Admissions directors say that the growing cost of college tuition makes merit-based aid an increasingly important element in middle class applicants' school choices.

Marthers noted that Reed's prestige and selectivity give it more leeway than other schools have in deciding whether to move to merit-based aid. Reed, which accepted fewer than 40% of applicants this year, is such an appealling college that many of the students it accepts are willing to pay its $34,000 annual tuition. This frees Reed to focus its financial aid resources on grants for lower-income students. By contrast, less competitive schools need to make an effort to attract a talented and well-rounded student body, and merit-based aid offers are an effective way of increasing enrollment.

Marthers suspects that, over time, these financial aid dynamics may lead to marked differences in the student bodies at different schools. "The outgrowth may be that Reed will have a lot of high-income students and a lot of low-income students, and maybe fewer students in the middle," he said. "But what's happening at these schools offering these merit scholarships is they're not appealing enough to these high income students... and they can't afford enough aid to bring in the really low-income students, so they're attracting a lot of students in the middle."

Source: "Colleges Offering More 'Merit-Based' Financial Aid," by Rob Manning - Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, OR), May 22, 2006

Technorati tags: Reed College, financial aid

Cougars on Campus at Stanford?

2006-05-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Stanford University students have been advised to stay aware of their surroundings and to avoid walking alone on campus in the wake of reports that at least one mountain lion was seen on Campus Drive the weekend of May 20.

The Stanford Department of Public Safety says that two sightings were reported early Saturday morning. It was not sure whether the callers had seen the same animal.

Sightings of wild animals on the Stanford campus are not unusual, police said. Most wild animals are seen in remote areas of the campus, however, rather than on Campus Drive. Two-thirds of Stanford's campus consists of open space in the foothills of the Santa Clara mountains.

Source: "Department of Public Safety Reports Two Mountain Lion Sightings," by Mandy Kovach - the Stanford Daily, May 22, 2006

Technorati tags: Stanford University, Stanford

NY State Senator Wants Oversight of SAT Testing

2006-05-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

The chairman of the New York State Senate's committee on higher education wants to create a state board that would oversee SAT and other standardized testing, the New York Times reports. The board would be funded by a $1 state tax on standardized tests administered in New York.

The proposed legislation creating the committee would also require testing companies to respond more promptly to requests from students for copies of test questions and answers, and to provide the material for free.

State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle says the need for official oversight of the standardized testing industry was demonstrated by the approximately 5,000 erroneous SAT scores that the College Board released earlier this year. He expects the full Senate to approve the bill before the current legislative session ends in June.

Because New York is such a large market for standardized testing, a new state law on standardized testing could have repercussions for test-takers nation-wide. A 1979 New York state law that required testing companies to provide copies of certain test questions and answers and copies of students' own test responses, for a fee, was adopted by the industry nationwide because it was easier to change standards everywhere than to establish a special set of procedures for New York.

Source: "Senator Proposes Creating Board to Oversee College Admissions Tests," by Karen W. Arenson - the New York Times, May 20, 2006

U. of Chicago Yield Higher Than Expected

2006-05-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

Approximately 38 per cent of students offered fall 2006 admission to the University of Chicago have accepted their offers -- leaving the University with about 9 per cent more first-year students than it had planned for.

Dean of College Admissions Ted O'Neill told the campus newspaper that he expects about 75 admits to defer enrollment or withdraw before the fall. Still, he is planning on an incoming class of 1,250 students, 40 more than the 1,210 he and his staff had in mind when they made admissions decisions.

Admissions staff had expected to get enough positive responses from admits to leave spaces for about 30 waitlisted applicants. O'Neill said the admissions committee would have made fewer acceptances if it had known this year's yield would be so high.

O'Neill sees the increased yield as both part of a national trend and as a Chicago-specific phenomenon. “Our image has probably changed from a place that’s more austere to a place where a more balanced social life can be had,” he told the Chicago Maroon. "There are signs that people are happier here."

O'Neill also noted that this was the first year that Chicago posted a website for admitted applicants. The website makes it easier to confirm acceptances and pay deposits, and its message board creates a community of prospective students. “The students themselves persuaded each other that Chicago really was a good place to go to school,” he said.

Source: "Admissions Picks Selective '10 Class," by Andrew Alexander - the Chicago Maroon, May 19, 2006

Stanford Students Compete for Sophomore College Seats

2006-05-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Several hundred happy freshmen have won seats in Stanford's competitive Sophomore College program this fall.

Sophomore College gives students entering their second year at Stanford a chance to study a topic in depth in a small class led by a ranking professor. The classes last three weeks and take place in mid-September, just before the start of the fall term. Class enrollment ranges from 12 to 14 students.

The Sophomore College offerings that drew the most applicants this year were "American Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century," which will be taught by Institute for International Studies Director Coit Blacker, and "Natural History, Marine Biology, and Research," which is held at the Hopkins Marine Station and taught by Professor Stuart Thompson. Other classes are being offered in Political Science, History, Film Studies, Religion, Economics, Music, and Chemical Engineering.

Director of Freshman and Sophomore Programs Sharon Palmer told the Stanford Daily that Sophomore College puts students together with professors who are both excellent teachers and leading scholars. The program's aim is to create mentoring relationships between students and professors and to expose students to Stanford's research resources at a key point in their studies.

Source: "Sophomore College Admits Next Batch," by Rahul Kanakia. The Stanford Daily, May 17, 2006.

Technorati tags: Stanford University, Stanford

Selective Colleges Taking Few Applicants Off Waitlists This Year

2006-05-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

2006 is turning out to be a tough year to be on the waitlist at a selective college or university. A number of schools are getting enough positive responses from accepted students to fill their freshman classes, meaning that fewer admissions offers are being made to waitlisted students than in past years.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the University of Chicago will take about 7 students off the waitlist this year, compared to 34 last year. Harvard will probably admit 5 to 10 waitlisted applicants, compared to 28 in 2005. Georgetown expects to take about 10 applicants off its waitlist, whereas last year it took 70. The University of Pennsylvania expects to extend admission offers to only 10 to 15 of the roughly 1,400 students it offered waitlist status to. Princeton and Ohio State do not expect to use their waitlists at all.

Higher-than-expected yields are the reason for this year's waitlist situation. Admissions officers have been surprised by the number of applicants who are accepting their admission offers. Many people had expected that, with the larger number of schools that an average high school student applies to today, yields would either remain stable or decline. Instead, yield actually increased at a number of institutions.

As we've noted before in this blog, there is a link between the admissions yield and class size one year and the admissions environment the following year. The University of Pennsylvania's exceptionally low acceptance rate this year stems in part from its admissions experience last year. More students than expected accepted 2005 admissions offers from U Penn, resulting in an on-campus housing crunch. There was a similar situation at the University of North Carolina, which wound up enrolling about 70 more students than it normally does in fall 2005. This year, UNC took a more conservative approach, issuing fewer acceptance letters and making more waitlist decisions, to avoid a repeat of that situation. It expects to admit about 100 applicants from its waitlist.

This year's high yields suggest that next year's acceptance rates will remain low, and that next year's waitlisted applicants will again face slim chances of getting admissions offers. Smart applicants will research their school options carefully and submit well-thought-out, focused applications that get them accepted at one of their target schools the first time around.

Source: "Colleges Admit Few Students off the Wait List," by Ann Marie Chaker. The Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2006.

Double-Depositing Annoys Schools - And Cheats Applicants

2006-05-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

May 1 was a big day for college applicants and admissions officers alike. As the deadline that most schools set for admitted students to accept or decline their admissions offers, it marked the end of the 2005-2006 admissions season and the day on which the Class of 2010 took definite shape.

But, if whispers and hearsay can be believed, the composition of all of those classes may not be as definite as it seems. There is talk again this year of some students saying ‘yes’ to more than one school, in a practice known as ‘double-depositing.’

A student who double deposits sends tuition deposits to two institutions with the intention of later withdrawing from one of the schools. They accept the loss of one of the deposits as the price of keeping their options open.

This strange practice seems to have become more common in recent years. We call it ‘strange’ because it’s difficult to see what benefit the student gains from it beyond putting off a college decision for few more weeks. The deposits that people forfeit seem a steep price for the luxury of prolonged indecision.

It’s also potentially hazardous. Schools hate double deposits. The practice puts them in the position of withholding an admissions offer from a sincere applicant in order to accommodate a deceitful one. Colleges and universities sometimes share matriculation lists and will rescind admissions offers to anyone caught double-depositing. A move that is meant to give an applicant two birds in the hand may wind up leaving them with no choices at all.

Some applicants have a hard time understanding why double-depositing is such a big deal. They paid the deposit with their own money, right? If they’re willing to lose that money, what’s the harm?

The problem with double deposits has less to do with money than it does with honest relationships. When you accept an admissions offer to a college or university, you become part of that school’s community. You’re expected to be honest about matters that affect the institution. Leaving a school with an empty seat to fill in mid-August, a few weeks before classes begin, is inconsiderate and harmful. Schools don’t want students who, by double-depositing, indicate a willingness to pull that stunt. They will gladly withdraw an admissions offer made to a student caught double-depositing and extend it to someone who genuinely wants to be at the school instead.

(We should clarify here that double-depositing is not the same thing as accepting one school’s admission offer while remaining on the waitlist at another institution. That’s a completely accepted practice. The school you would withdraw from if you are admitted from the waitlist would be sorry to see you go, but it wouldn’t feel you had deceived it about your intentions.)

Arguably, the people hurt most by double-depositing are the applicants who do it. By putting off an inevitable decision, they cheat themselves of weeks of valuable time they could use to prepare for their move to college. Moreover, they’re putting off part of the maturing process. Going to college means becoming an adult, and being an adult means making choices and accepting that the ones you make may sometimes be less than perfect. Committing to one of two school choices is a useful warm-up for other choices you’ll have to make in life. That’s what smart applicants do, rather than clinging to the false security of double deposits.

Application Volume Grew Again in 2005

2006-05-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

More applications than ever were submitted to US colleges and universities during the 2005-2006 application season, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling's annual report on college admissions.

73 per cent of colleges and universities reported receiving more applications than they had the previous year, continuing a trend that began in the late 1990s. This growth is driven by both a larger applicant pool and by an increase in the number of students who apply to multiple institutions.

Another admissions trend noted in the NACAC report is continuing growth in the number of college applications submitted online. 53 per cent of college applications were submitted online in 2005, compared to 47 per cent in 2004 and 35 per cent in 2003.

Source: "State of College Admission," National Association for College Admission Counseling, May 2006 (wwww.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ProfessionalResources/
Research/SOCA.htm)

Princeton Pushes for Intellectual Diversity

2006-05-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, Princeton initiated an effort to encourage undergraduates to sign up for under-subscribed majors in the humanities and sciences.

Faculty and administrators were concerned that a number of departments and programs were attracting only a small number of students. In 2004, for example, the University graduated only 13 chemistry majors. Educators worried that Princeton risked becoming an overly homogenous intellectual community if most students continued to enroll in a handful of popular majors.

In 2004, the University issued a booklet called "Major Choices" to undergrads. The booklet contained profiles of students who had majored in under-subscribed programs.

At the same time, the University allocated more resources to departments where it wanted to see major enrollment increase. These departments also took steps to make their work and course offerings more visible and attractive to prospective majors.

Princeton's initiative has paid off in significant increases in enrollment in the targeted history and science programs. The number of students majoring in comparative literature, Slavic languages, and classics has increased by 60 per cent over three years. The number of philosophy majors has grown by 40 per cent, and that of French, Italian, art and archeology, and religion majors by over 30 per cent. Chemistry and chemical engineering enrollment is also up by more than 30 per cent, while astrophysics, music, and psychology majors have increased by over 20 per cent.

Overall, the number of humanities majors grew by 15 per cent, and that of science majors by 11 per cent.

The University notes that a number of small departments, including East Asian studies and geosciences, have still not attracted more majors. It hopes that situation will change as the Major Choices initiative continues.

Technorati tags: Princeton University, Princeton

Undergrads Play Key Role in Brown's Research Orientation, Provost Says

2006-05-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Brown University has selected David Ketzer, professor of anthropology and chair of the Department of Anthropology, as the school's next provost. He is expected to return to teaching after serving a five-year term in this administrative post.

Ketzer is replacing Robert Zimmer, who is leaving Brown to become president of the University of Chicago.

Ketzer expressed excitement about his new duties. "We have great momentum behind us. If you look at how much has been accomplished in the last few years, it is really striking," he told a reporter for the campus paper.

Ketzer said that the creation of new programs and the hiring of additional senior and junior faculty had increased the "vibrancy" of Brown's academic environment.

In discussing the University's future, Ketzer noted that Brown's undergraduate college plays an unusually prominent role in research. Most research universities, he said, have a large number of graduate and professional schools that compete with the undergrad college for research opportunities and funding. That is not the case at Brown, meaning that undergrads have more opportunity to get involved in research projects. Maintaining a strong undergraduate program is therefore especially important to Brown's performance and reputation.

Source: "U. Names Ketzer as New Provost," by Eric Beck. The Brown Daily Herald, May 8, 2006.

Technorati tags: Brown University, Brown

Georgetown Accepts 22% of Applicants for Class of 2010

2006-05-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Georgetown University campus paper reports that the University sent admission offers to 3,343 applicants for seats in the Class of 2010.

Over 15,000 people submitted applications to Georgetown this year. Georgetown's overall acceptance rate for the 2005-2006 application season is 22 per cent, about the same as last year's.

Assistant director and systems manager of admissions Melissa Costanzi told The Hoya that she expects approximately half of accepted students to enroll at the University. She doubts that many of the 1,000 students placed on Georgetown's waitlist will receive admissions offers.

Source: "Few Likely to Be Taken Off Waitlist," by Sarah Mellott - The Hoya, April 21, 2006

Bowdoin Selects Class of 2010

2006-05-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Bowdoin College sent acceptance letters to 1,172 applicants for seats in the Class of 2010. The College plans for a freshman class this fall of about 480 students.

5,401 students applied for fall 2006 admission to Bowdoin, making for a 21.7 per cent acceptance rate this year. Last year, 5,026 students applied and 1,220 were accepted.

Assistant Dean of Admissions Toby Brewster told The Bowdoin Orient that, as in past years, many of the admits who took part in Bowdoin's open houses or in the Bowdoin Experience had already accepted their admission offers. "We tend to yield very well on students who choose to attend these events," he said.

Source: "Class of 2010 Nears Target," by Emma Powers. The Bowdoin Orient, May 5, 2006.

Technorati tags: Bowdoin, college admissions

Dartmouth Dean Leaves to Head Swarthmore

2006-05-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

James Larimore, dean of Dartmouth College, has announced that he will leave that institution this August to accept the deanship at Swarthmore College.

Larimore said his reasons for moving to Swarthmore include a desire to "dean more and administer less." He expects that Swarthmore's smaller size will allow him "to be visible and active in the campus community" and to have a greater impact on the school.

Larimore also cited Dartmouth's academic calendar as a reason for his decision to leave. Swarthmore follows a traditional academic calendar with fall and spring semesters and summers off. Dartmouth, by contrast, follows the Dartmouth Plan, a unique academic calendar that uses four 10-week terms distributed throughout the year. The Dartmouth Plan was adopted in part to make it easier for students to arrange off-campus study and internships. Over half of Dartmouth undergrads take part in at least one of the College's many off-campus study programs. Larimore thinks that Swarthmore's traditional academic calendar will make it easier to start and maintain an ongoing dialogue on college issues with students.

Larimore's accomplishments as Dean of Dartmouth College include improving the relationship between administrators and students and increasing the diversity of the College community. Larimore was a key figure in Darthmouth's decision to hire Josie Harper as athletics director, making it the first Ivy League school to name a woman to that post.

Source: "Larimore Resigns, Plans to Leave for Swarthmore," by Rebekah Rombom, The Dartmouth, 4 May 2006

Technorati tags: Dartmouth, Ivy League, Swarthmore

Admissions Officers Puzzled by Drop in SAT Scores

2006-05-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

Inside Higher Education reports that college admissions officals across the country are puzzled by an overall drop in average SAT scores this year.

The College Board, which administers the SAT, says that there is only a 4 to 5 point difference between median scores for this year and last year. It assures educators and the public that this year's test scores can be validly compared to scores from past years.

However, a number of colleges and universities are reporting larger differences, with some the median scores for some applicant pools being 10 to 20 points lower than for the previous year.

Admissions officers are especially puzzled by this decline because GPAs for the same groups of students have either held steady or increased.

“I’m seeing scores that are just amazing to me," Bob Voss, the dean of admissions at Philadelphia's La Salle University, is quoted as saying, referring to this year's inconsistencies between SAT scores and other indicators of applicants' ability. He noted that La Salle uses SAT scores to identify incoming students who should take enrichment programs, and worries that the University may have directed some students to take enrichment programs where it was not necessary.

The College Board, in a memo to college admissions officers, said that it thinks the decline may be due to high school students taking the SAT fewer times on average. It noted that students who re-take the test usually increase their overall scores by an average of 30 points; if fewer students are re-taking the test, average test scores would decline.

Source: "New SAT Mystery," by Scott Jaschik - Inside Higher Education, May 3, 2006

Also see "2006 SAT® Cohort Averages" - press release from the College Board (www.collegeboard.com/prof/2006_sat_cohort_avg.html)

Swim Test Stands Between MIT Students & Their Degrees

2006-05-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

MIT's 2006 acceptance rate of 13 per cent makes it one of the hardest undergraduate schools to get into in the country. Its swimming skills requirement may make it, for some students, even more difficult to graduate from.

MIT has required undergrads to pass a swim test since the late 1940s as part of the University's General Institute Requirements. Students can fulfill the requirement either by passing a 100-yard swimming test or by taking a swimming class.

The swim test is offered as part of Orientation for incoming students. About 700 students have reported for the test in recent years. The event is “a fun time for froshes to kick off and challenge themselves,” Carrie Moore, Director of Physical Education, told the MIT Tech.

MIT holds a women-only and men-only sessions of the swim test every other year. It will also schedule private test sessions for students who request them. (Presumably, the University's non-discriminatory policies would mean it is willing to alter or drop the swimming requirement for students who are physically unable to swim.)

The Tech reports that failure to fulfill the swimming requirement can and has forced seniors to postpone graduation. This year, with about five weeks to go before Commencement Day, there are over two dozen seniors who still need to pass the swim test.

Other colleges and universities where students have to demonstrate swimming skills to graduate include Bryn Mawr, Cornell, Columbia, Swarthmore, Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, and Notre Dame.

NCAA Challenges High School 'Diploma Mills'

2006-05-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

College coaches are coming under enhanced scrutiny from the NCAA on two issues these days: using inappropriate recruiting methods, and signing on high school student athletes from diploma mills.

Both issues have been under the NCAA's scope for some time. The NCAA recently placed the Fresno State men’s basketball team on four years’ suspension for major and persistent violations of NCAA recruiting rules. The NCCA also subjected former Fresno coach Roy Lopes to a two-year “show cause penalty,” meaning that he cannot accept a coaching position at another NCAA school without clearance by the NCAA infractions committee.

While some high school athletes have been prey to over-zealous recruiting, others have been involved in exploiting the NCAA's academic requirements by enrolling in correspondence "academies" for struggling students. Inside Higher Education reported on April 28 that the NCAA was looking into reports that a high-school correspondence program based in Florida is somehow helping students who barely passed minimal requirements in traditional high schools to “magically” improve their academic performance after only a few weeks.

The NCAA has responded to this situation by giving the NCAA Clearinghouse greater authority to examine the high school records of prospective athletes and the track records of schools and other secondary education programs. The NCAA said that it may even go so far as to hire lawyers and private investigators to look into suspect programs, and would be willing to cooperate with state officials to close fraudulent schools down.

Source: "NCAA Homes In on High Schools." Inside Higher Education, April 28, 2006.

A Novel Question: Can Plagiarism Be Unintentional?

2006-05-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

We almost – almost – posted something last week about Harvard undergrad Kaavya Viswanathan's send-up of Ivy League college admissions in her now-withdrawn novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. The reviews made it sound like a funny, timely, and even mildly thought-provoking read.

But it's probably just as well that we didn't get around to it. If we had, we would have felt obliged to spend most of this week posting endless updates about ongoing developments stemming from accusations that Viswanathan plagiarized parts of her text from another author. (To see the Harvard Crimson article that broke the story, and examples of the plagiarized text, go to www.thecrimson.com.)

One of the things that caught our eye about this story is Viswanathan's claim that the plagiarism was unintentional. She acknowledges that she read the two novels she appears to have copied passages from several times while she was in high school, but says she did not have the books with her at Harvard when she wrote her manuscript, and did not copy from them. The similarities between Opal Mehta and Megan F. McCafferty's Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings "were completely unintentional and unconscious," Viswanathan said.

Is such a thing possible? Can you plagiarize something without even being aware of it?

Well – maybe. Helen Keller, the blind and deaf girl whose educational breakthroughs are portrayed in the play The Miracle Worker and who, in real life, grew up to be an accomplished writer and speaker, apparently did something like that when she was about twelve years old.

In 1892, Keller sent a copy of a story she had written to a family friend. He had it published in a small magazine. A reader spotted strong similarities between Keller's story and a children's story that Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan, had evidently once 'read' to Keller through finger spelling. The scandal that followed left Keller traumatized and hyper-sensitive about plagiarism for the rest of her life.

So it is not inconceivable that someone might internalize a story so thoroughly that they eventually forget where the familiar words and images came from, and wind up presenting the material later on as their own work.

Can unintentional plagiarism creep into an admissions essay the same way it can creep into fiction?

It can, and does. In fact, admissions officers see a particular version of unintentional plagiarism all the time, in the form of application essays that are clearly based on the many 'model' essays published in books and on websites.

These essays undermine the admissions chances of the applicants who submit them. Ironically, it's not because admissions committees take it upon themselves to punish plagiarizers. Rather, it's because these essays themselves are so ordinary and dull. Any admissions officer who picks one up will have read a thousand other essays just like it, and will be hard pressed to tell the author apart from all the other applicants who used the same model. The real problem with a 'modeled' essay is that it wastes the applicant's best chance to connect with an admissions committee by conveying their own, unique thinking and character.

Here are 3 tips to minimize your chances of committing unintentional plagiarism in your application essays:

- Read a lot, and read widely. The more varied your reading is, the less likely you are to internalize someone else's voice and ideas and mistake them for your own.

- Write. Get in the habit of expressing yourself in words on paper (or screen). The more you write, the more you develop a feel for your own voice. That makes it easier to recognize when the words coming out of your head don't belong to you.

- Don't over-use model essays. If you want to skim through a few essays to get an idea of the kinds of things other applicants have written about, that's fine. But don't read a model essay more than once or twice, and don't read it too closely. Above all, don't settle for writing something 'as good as' a model essay. Set out to write something better. Many of the essays presented as models are really quite mediocre – which is another reason by 'modeled' essays hurt their authors' admission chances.

-- All Star Essays

BusinessWeek Names Top Undergrad Business Programs

2006-05-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

BusinessWeek has published its first annual ranking of undergraduate business programs at U.S. colleges and universities. Schools were ranked on the basis of student satisfaction, academic and teaching quality, teaching faclities, average SAT scores of incoming students, job placement services, and the school's reputation among corporate recruiters.

The schools named to the top 10 slots are:

1. The University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. The University of Virginia (McIntire)
3. Notre Dame University (Mendoza)
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Sloan)
5. Emory University (Goizueta)
6. University of Michigan (Ross)
7. New York University (NYU) (Stern)
8. Brigham Young University (Marriott)
9. University of Texas, Austin (McCombs)
10. Indiana University (Kelley)

Tufts Adopts Stricter Reporting Policy to Combat Plagiarism

2006-05-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Tufts faculty have approved a policy change that now requires professors to report any allegation of student plagiarism or other academic dishonesty to the Dean of Students, the Tufts Daily reports.

The new policy goes into effect at the start of the 2006-2007 academic year.

Previous Tufts policy had given professors more leeway in deciding how to handle cases of suspected dishonesty, encouraging but not requiring them to report violations of academic integrity to University officials. Faculty criticized that policy as creating an environment in which enforcement varied from teacher to teacher and department to department, making it difficult to track repeat offenders or enforce standards.

An English professor welcomed the new policy in an email to the Daily, writing that "a uniform policy serves everyone's interests better. Students know what to expect if they cheat and so may be less likely to violate the policy on academic honesty; faculty aren't put in the position of trying to 'protect' students from the consequences of their actions; and the Dean's office has a better opportunity to come to terms with the problem of academic dishonesty."

In a further move to combat plagiarism, Tufts will start using Turnitin.com software campus-wide this fall. The plagiarism detection software was used in a successful test run in the University's biology department in 2005-2006.

Turnitin.com allows instructors to compare students' writing against a database of millions of student papers and Internet-based content and receive a "originality report" indicating the likelihood that a student lifted part or all of a paper from those sources. The reports are intended to "start a conversation" between teacher and student about suspected plagiarism rather than to serve as evidence of plagiarism, Dean Reitman said.

But Tufts biology professors who had used Turnitin.com noted that they could often sense plagiarism without the help of the program. Professor Michelle Gaudette explained that, "When I grade papers, I look for patterns in writing style and syntax." Suspicions of plagiarism arise when a student submits a paper marked by inconsistent writing quality and style, or one that is written in a style markedly different from the student's other work.

Source: "Tufts Takes Next Steps Toward Academic Integrity," by James Bologna and Chris Brown - the Tufts Daily, May 1, 2006

Technorati tags: Tufts University, Tufts, plagiarism, academic integrity

Program Gives MIT Undergrads a Year at Cambridge

2006-04-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

The MIT Tech reports that 38 third-year MIT students have accepted places in this year's Cambridge-MIT Undergraduate Exchange (CME) program so far.

The program, which was founded in 2000, allows approximately 40 students from each university to spend a year at the other institution while paying normal tuition to their home universities. It is the only such exchange that Cambridge University has with a U.S. institution.

CME coordinator Dr. Gareth H. McKinley told the Tech that the program gives third-year students an excellent opportunity to broaden their academic and social horizons. "MIT teaches you to solve problems of all kinds and Cambridge teaches you which problems are worth solving," he said. “The combination of both viewpoints provides a fantastic and uniquely international viewpoint of world-leading engineering education.”

The Tech noted that the CME program has always drawn more applications from Cambridge than from MIT. Over 100 Cambridge students applied to the program this year, compared to roughly 50 from MIT. Reasons given for MIT students' lower level of interest in the CME include student concerns that study abroad may either interfere with plans to complete a second degree or conflict with participation in the MIT-based Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

Source: "CME More Popular in Cambridge," by Yinuo Qian - the MIT Tech, April 26, 2006

Technorati tags: MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge University

U of Penn Adds MidEast Studies Major

2006-04-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

The University of Pennsylvania will add Modern Middle Eastern Studies to the degree options open to undergraduates beginning in fall 2007.

The program will allow undergrads to pursue a minor or a major in Middle Eastern studies. The interdisciplinary program will include classes in Middle Eastern languages, history, economics, political science, sociology, and archaeology.

The Modern Middle Eastern Studies program was developed partly in response to student concerns that the University's Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations major restricted classes to the humanities. Students complained that they had to declare a second degree major or minor in order to pursue social science classes relevant to the Middle East.

The new program will be run through the University's Middle East Center, which coordinates research and academic programs.

Source: "Modern Middle East Major OK'd for 2007," by Tali Yahalom - the Daily Pennsylvanian, April 26, 2007

Technorati tags: University of Pennsylvania, U Penn, Middle Eastern studies, Mideast studies

U of Vermont Admissions Get Tougher

2006-04-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

Like many other colleges and universities across the US this year, the University of Vermont saw an increase in both the number and quality of applications submitted to it. As a result, a number of Vermont high school seniors whose GPAs and SAT scores would have all but guaranteed them admission in past years are being waitlisted or declined this year.

The University received almost 18,000 applications this year, almost 36 per cent more than last year. 2,163. Out-of-state applications rose sharply, driven by the University's rising national profile as 'a public Ivy.'

About 64 per cent of UVM students are from out-of-state. The higher tuitions paid by out-of-state students are an important source of funding for the improvements that have helped raise UVM's profile and standing, including the establishment of an Honors College and the expansion of athletics programs.

The growing number of applicants has forced UVM to become more selective in its admissions. The change has been especially dramatic in in-state admissions, which dropped from 81 per cent last year to 65 per cent this year.

UVM Provost John Bramley told the Burlington Free Press that lower acceptance rates were in the best interests of students and of the state. "We're not going to serve Vermont best by admitting everybody; it won't work," Bramley said. "We have to be selective. It's our role. We really are providing an excellent education, and that is reverberating in Vermont because that's why we're seeing our applications go up."

Source: "UVM Increases Selectivity in Admissions Process," by Jill Fahy - the Burlington Free Press, April 21, 2006

Catholic U Hiding Campus Crime Report from Prospective Applicants?

2006-04-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Copies of a student newspaper bearing a front-page story on local crime disappeared from racks in front of Catholic University's admissions office the same day that hundreds of prospective admits toured campus, the Associated Press reports.

The Tower's report on a string of robberies and carjackings near and on the CU campus appeared in its Friday edition.

Editor in Chief Kate McGovern told AP that one of her editors learned during the day that a stack of 100 newspapers placed in a rack near the admissions office had disappeared. When editors asked University staff what had happened, they were told that readers must have taken them. When McGovern went to the admissions office to follow up, she was given about 20 copies of the paper and told that the remaining copies would be returned to the stack on Monday.

McGovern told AP, "We knew that people weren't going to be exactly excited about the fact that our lead story was going to be about the crime on campus."

A Catholic University spokesman denied that the school was trying to hide information about crime from prospective students. He told the Washington Post that even if the papers had been removed from the rack by the admissions office, there were many other campus locations where visiting students could get a copy.

Source: "College Editor Fights for Newspaper," by Ashton Williams - AP, April 24, 2006

Yale's Top 100 'Feeder' Schools

2006-04-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

Approximately one quarter of the students who attended Yale over the past five years graduated from one of the 100 high schools identified as today's 'feeder' schools for the University, a report by the Yale Daily News says.

14 secondary schools have each sent at least 5 students on to Yale every year for the past five years, so that their graduates represented about 8 per cent of Yale's student body during that period.

The list of feeder schools includes private prep schools like Andover and Exeter, which have a long history of sending their graduates to the Ivy League.

However, some of the secondary schools placing the highest number of graduates at Yale in recent years have been public magnet schools, such as the Stuyvesant High School of New York City and the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology of Fairfax, Virginia.

In fact, one-third of the top 100 feeder schools are open-enrollment public schools that do not restrict enrollment the way that magnet schools do. The YDN noted, however, that these schools tend to be located in affluent suburbs of major cities. As with other feeder schools, they offer an excellent secondary education and provide extensive college counseling and other support to their students.

Yale has made a concerted effort in recent years to diversify its applicant pool. It has eliminated or reduced parental support requirements for middle-income families and created a Student Ambassadors program to recruit applicants from under-represented regions and communities.

Nonetheless, many of current Yale students who were the first graduates of their high schools to attend the University "found" Yale on their own, the YDN says. A successful applicant from a small town in West Virginia who was encouraged to consider Yale by a family friend noted that "my school didn't really know what to expect from [the admissions process] or how to go about applying or sending information" to Yale. She researched the school and its admissions requirements on her own, to the point of driving to a location several hours away to undergo an admissions interview.

A Yale alumnus who helped create the Student Ambassadors program said that he hoped it would attract more applicants like the West Virginia woman to Yale. The program sent representatives to 249 schools across the U.S. this year.

Source: "Among Admits, a Search for Singular Elis," by Jacob Leibenluft - the Yale Daily News, April 24, 2006. The article is the first in a 2-part series on Yale recruiting and admissions.
Source:

Stanford Dean Explains Selection Process

2006-04-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Stanford University Dean of Admissions Rick Shaw spoke at a recent Faculty Senate meeting about how his office recruits and selects undergraduates in an increasingly competitive admissions environment.

Stanford's acceptance rate fell below 11 per cent this year, with 2,430 applicants out of a record-high pool of 22,322 being offered admission. Shaw fielded questions about admission decisions were made in such a competitive environment.

Shaw explained that the admissions office had adapted a new system under which each applicant's file is reviewed by several readers. “In the past, decisions were very individualized, with one person reading and passing competitive applications up the line all the way to the dean," he said, according to a report in the Stanford Daily. Under the revised system, 'territory managers' identify competitive applicants from the regions they cover and forward those files to other readers, who rate each applicant's strengths in several various areas. A committee then discusses the applicant pool and makes its recommendations for admission.

Shaw characterized the revised system as “a democracy...There is great opportunity for discussion of relevant qualifications, for checks and balances and for having more eyes on the process.”

The criteria that readers rate applicants on include high school academic performance, standardized test scores, non-academic achievements, and recommendations. Students are also judged on the basis of their self-presentation and evidence of having overcome or managed academic or personal difficulties.

Shaw said that readers also look for applicants with strong intellectual vitality. “We want applicants with passion, depth and breadth beyond the academic experience, who learn and engage in the subject material with maturity,” he told the meeting.

Source: "Faculty Flesh Out 2010 Admissions," by Leslie Georgatos - the Stanford Daily, April 21, 2006

Technorati tags: Stanford University, Stanford, college admissions

Wesleyan Selects Class of 2010

2006-04-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Wesleyan University is extending admissions offers to 1,950 applicants for seats in the Class of 2010, the Wesleyan Argus reports.

The University expects about 720 admits to accept their offers and matriculate this fall. Because this year's admit pool is larger than in past years, the University does not expect to offer admissions to many waitlisted applicants.

Wesleyan's 2006 applicant pool was about 5 per cent larger than the previous year's. Over 7,240 applications were received overall.

Early decision volume grew by 11 per cent, with 670 early applicants in 2005-2006, compared to about 600 in 2004-2005. The number of students accepted through Early Decision this year was about the same as last year, making for a lower ED acceptance rate.

Senior Associate Dean of Admission Gregory Pyke told the Wesleyan Argus that the University looks for applicants with "a high level of academic ability, looking for a real curiosity and a broad-based interest in learning…students who are going to study across the curriculum....We're looking for the diversity of background and experience that makes this the community it is."

Prospective students also cited Wesleyan's diversity as one of the factors that attracted them to the University. "I like the way that it's a small community and the way that people here get along and support each others' education, the accessibility to the professors and teachers, and getting the help that you need," a California admit said.

A New York admit said she liked "how [the campus] is really diverse. At most other colleges, it's 'cliqued' by ethnic groups, but here everyone just sits together."

Source: "Class of '10 Takes Shape," by Hilary Moss - the Wesleyan Argus, April 21, 2006

Technorati tags: Wesleyan University, Wesleyan, college admissions

Dartmouth Students Learn from In-House Editors

2006-04-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

The founder and financial backer of Dartmouth's unusual Departmental Editing Program announced this week that he will continue funding the program for another year.

The program provides students taking math, art history, and religion classes with the services of three in-house editors who work closely with students on developing their writing skills. Joseph Asch, a Hanover-area businessman who graduated from Dartmouth in 1979, designed and launched the DEP in 1997 after hearing complaints from professors about weak undergraduate writing skills. Faculty and students have praised the DEP for its department-centered services, which they feel are superior to the more general writing support available through Dartmouth's Research, Writing, and Information Technology Center.

Asch, who has contributed $500,000 to the program since its inception, had planned to end the program at the close of the 2005-2006 academic year. He hopes that Dartmouth officials will see the value of the program and adopt it throughout the College.

A growing number of employers are citing poor writing and communication skills as one of their top complaints about new hires. We've written about this topic before, in "MBAs Can't Write, Employers Say."

Source: "Editing Program Extended for One Year," by Marina Agakapis - The Dartmouth, April 20, 2006

Technorati tags: Dartmouth, Ivy League

UNC, Duke, Other NC Schools Post Record Low Admit Rates

2006-04-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill has turned away more potential students this year than ever before, the Charlotte Observer reports.

UNC's 2006 applicant pool was both unprecedentedly large and highly qualified. As a result, even students with 4.0 GPAs and high standardized test scores faced stiff competition for seats in the Class of 2010.

Applicants "are giving us more reasons to say yes, but the number of [class] spaces has not increased," Stephen Farmer, director of undergraduate admissions at UNC, told the Observer.

UNC's 2006 acceptance rate was 33 per cent, compared to 36 per cent last year. Five years ago it was 40 per cent.

The situation was similar at Duke University, which posted a record low admit rate of 19 per cent for 2006. Its 2005 rate was 22 per cent. Historically, Duke usually accepted about 30 per cent of applicants.

Source: "College Rejections Climbing," by Fred Kelly - the Charlotte Observer, April 16, 2006.

Technorati tags: University of North Carolina, UNC, Duke University, Duke, college admissions