Teaching College Kids To Pilot Their Own Helicopter

The issue of how deeply involved parents of college students should be in their child’s campus life is a hot topic in higher education these days. As the fall term was beginning, media accounts highlighted efforts at some schools intended to push parents to drop their children off on campus and depart quickly and quietly. Now a recent survey of college admissions officers indicates that so-called helicopter parenting is on the rise.

As a college president and a parent, I find that approach—encouraging parents to do a drive-by, drop-off—an unrealistic approach to coping with moms and dads who seem to hover over their college student.

While too much parental involvement can be a problem, colleges and universities must acknowledge that parents have a crucial role to play in helping their child succeed.

Parents spend years preparing their child for college, and working to find ways to pay for their education. Those are major accomplishments. And taking your son or daughter to college for the first time is often emotionally wrenching. Parents deserve more than cursory thanks and a nod toward the door.

Instead, colleges need to communicate clearly how a healthy relationship between parents, students and the institution should work. We also need to explain that making that relationship work will enhance their child’s chances for success at college and in life.

Balance is the key. Parents should support their child, but not serve as their gofer or administrative assistant. They can do this by urging their son or daughter to learn how to navigate the college bureaucracy and campus life on their own. This is a vital part of the educational process. It includes allowing the student to handle issues relating to classes, housing, dining, roommates, and extracurricular activities such as athletics, clubs, and student organizations.

A good body of research indicates that college students have a better chance of succeeding academically and socially when they themselves discover and initiate contact with the campus offices and departments that offer services and resources for students.

We also know that the problem-solving skills students develop during the formative years at college are an important part of their education. Parents should encourage students to take responsibility for their own financial planning, for managing their time, and for setting limits on their personal behavior.

They can also explain to their child that college is more competitive than high school. Coping with the more intense atmosphere can be a major transition for new students who often have little experience with not getting their way. On campus, the student may encounter setbacks, such as not getting into a course because is it is full or not getting playing time on a sports team.

Learning to deal with this stepped-up level of competition is healthy for students. That may mean making sure to sign up for a class as soon as possible or meeting with the professor to see if an exception can be made. Or it could mean talking to the coach about what needs to be done to earn playing time.

It is essential that parents advise their son or daughter to make use of the student support resources most colleges and universities provide. Most colleges have advisers and administrators dedicated to helping students acclimate to college life and overcome setbacks or obstacles. There are many sources of advice and counsel that parents can suggest their child contact. These include the dean of students, professors, religious leaders, older students, including residence hall staffers, as well as campus offices that provide academic services such as tutoring, coaching on time management and study strategies.

Some students will need more assistance than others. Parents can help provide support for students with special needs by encouraging their son or daughter to go talk to the coordinator of disability services or the staff at the multicultural resource center or counseling service. Helping students learn how to communicate about issues they are facing and how to seek out assistance when necessary is a job that parents, as well as college faculty and staff should share.

Leaving home and starting college has always been an emotional experience for students and their parents. Helicopter parenting may be on the rise, but it is not new.

Through the years, some parents have stuck around campus trying to help their child adjust. But one of the most important things parents can do to help their college student make a successful adjustment is to strike a balance between direct intervention and letting their son or daughter learn to pilot their own helicopter.
By Marvin Krislov, Oberlin College President

A Sample Of This Year's Essay Questions & More

- Could not resist sharing these thought provoking essay prompts just released by the University of Chicago for this season's prospective students - included are also some classic questions from previous years. Actually, it's a read for anyone.

Essay Option 1
Find x.
Inspired by Benjamin Nuzzo, an admitted student from Eton College, UK

Essay Option 2
Dog and Cat. Coffee and Tea. Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Everyone knows there are two types of people in the world. What are they?
Inspired by an alumna of the Class of 2006

Essay Option 3
Salt, governments, beliefs, and celebrity couples are a few examples of things that can be dissolved. You’ve just been granted the power to dissolve anything: physical, metaphorical, abstract, concrete… you name it. What do you dissolve, and what solvent do you use?
Inspired by Greg Gabrellas, A.B. 2009

Essay Option 4
“Honesty is the best policy, but honesty won’t get your friend free birthday cake at the diner.” - Overheard in the city of Chicago.
Does society require constant honesty? Why is it (or why is it not) problematic to shift the truth in one’s favor, even if the lie is seemingly harmless to others? If we can be “conveniently honest,” what other virtues might we take more lightly?
Inspired by Eleanor Easton, a second-year in the College

Essay Option 5
In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose a question of your own. If your prompt is original and thoughtful then you should have little trouble writing a great essay. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk and have fun.

Some Classic Questions From Previous Years

- Chicago author Nelson Algren said, “A writer does well if in his whole life he can tell the story of one street.” Chicagoans, but not just Chicagoans, have always found something instructive, and pleasing, and profound in the stories of their block, of Main Street, of Highway 61, of a farm lane, of the Celestial Highway. Tell us the story of a street, path, road—real or imagined or metaphorical.
(2008–2009)

Chicago professor W. J. T. Mitchell entitled his 2005 book What Do Pictures Want? Describe a picture and explore what it wants.
Proposed by Anna Andel, a graduate of Bard High School Early College, New York, NY (2007–2008).

- In Jorge Luis Borges’s Labyrinths, he writes a parable entitled “Borges y yo,” which translates as “Borges and I.” In it, Borges writes about “the other one,” his counterpart, who shares his preference for “hourglasses, maps, eighteenth century typography, the taste of coffee, and the prose of Stevenson,” but is not the same as he. “The other one” is the famous author; “the other one” is the one “things happen to.” He concludes this parable with the line “I do not know which of us has written this page.” Write a page. Who has written it?
Proposed by Zhuyi Elizabeth Sun, a graduate of Inglemoor High School, Bothell, WA (2007–2008).

- Modern improvisational comedy had its start with The Compass Players, a group of University of Chicago students, who later formed the Second City comedy troupe. Here is a chance to play along. Improvise a story, essay, or script that meets all of the following requirements:
It must include the line “And yes I said yes I will Yes” (Ulysses, by James Joyce).
Its characters may not have superpowers.
Your work has to mention the University of Chicago, but please, no accounts of a high school student applying to the University—this is fiction, not autobiography.
Your work must include at least four of the following elements: a paper airplane, a transformation, a shoe, the invisible hand, two doors, pointillism, a fanciful explanation of the Pythagorean Theorem, a ventriloquist or ventriloquism, the Periodic Table of the Elements, the concept of jeong, number two pencils.
(2007–2008)

- “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.”—Miles Davis (1926–91)
Inspired by Jack Reeves, a graduate of Ridgefield High School, Ridgefield, CT (2006-2007)

- The Cartesian coordinate system is a popular method of representing real numbers and is the bane of eighth graders everywhere. Since its introduction by Descartes in 1637, this means of visually characterizing mathematical values has swept the globe, earning a significant role in branches of mathematics such as algebra, geometry, and calculus. Describe yourself as a point or series of points on this axial arrangement. If you are a function, what are you? In which quadrants do you lie? Are x and y enough for you, or do you warrant some love from the z-axis? Be sure to include your domain, range, derivative, and asymptotes, should any apply. Your possibilities are positively and negatively unbounded.
Inspired by Joshua Nalven, a graduate of West Orange High School, West Orange, NJ (2006–2007)

- The instructor said,
Go home and write
 a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true.
—“Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes
Perhaps you recognize this poem. If you do, then your mind has probably moved on to the question the next line poses: “I wonder if it’s that simple?” Saying who we are is never simple (read the entire poem if you need evidence of that). Write a truthful page about yourself for us, an audience you do not know—a very tall order. Hughes begins: “I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem./I went to school there, then Durham, then here/to this college on the hill above Harlem./I am the only colored student in my class.” That is, each of us is of a certain age and of a particular family background. We have lived somewhere and been schooled. We are each what we feel and see and hear. Begin there and see what happens.
(2005-2006)

- University of Chicago alumna and renowned author/critic Susan Sontag said, “The only interesting answers are those that destroy the questions.” We all have heard serious questions, absurd questions, and seriously absurd questions, some of which cannot be answered without obliterating the very question. Destroy a question with your answer.
Inspired by Aleksandra Ciric, Oyster Bay High School, Oyster Bay, New York (2005-2006)


- Superstring theory has revolutionized speculation about the physical world by suggesting that strings play a pivotal role in the universe. Strings, however, always have explained or enriched our lives, from Theseus’s escape route from the Labyrinth, to kittens playing with balls of yarn, to the single hair that held the sword above Damocles, to the basic awfulness of string cheese, to the Old Norse tradition that one’s life is a thread woven into a tapestry of fate, to the beautiful sounds of the finely tuned string of a violin, to the children’s game of cat’s cradle, to the concept of stringing someone along. Use the power of string to explain the biggest or the smallest phenomenon.
Inspired by Adam Sobolweski, Pittsford Mendon High School, Pittsford, New York (2005–2006)

- Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.
Based on a suggestion by Katherine Gold of Cherry Hill High School East, Cherry Hill, NJ (2004–2005)

- People often think of language as a connector, something that brings people together by helping them share experiences, feelings, ideas, etc. We, however, are interested in how language sets people apart. Start with the peculiarities of your own personal language—the voice you use when speaking most intimately to yourself, the vocabulary that spills out when you’re startled, or special phrases and gestures that no one else seems to use or even understand—and tell us how your language makes you unique. You may want to think about subtle riffs or idiosyncrasies based on cadence, rhythm, rhyme, or (mis)pronunciation.
Based on a suggestion by Kimberly Traube of La Jolla Country Day School, La Jolla, CA (2004–2005)

- If you could balance on a tightrope, over what landscape would you walk? (No net.)
Inspired by Emma Ross, a graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Plainsboro, NJ (2003–2004)

- Albert Einstein once said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Propose your own original theory to explain one of the 16 mysteries below. Your theory does not need to be testable or even probable; however, it should provide some laws, principles, and/or causes to explain the facts, phenomena, or existence of one of these mysteries. You can make your theory artistic, scientific, conspiracy-driven, quantum, fanciful, or otherwise ingenious—but be sure it is your own and gives us an impression of how you think about the world.
Love, Non-Dairy Creamer, Sleep and Dreams, Gray, Crop Circles, The Platypus, The Beginning of Everything, Art, Time Travel, Language, The End of Everything, The Roanoke Colony, Numbers, Mona Lisa’s Smile, The College Rankings in U.S. News and World Report, Consciousness
Inspired by Akash Goel, a graduate of Saint Bede Academy, Peru, IL (2003–2004)

- How do you feel about Wednesday?
Inspired by Maximilian Pascual Ortega, a graduate of Maine Township High School South, Park Ridge, IL (2002–2003)

Tips For The College Fair

A few things to remember while you browse the tables at a college fair:

• Plan ahead. Meet with your guidance counselor prior to the college fair season. Often more than 300 colleges attend these fairs. It is helpful to talk with a counselor about your interests and hopes in order to develop an initial list of schools to research. Ask your counselor for a list of the colleges that will be present so that you can create a list of schools about which you want to gather more information.

• No flybys. Take the time to stop and speak with the representative at the table. Do not just grab a view-book or free pencil and run for the door. With the surge in applications that many colleges are now experiencing, more and more institutions are factoring "demonstrated interest" into their admissions decisions. They track contact with the admissions office and often prefer students who have shown interest in the college. By filling out the contact cards at the fair tables, your name will be added to the mailing list and the formal relationship with the college has begun.

• Know who you are talking to. Representatives behind each table vary depending on the institution. Often the individual is the regional dean of admissions who will likely be reading your application in a few months.

. Other times, an alumnus of the college, current student, parent or faculty member will be assisting the admissions office by attending. It is in your interest to understand with whom you are talking and what their relative influence in the process is. Collect business cards so that you can write to the representative and thank him or her for taking the time to speak with you.

• Save time and avoid writer's cramp. Before you attend the fair, print out a sheet or two of self-adhesive labels with your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, high school and birth date. These can be applied to the contact cards, ensuring that your information will be legible and saving you from writing the information over and over again.

• Arrive fashionably late. Often the crowds are the thickest at the beginning of the fair, and it is difficult to have a meaningful conversation with the admissions counselors. While you do not want to wait to catch them as they are packing up, you will likely stand out more if you can have an in-depth conversation rather than elbow your way through the crowd.

• Highlight your interests. The flow of information goes both ways at fairs. It is an excellent opportunity for you to gather literature and materials from colleges, but admissions counselors are eager to learn more about you. If you have specific interests in terms of a major, sports team, or other activity, be sure to discuss these with the representative. Chances are, they will make a note on your contact card, and you might be invited to special events on campus or connected with a coach or faculty member.

• Ask thoughtful questions. Questions such as "Do you have a biology major?" or "Where are you located?" can easily be answered by glancing at the view-book. Instead, think of more probing questions such as "What makes your institution different from your peers schools?" or "How accessible are opportunities for research with faculty?" These thoughtful inquiries will distinguish you among the other students wandering through the fair.


Just as April showers bring May flowers, the energy and time invested in researching colleges and establishing relationships on the front end of this process will pay significant dividends down the road.

By: Brennan Barnard

What to Do When Colleges ACCEPT You

March 29, 2010
By: Jeff Brenzel, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University.

The first week of April is just around the corner. For the past year, you have focused heavily on where to apply to college, and then how to win the hearts of people like me. You've been increasingly anxious about the results as the decision dates loom. Oddly, all this effort may have left you surprisingly unprepared for a task that is just as challenging as making your applications.
Here are a few thoughts based on several years of observing what happens after students get their envelopes, whether thick or thin, and they are suddenly faced with a big decision.

* If you receive some rejections, you will tend to dwell on them. It's only natural -- what we can't have suddenly seems far more valuable or interesting than what we can have. You will be tempted to revisit every step of your high school career and your application process, pondering what you might have done differently. But there is one and only one good answer to any rejection letter you receive, dream school or not: "Your loss, baby." Then move on.

* If you are like most students, the process has now delivered to you a handful of admission tickets to the greatest shows on earth. Every one of your colleges has infinitely more opportunities to offer than you could pursue in a lifetime. At one of these places you are going to take friendship to a new level, go adventuring and exploring, make your own decisions about what to do and how to do it, perhaps develop a permanent intellectual interest or a personal mission. Smell the roses. Put the acceptance letters up on your wall. Recognize how profoundly fortunate you are to live in this country and to be presented with opportunities that most of your peers around the world would give virtually anything to experience.

* Now for something practical. To the extent humanly possible, wipe out every assumption you have made up to this point about these schools. Let there be no reaches, good fits or safeties. Throw away all the ranking lists. Stop obsessing over selectivity or prestige. You now know more -- a lot more -- about colleges than you did when you first started looking. The shoe is on the other foot now -- colleges will be falling all over themselves to win your favor. Treat all of this as a brand new game, and do not be too hasty about putting any school aside. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a student say, "I wish I had looked more closely at the schools that accepted me. I wish I had actually talked to more students who attended those schools and also more students at the school I finally picked. I was blinded by what I thought I knew about my first choice school."

* Most important step: if you possibly can, visit schools that accepted you, even if you have visited them already. Let me repeat this. Go back for another visit to the schools you are seriously considering. When you arrive, act like you are just starting your search. You may be amazed at how some of the schools have changed since you first visited or differ from what you've been reading in the brochures. Why? It's because you have been changing and you are continuing to change now that you face a real decision. When you walk onto campus, try to avoid finding reasons not to like a place -- things that turn you off. Instead, try the much more useful exercise of picturing yourself there as a student, thriving and enjoying both the educational opportunities and the campus scene. This may involve picturing yourself in some new ways as well. This is a good thing.

* Do something that can be very hard: ask your mother, father and/or guardian what they truly think about the schools that have admitted you. Insist that they be specific about their impressions, and weigh what they say in the light of what you know about their good judgment. Why do this? First, they care about you and may know you in ways you don't know yourself. Second, they have often been paying close attention to the differences among colleges. Third, they are probably going to be paying or helping to pay for this. Make it clear that you would like to make up your own mind, that you view certain things differently than they do. But ask them, listen to what they have to say, and weigh it carefully against what you think. By approaching them directly, you will also save everyone the agony of communicating by subtle hints, bizarre facial expressions, comments to relatives, or desperate pleading.

* If you haven't done it already, you also need to talk with your backers about the money. I am always amazed at how many families have somehow gotten to this point without a serious discussion on who's paying for what and how much difference a difference in price is going to make to the final decision.

* If you can follow these steps and hold off the rush to judgment, you may be very surprised to find yourself strongly considering a school you did not originally put at the top of your list. And if instead, you end up confirming your first choice after all, you will do that only after giving it a very sober review in light of the competition and the finances. This is not only healthy, but it is going to make you much more knowledgeable and realistic about what to expect when you arrive on campus.
Remember above all else that no college is going to be paradise, and that all colleges have something truly outstanding to offer you. As much as the deans who admitted you hope to see you on their campuses come September, what we hope even more is that you make a wise, thoughtful and fruitful choice, one of many more to come.

Posted on: huffingtonpost.com

More private colleges and universities cross the $50K mark for 2010-11 tuition and fees

March 23
College Admissions Examiner


Private colleges and universities are quietly announcing increases in tuition and fees crossing the $50,000 mark for the 2010-2011 academic year. Coupled with promises of increased financial aid, the boost in tuition is needed to cover continuing shortfalls in campus operating budgets.

This week, Harvard University announced that undergraduate tuition and fees for next year will total $50,724, an increase of 3.8 percent. According to a Harvard press release, financial aid for undergraduates will be increased by 9 percent, to a record $158 million for the upcoming academic year. “Harvard remains committed to a fully need-blind admissions policy that will enable us to continue attracting the most talented students, regardless of their economic circumstances,” said Michael D. Smith dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Harvard’s tuition increases remain roughly in line with other Ivies, including Yale, which announced tuition and fees totaling $49,800 or an increase of 4.8 percent; Princeton, which went up by 3.3 percent to $48,580; Brown at $51,360 or 4.5 percent over last year; Penn at $51,944—3.9 percent more; Dartmouth to $52,275, up by 4.6 percent; and Cornell, which will increase by 4.4 percent for the university’s endowed colleges to $52,316.



Other private colleges and universities crossing the $50,000 threshold for the next academic year include Boston University at $51,120 (+3.7%), Carnegie Mellon University at $52,250 (+2.98%), Notre Dame at $50,785 (+3.8%), Washington University in St. Louis (+4.2%), and Stanford University at $50,576 (+3.5%). 

Both George Washington University and Georgetown have been over $50,000 for the past two years. This year, Georgetown tuition will go up by 3 percent and room and board will increase 2 percent for a grand total of $52,443. GW will remain true to tuition commitments leveling a 3 percent tuition increase only on incoming students leaving tuition and fees the same for all others.

 While tuition increases at private colleges are not good news, they don’t approach the projections for public institutions. Florida college students could face 15 percent tuition increases for several years, and University of Illinois students will pay at least 9 percent more next year. Georgia’s 35 colleges and universities are planning a 35 percent tuition increase on top of a raise in student fees according to the Huffington Post online. The University of Washington will charge 14 percent more at its flagship campus, and in California, tuition increases of over 30 percent have sparked protests. 

A four-year freeze on college tuition in Maryland is expected to end this year, but the increase is likely to be only in the range of 3 percent. Virginia schools so far remain mum on the subject, but increases are all but inevitable.


By Nancy Griesemer

Transitioning Into College Life

College Survival Tips

•Don't overpack when you go to college and pack for the climate that you are in.

•Remember that ironing can become tiring and is not the most exciting college activity. Dry cleaning bills do add up also. Consider packing clothes that wrinkle less and clothes that don't need dry cleaning.

•Meet as many fellow students as you can during orientation. It's a great time to meet everyone. Sometimes the people you meet during orientation become your best friends.

•Get well acquainted with your campus and explore the campus, the buildings, and its history. Go into buildings that you would otherwise not go into.

•Walk around campus before your classes begin and get familiar with where you are going and what times your classes are.

• Have a schedule that you can handle and vary your courses. Don't enroll in more than three reading intensive courses.

•Find out who the best professors are from your friends and take their classes. The professor can make the course better than the actual subject if they are really good.

•Try to fulfill your core requirements and get them out of the way early on in college.

•Seek advice from older students and of course your advisor. They are experienced with many of the things you will go through and they can help. Don't wait for them to come to you, go to them.

•Don't decide on your major right away. Take some time to think about it and then decide what interests you most. Remember that majors are not geared for careers or entering the "real working world." If majors were geared only to prepare you for a job and career, then many companies wouldn't have training programs.

•Take courses just for fun and ones that you know you will enjoy. By taking these "fun courses" you become well rounded.

•When registering for classes try not to schedule classes that are back to back. If you do, you won't have time to study right before or after class and it also can wear you out.

•Try not to drop classes too early. Go to few of the classes and then decide if you should drop it. --Don't give up on a class if it seems too difficult. You could do well in a difficult class that you find to be challenging with help from a tutor or a peer.

•Don't always believe the professor on the first day of class because they always talk about how much work they will give throughout the semester. Remember the professor has to grade this work too.

•Don't attempt to write down everything that a professor says. This is very hard to do and in turn will make you more bored in the class. If you absolutely have to hear everything, invest in a mini recording device.

•Don't be scared to talk to or ask your professors or teaching assistants questions. Remember they are there to help you. That's why they hold office hours. Go to their office hours regularly or when needed and don't wait till the last minute to ask them questions.

•Remember your professors are human too and make mistakes. It's a good idea to correct them because it may save the whole class from having to do something that they weren't supposed to do.

•Ask questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question. Your question may be one that others may have, but just haven't asked.

•If you can't make it to all the office hours, then go to review sessions before exams. You will see how helpful these may be when you are pressed for time to study a lot.

•When studying, study in groups for review sessions, but it is also important to study alone. You may learn better by studying alone depending on your learning style.

•Use the resources at your school. The library is always a great place to study.

•Attend class. Even if attendance is not taken, attendance keeps you on top of things.

•Keep track of your schedule in a day planner or on a calendar. If you have a personal digital assistant, then that's great too just as long as you are organized.

•Avoid procrastination. Waiting till the last day to work on a paper is not a good idea. Break your work up into chunks. Just think if you started it when it was assigned. You could always have fun and relax after.

By Eric Leebow, Yahbooks Publishing, LLC.

UC Sleuths Seek Proof for Glorious Claims on Admission Applications

Mercury News
January 31,2010

Did you donate the profits from your violin recital to support a homeless shelter? Were you part of a deer rescue squad during a major forest fire? Was that you who donated gallons of blood to the Red Cross?
Well, if you said so on your UC application, you better be ready to prove it.
Like no other higher education system in the nation, the University of California has a quiet team of vigilant auditors that review the accuracy of randomly selected applications — and may yank ones shined up by too much balderdash, big-talk or bull.
"We expect integrity," said Han Mi Yoon-Wu, admissions coordinator for the 10-campus university system. Although falsification is not a major problem, she said, "students need to know that they might be selected, and they should make sure that everything on the application is accurate."
Run out of a modest office park in Concord, the UC investigation team aims to prevent an arms race of fictional accomplishments among those seeking a seat at the most competitive UC campuses, such as Berkeley and Los Angeles. The vast majority of applicants will escape challenge; only 1 percent of its 134,000 applicants are pulled for review. But those who bump up the baloney in claims on their application forms do so at their own peril.
While all American universities seek official verification of grades and test scores, most others rely on the honor system for more personal assertions. "The system in California is quite unique," said David Hawkins of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. "Colleges have always kept an eye out for suspicious-looking essays that might have been plagiarized, but few bother to actually check."

Array of evidence
This month UC sent letters to 1,000 applicants for the 2010 freshman class asking them for evidence to support claims made in their "personal statements" and lists of accomplishments. The application cops do not target suspects; rather they employ a vast, random but high-stakes process designed to keep students honest. Their biggest weapon: the fear factor they may pick yours.
So with a deadline on Monday for students to mail back proof, the office gets daily deliveries of a wide and colorful array of evidence from those who have been challenged. There are photos, certificates and DVDs, theater playbills, pay stubs and newspaper articles.
"One young man sent a wood and brass plaque," proving he did indeed win an athletic award, said sleuth Mary Jacobson, a soft-spoken and meticulous woman who leads the four-member team.
Someone sent in a diploma as proof — written in Chinese. A French translator verified another student's claim that he graduated from a Toulouse-based language immersion school.

Not too personal
The verification program was created in 2003 after UC's shift to a so-called "comprehensive review" of students' applications — in which students are measured not just by academic success but out-of-the-classroom accomplishments.
California's top students offer stunning accomplishments, and the vast majority are honest, said Yoon-Wu. "But there was concern that some kids would start to pad their applications to make themselves look better," she said. "Students feared that there are others not telling the truth."
They look for only provable claims. For instance, they don't question insights or inspirations — but they may ask for evidence of participation in the Rose Bowl Parade.
They don't dig into more private disclosures, such as sexual orientation, abuse, pregnancy or parental divorce.
If "prove-it" requests are returned as undeliverable, the UC team tries to find the students before canceling their chances to attend school.
"One student became homeless after submitting his application," said Jacobson. "We eventually contacted his counselor and made the school his temporary address. He was able to verify his accomplishments."
Students acknowledge that applications are embellished, but many insist that outright falsehoods are rare.
"People rarely outright make things up, but lines are definitely blurred," said Kriti Garg, a junior at Cupertino's Monta Vista High School. For instance, the title of "club president" could mean running a prizing-winning organization or hanging out with a handful of friends, she said. "However, at my school, even though there is a strong competition to get into top-tier universities, people try to stay as technically correct as possible — they don't really want to risk anything."

Few outright fibs
For those who err, there is worry. On the popular College Confidential Web site, one anxious student wrote: "I've made a pretty serious mistake on my app. Instead of 2 hours/week I wrote 12 hours/week. Now UC sent me a letter asking to verify. ... It would really suk if I get my app withdrawn."
The lucky ones are given the benefit of the doubt, often after prolonged negotiations.
"A young woman sent a DVD of 200 dancers on stage, and indicated she was one of them. We believed her," said Jacobson. "Another said she worked for her mother, who had recently died. She asked if we wanted a death certificate. Of course, we said no." UC investigators say they find few instances of outright fibbing. More common are instances of vanished course work — typically, a failed class that was later repeated. Some applicants — about 15 each year — fail to respond to repeated requests for proof. For those who are caught, there's always next year and a possible second chance. But the indiscretion is noted in permanent records, said Yoon-Wu. "We keep a record."

by: Lisa M. Krieger

A Bumper Year for Applications to Top Colleges

The Philadelphia Inquirer
January 31, 2010

Getting into the University of Pennsylvania and other elite private schools in the area could be harder this fall, with applications coming in at record increases.

Some of the rise is because of eye-popping increases in applications from California, where budget cuts have sent shock waves through the state system.

Also fueling the boom are more aggressive recruiting by colleges in the economic downturn, a jump in applications from minority students, and a boost in the number of students filing more applications to find the best financial-aid offers, officials say.

Penn's applications have risen 17 percent, to 26,800 for 2,400 spots - one of its largest jumps ever after two relatively flat years.

"We're going to be more selective, if not the most selective Penn has ever been," admissions dean Eric Furda said.

Admission to other private schools in the region also will be more competitive. Princeton University reports a 19 percent increase in applications, Drexel University 19 percent, Villanova University 10 percent, and Swarthmore College 8 percent.

While many students need look only across the classroom to see competition for coveted freshman slots, increasingly their rivals are hailing from farther away - the left coast in particular.

Penn got 3,350 applications from California, a 22 percent hike. Swarthmore was up 16 percent, Villanova 34 percent, and the University of Delaware 36 percent.

"An increase like we saw in California doesn't just happen," Furda said. "Families in California must be looking at the strain the state system is under and are starting to take a look at some other options outside the state."

California's well-regarded public system has lowered enrollments as money gets tighter and the number of high school graduates peaks.


Applications to private schools are showing some record increases nationally as well, including an unheard of 42 percent at the University of Chicago, said Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers.

"You would have thought that economic conditions in the country would make higher-priced institutions a lot less interesting to families," he said, but "they understand that the recession, no matter how severe it may be, will end fairly soon, whereas the benefits of a college education are spread out over a lifetime."

Princeton plans to increase its financial-aid budget to $113 million next school year, up from $103 million.

"It appears our financial-aid message of affordability is reaching more students than in the past," dean of admissions Janet Rapelye said in a statement.

More applications from minority students also are fueling the spurt in applications locally, college officials said.

The numbers of black and Hispanic applicants to Penn are up 33 percent and 29 percent.

Applications from Asians rose 61 percent at Delaware, along with jumps in black and Hispanic applicants.

Villanova drew 3,200 applications from minority students, its highest total. And Pennsylvania State University had an 8 percent climb.

The increases are coming even as the number of U.S. high school graduates has begun to decline (despite continuing gains in the West and Southwest).

Villanova's applications rose even though its draw from Pennsylvania fell 4 percent.

Several area schools, including Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, did not respond to requests for application numbers.

Officials also speculated that students were continuing to apply to more schools. In 1990, 9 percent of students applied to seven or more colleges. In 2006, 18 percent did so.

"They perhaps want to be able to have more financial-aid packages to sort through to see where they might be getting the most help," said Claudia Gard, a counselor at Masterman High School, a Philadelphia magnet school.

Masterman counselors recommend that students apply to state schools, if only as a backup to more selective colleges.

Senior Danielle Williams, 18, applied to two Ivies, Penn and Cornell University; two state-related schools, Penn State and Temple University; and East Stroudsburg University, part of the state system.

An honor-roll student with advanced math ability, she recently was named the Philadelphia School District's student of the month. Even so, she knows she faces stiff competition for top schools, and much of her decision will depend on financial aid.

"We kind of go in with the mind-set that we're not going to get in," Williams said of her Ivy applications. "So if we do get in, it's good news. . . . And even if I don't get in, I have really good backups."

Many state and state-related schools also saw application increases.

Rutgers University, New Jersey's flagship, is tracking 5 percent higher, which it attributed in part to the opening of its new visitors center.

Penn State was up 4 percent as of mid-January.

Delaware is ahead 7 percent, bringing in 25,247 applications. At the same time, it will offer admission to a smaller class.

"It's going to be an especially tough year," admissions director Louis Hirsh said.

But at Temple, applications dropped 11 percent, to 15,673, from a year ago. The school's deadline is March 1.

Applications from out-of-state students, who have to pay higher tuition, account for half the decline, said William Black, senior vice provost for enrollment management.

Also, counselors at feeder high schools in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties told Temple that more students were planning to attend community college their first two years to save money, he said.

Temple figures it still may get applications from students who applied to private schools under early decision and early action and were turned down.

Despite the decline, Black said Temple had a strong candidate pool and expected it would bring in a better class than last year. Four percent more students have submitted deposits, indicating commitment to attend, he added.

"The SAT scores in this year's pool are up significantly - 18 points higher," he said.

At Penn, Furda - like officials at some other schools - also credited more aggressive recruiting. He said Penn's education campaign about its aid must be working, too.

But Furda said the size of the jump in applications surprised him.

"I was thinking a 10 percent increase would have been good," he said.

by: Susan Snyder

What Goes Into A Great College Essay

SELECTED AS "BEST ANSWER" ON LINKEDIN.COM!

A great college essay, I suspect, is more than a good story.

Which character attributes should shine through?
Ability to work with others? Adaptability? Independence? Maturity?

What topics give the student something good to write about?
Work or volunteer experiences? Academic achievement? Overseas travel? Family life?

What happens to those applicants who don't seem to have the experiences to draw from?

What else should I have included?

This was selected as Best Answer

Jeannie Borin, M.Ed.
President & Founder at College Connections
Best Answers in:
Education and Schools (1)

Which character attributes should shine through?
Ability to work with others? Adaptability? Independence? Maturity? All of these work - it's okay also to be less than perfect as we all are just that

What topics give the student something good to write about?
Work or volunteer experiences? Academic achievement? Overseas travel? Family life? These are good but too general - isolate an event or one experience

What happens to those applicants who don't seem to have the experiences to draw from? writing about small daily occurrences can produce excellent essays

Here are tips for writing an excellent college admissions essay:

1) Make yourself shine within your own story: It’s important that you don’t repeat what has already been stated on your activity resume, but you should highlight your accomplishments in your essay- weave them into your story. Reveal your personality and perhaps your future goals in your writing.

2) Be humble but don’t be modest: Don’t underestimate yourself in any way and be proud and secure in who you are. Sincerely describe your most impressive accomplishments but don’t overdo it.

3) Be confident in your statements: It’s important to write as though you deserve gaining acceptance. Present yourself as unique with specific skills and passion.

4) Use personal stories: You really own your essay in this way and no one else can tell your story; this is what makes you unique.

5) Write descriptively: Engage the reader and be specific about your experience. If writing a memorable story about a ride in the car and what you saw, have that reader sitting there with you. A good story is priceless and you will catch attention in this way. Use powerful imagery and personal anecdotes whenever you can. Leave readers with a lasting impression and it will serve you well come decision time!

DOS & DON’TS in college essay writing:

DO

Use personal detail: show, don’t tell.
Be concise.
Vary sentence structure and use transitions.
Use active voice verbs.
Answer the question and follow directions.
Seek a few opinions.
Stay focused as you have a limited word count.
Revise, revise, revise and proofread.

DON’T

Write chronologically—it can be boring.
Thesaurus-ize: don’t write what you think admission officers want to hear or use language that is not your own.
State a point of view without backing it up with details and examples.
Repeat what is listed on your activity resume.
Use slang.

Your character is the hardest thing for admission officers to measure. The essay is your chance to reveal who you are- your passions, values, authenticity and sincerity. Be yourself!

Running Tally on Some Colleges’ Early Admission Figures

December 16, 2009

During the week of Dec. 14, The Choice http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/tally/ is keeping a running tally of some colleges’ figures on early applications, and acceptances, under binding early decision programs and non-binding early action. They are updating this list as they receive information on more institutions.

Brown (binding): 2,847 early applications, compared to 2360 last year, +487; 567 acceptances, compared to 570 last year, -3; total anticipated class size: about 1,485.

University of Chicago (non-binding): 5,883 early applications, compared to 3,774 last year, +2,109; 1,676 acceptances, compared to 1,128, +548; total anticipated class size: about 1,350.

Johns Hopkins (binding): 1,155 applicants, compared to 1,049 last year, +106; 493 acceptances, compared to 504 last year, -11; total anticipated class size: about 1,235

Yale (non-binding): 5,262 applications, compared to 5,556 last year, -294; 730 offers of admission, compared to 742, -12; total anticipated class size: about 1,310

Stanford (non-binding): 5,556 applications, compared to 5,363 last year, +183; 753 accepted, compared to 689 last year, +64; total anticipated class size: about 1675
Update | December 15, 2009, 7:56 p.m.

Pomona (binding; results that follow reflect only the first of two rounds): 516 applications, compared to 513 last year, +3; 98 acceptances (including from the Posse and QuestBridge Match programs), compared to 95 last year, +3; total anticipated class size: about 385.

Occidental (binding): 157 applications, compared to 113 a year earlier, +44; 60 acceptances, compared to 51, +9; total anticipated class size: 500

The College of Saint Rose (non-binding): 3,117 applications, compared to 2,409 last year, +608; 1,182 offers of admission, compared to 1,127, +55; total anticipated class size: about 600

Mount St. Mary’s University, Maryland (non-binding): 3,218 applications, compared to 2,784 last year, +514; 1,620 offers of admission, compared to 1,062, +558; total anticipated class size: about 440.

Swarthmore (binding, first of two rounds): 292 applications, compared to 302 last year, -10; 129 acceptances, compared to 126, +3; total anticipated class size: about 385

Hamilton (binding, first of two rounds): 356 applications to date (including some for round 2), compared to 377 on this date last year, -21; 150 acceptances (round 1), compared to 167 last year, -17; total anticipated class size: about 480

Emory (binding, first of two rounds): 709 applications, roughly same as last year; 350 early acceptances (including from the QuestBridge Match program), compared to 331 last year, +19; total anticipated class size: to be determined, but last year’s class was about 1,285

Cornell (binding): 3,579 early applications, compared to 3,443 last year, +136; 1,167 acceptances, compared to 1,264 last year, -103; total anticipated class size: about 3,150.

Dartmouth (binding): 1,600 early applications, compared to 1,549 last year, +51; 461 acceptances, compared to 401, +60; total anticipated class size: 1,100 to 1,150 (current freshman class is about 1,100, but college is considering increasing next year’s class to 1,150.)

Columbia (binding, figures for Columbia College and School of Engineering): 2,995 early applications, compared to 2,942 last year, +53; 631 acceptances, compared to 639, -8; total anticipated class size not specified.

Grinnell (binding, first of two rounds): 176 early applications, compared to 175 last year, +1; 90 acceptances, compared to 107, -17; total anticipated class size: 390,

Amherst (binding): 438 early applications, compared to 444 last year, -6; 147 acceptances compared to 138, +9; total anticipated class size: about 465

Duke (binding): 2,012 early applications, compared to 1,535 last year, +477; 602 acceptances compared to 583, +19; total anticipated class size: about 1,700.

Middlebury (binding, first of two rounds): 653 early applications, compared to 648 last year, +5; 262 acceptances (including some for fall 2010, and others for winter 2011) , compared to 274 last year, -12. total anticipated class size: about 700, including students matriculating in fall and winter

Northwestern (binding): 1,776 early applications, compared to 1,595 last year, +181; 618 acceptances compared to 590, +28; total anticipated class size: about 2,025

Wesleyan (binding, first of two rounds): about 500 early applications, roughly the same as last year; 237 acceptances, compared to 239 last year, -2; total anticipated class size: about 745.

Williams (binding): 541 early applications, compared to 614 last year, -73; 212 acceptances compared to 232 last year, -20;
Emma J. Fidel contributed reporting.

College Application Essays That Will Get You Accepted

November 23, 2009

Writing college application essays can be intimidating for most aspiring applicants. College admissions can be competitive; it’s essential for students to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Extracurricular activities can be helpful, as can personal letters of reference, but most experts agree that college application essays are the best way for students to express their individuality and attract the attention of admissions officers at the college or university of their choice.

The most important advice for college applicants is to invest time in their college application essays. By devoting a significant amount of time to writing a compelling and personal essay and then editing the result until it is a finely-honed piece of writing, students can make a good first impression. College application essays can say a lot about the applicant; it’s essential that it speaks well for his or her ability to form coherent sentences, use good grammar, and demonstrate proper flow and structure in written discourse.

Keep it personal. A well-written, detailed essay about the price of tea in China may well win awards and praise from teachers and friends, but it reveals precisely nothing about the student in question. Writing from the heart is essential in order to make the best impression. By explaining various choices, discussing a difficult decision, or outlining the challenges faced in various endeavors, students can make a positive impression and allow college admissions officers a real basis on which to base their decisions.
For students applying to several different institutions, it’s important to tailor college application essays to the academic strengths of the specific institution in question. While it is possible and even desirable to use elements of one basic essay for all the schools under consideration, this will require certain changes depending on the specific college’s general atmosphere. Some schools pose specific questions for their essay requirement; ensure that each of these questions is adequately answered in the submitted essay. Failure to fulfill the requirements is usually grounds for the essay being discounted in the college admissions process; this can seriously limit the chances of a student being accepted to that school.
Demonstrate analytical skills and logical thinking in the essay. By showing a keen, rational understanding of basic issues, students can produce more clear and coherent results. Especially since college application essays are often the first point of contact between the student and the admissions committee, it’s essential that it unmistakably highlights the academic strengths and character of the student.

Lastly, get as much feedback as possible on the finished essay. Have relatives, friends, college counselors and teachers read and proofread it and give their commentary. While the final decision on incorporating changes must rest with the student, soliciting the input and help of objective readers can help to produce the best essay possible. Additionally, college applicants can get a better sense of the impression that the essay is likely to make on admissions officers by noting the feedback from friends, teachers, and family. Polished, personal college application essays offer a far greater chance for a positive response and for achieving the desired outcome.

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Oxford University Interview Questions: The Examples

Times Online
October 8, 2009

Subject: Geography
Interviewer: Lorraine Wild, St Hilda’s College
Q: If I were to visit the area where you live, what would I be interested in?
Lorraine Wild: ‘The question gives candidates an opportunity to apply concepts from their A level geography course to their home area. They might discuss urban planning and regeneration, ethnic segregation and migration, or issues of environmental management. The question probes whether they are able to apply ‘geographical thinking’ to the everyday landscapes around them. It reveals the extent to which they have a curiosity about the world around them. By asking specifically about their home area the question eliminates any advantage gained by those who are more widely travelled and have more experience of a variety of geographical contexts.’’

Subject: Modern Languages
Interviewer: Helen Swift, St Hilda’s College
Q: What is language?
Helen Swift: ‘Although I would never launch this question at a candidate on its own, it might grow out of a discussion. Students sometimes say they like studying Spanish, for example, because they 'love the language'. In order to get a student thinking critically and analytically, the question would get them to consider what constitutes the language they enjoy – is it defined by particular features or by function (what it does)? How does form relate to meaning? And so on.’

Subject: English
Interviewer: Lucinda Rumsey, Mansfield College
Q: Why might it be useful for an English student to read the Twilight series?
Lucinda Rumsey: ‘There's several reasons I might ask this one. It's useful in an interview to find some texts the candidate has read recently and the Twilight books are easily accessible and popular. Also, candidates tend to concentrate on texts they have been taught in school or college and I want to get them to talk about whatever they have read independently, so I can see how they think rather than what they have been taught. A good English student engages in literary analysis of every book they read. The question has led to some interesting discussions about narrative voice, genre and audience in the past.’

Subject: Medicine
Interviewer: Robert Wilkins, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics
Q: Why does your heart rate increase when you exercise?
Robert Wilkins: ‘The simple answer, which all students can provide, is because you need to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to muscles and remove metabolic products. But follow-up questions would probe whether the student appreciates that there must be a way for the body to know it needs to raise the heart rate and possible ways for achieving this. Answers might include sensing lowered oxygen or raised carbon dioxide levels. In fact, gas levels might not change much, so students are further asked to propose other signals and ways in which those possibilities could be tested. This probes selection criteria such as problem-solving and critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, enthusiasm and curiosity, and the ability to listen.’

Subject: Biological Sciences
Interviewer: Martin Speight, Department of Zoology
Q: If you could save either the rainforests or the coral reefs, which would you choose?
Martin Speight: ‘I’d expect students to be able to use their general knowledge plus their common sense to come up with an answer – no detailed knowledge is required. Students might then be asked about the importance of natural features, such as biodiversity and rare species, and human interests, such as the fuel and food, ecotourism and medicines we get from rainforests or reefs. Finally there are impacts to consider from climate change, soil erosion, pollution, logging, biofuel replacement, overfishing, etc. The final answer doesn't matter – both reefs and rainforests must be managed sustainably to balance conservation and human needs.’

Subject: Law
Interviewer: Ben McFarlane, Faculty of Law
Q: What does it mean for someone to ‘take’ another's car?
Ben McFarlane: ‘There is no right answer to this question. For example, can you take a car without driving it, or even without moving it? Our focus is on the candidate’s reasoning – how he or she formulates an initial definition and how he or she then applies and refines that initial definition in response to hypothetical examples provided by the interviewers. One example might be: I am walking along the street when it starts to rain. I open the door of an unlocked car and sit there for 15 minutes until the rain passes. Have I ‘taken’ the car? The aim of the interview is to give the candidate a chance to show his or her application, reasoning ability and communication skills.’

Subject: Engineering
Interviewer: Byron Byrne, Department of Engineering Science
Q: How would you design a gravity dam for holding back water?
Byron Byrne: ‘This is a great question because the candidate first has to determine the forces acting on the dam before considering the stability of the wall under the action of those forces. Candidates will probably recognise that the water could push the dam over. The candidate would then be expected to construct simple mathematical expressions that predict when this would occur. Some may also discuss failure by sliding, issues of structural design, the effects of water seeping under the dam, and so on. The candidate will not have covered all the material at school so guidance is provided to assess how quickly new ideas are absorbed. The question also probes the candidate’s ability to apply physics and maths to new situations and can test interest in and enthusiasm for the engineered world.’

Joanna Sugden

When Less Is More

Inside Higher Ed
September 23, 2009
For years now, applicants to highly competitive colleges have complained that they feel that they must do more and more to demonstrate why they should be admitted.

This year, following a pattern that had already taken hold among less competitive institutions (for different reasons), some institutions are asking a little less of applicants, at least when it comes to how much they have to write. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is replacing a longer essay (500 words) with several short questions of about 200 words. The University of Pennsylvania has decided to combine two essay questions about the student's fit into the institution into one, saving students maybe 200 words.

For book-writing academics, 200 words here or there may seem irrelevant. But the admissions officers behind the decisions say that they are asking for less out of the view that they may learn more about applicants by not overwhelming them with so many questions. They also said that it may be time for admissions deans to balance more carefully what they would like to know about applicants -- and the demands on applicants' time.

"At one level, within the admissions office, we constantly ask ourselves what information we would like to receive to get to know a student better.... But at another level, we need to try to put ourselves in the student's shoes, and think about how we can get the information in the most efficient manner, about being judicious with the number of questions," said Eric J. Furda, dean of admissions at Penn.

Penn made the changes in its supplement to the Common Application, Furda noted, so applicants have already answered questions there before turning to Penn's university-specific questions. He also noted that Penn has an optional student autobiographical essay, so those who want to say more have the ability to do so. But he said it was important to consider the benefits of asking for less.

For instance, he said that he believes he may learn more about applicants from very short questions than from longer essays, which many admissions officers in recent years have feared are becoming opportunities for coaching if not ghost writing.

Going short with requirements "in some ways makes it less filtered for students," Furda said. "As you are approaching the longer essay, there is this sense of creating the masterpiece, as opposed to 'they are asking me a straightforward question, let me answer it.' "

At MIT, applicants are now given short prompts (such as describing how they have used their creativity) that might have once been the basis for longer essays.

Stu Schmill, dean of admissions at MIT, said that the reason for the switch is that those reviewing applicant files found they were learning more from shorter responses than longer ones. "We have for a long time had two shorter essays on the application, and from those we got very direct, clear answers to our questions," he said.

The MIT application instructions also stress that students should not view the short prompts as setting up writing exams. "Remember that this is not a writing test. These are the places in the application where we look for your voice -- who you are, what drives you, what's important to you, what makes you tick. Be honest, be open, be real -- this is your opportunity to connect with us," it says.

A column in The Tech, MIT's student paper, backed the change, but also noted some reservations. Ethan Solomon writes that he thought the longer essay gave him a chance to truly "tell a story about myself." But he also believes that the shorter questions are less stressful.

He notes the "significantly more relaxed tone of the short essays ('Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.… This isn’t a trick question.'). From an applicant’s perspective, these kinds of questions aren’t as worrisome and probably result in much less polished responses than a long, 'Common Application' style essay. They force the student to respond directly and, at least from my experience, tend to elicit more honesty -- which is great from an admissions perspective."

In fact, the Common Application doesn't push on length. Rob Killion, executive director, said that until three years ago, the essay was described as having a maximum length of 500 words, and that it was then changed to set a minimum of 250 words. "The intent wasn't to get longer essays, but rather to clarify a minimum, and drop a maximum that most kids ignored anyway," he said.

Of the 268 Common Application members that require supplements from applicants, more require short answer questions (152) than full essays (111).

Kevin Crockett, president and CEO of Noel-Levitz, a company that consults with colleges on admissions and enrollment issues, said he's not surprised by Penn's and MIT's changes, given that many colleges that are not competitive in admissions have already cut back or even eliminated essay requirements.

With colleges that admit most students, he said, many admissions offices found that they weren't using the essays at all, or were considering them only for a minority of applicants. These colleges find value, he said, in a streamlined application that doesn't ask for more than the admissions office needs and doesn't add to the burdens of applicants.

"What you don't want to do is put requirements on everybody that you'll use only in a minority of cases," he said. Crockett noted that if colleges cut back on essay length, and then find that they want more writing from a particular applicant, they can always ask.

Despite that trend, plenty of competitive colleges aren't shortening their essay requirements. Pomona College has optional essays that it encourages applicants to consider in its supplement to the Common Application.

Bruce Poch, vice president and dean of admissions at Pomona, said that the writing the college receives from the Common Application is "more polished" than the samples in response to the college's more informal questions, such as "Although it may appear to the contrary, we do know that people have a life beyond what they do to get into college. Tell us about an experience you've had outside of your formal classroom and extracurricular activities that was just plain fun and why."

Poch said that question "has proven to be a great 'reveal' because it clearly was written more informally and likely with some haste nearer the deadlines."

Pomona receives "periodic complaints from counselors that we are asking for too much work and should just stick to the Common App, but I still see the Common App as a common core and that each college may want something more particular to their community or mission," Poch said.

And he said there can be value in asking for more. "I'd personally rather ask for a bit more and get completed applications from those who were serious enough to follow through," he said.

— Scott Jaschik

10 Things College Admissions Tests Don't Do

Smart Money Magazine
published: September 9, 2009

1. "We don't measure what you think we do."
IN 1926, THE College Board created the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, and standardized college-admissions testing was here to stay. The American College Testing Program followed suit in 1959 with the ACT. Today 89 percent of schools use these two tests in the admissions process, according to a survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

But what do they measure? Both the SAT, which has three sections scored from 200 to 800 each, and the ACT, scored from one to 36, have narrowed their claims. These tests are no longer said to measure intelligence; rather, research indicates they reliably forecast how well students perform in their first year of college. But there are better indicators, says Bill Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard, such as class rank and GPA. So why are these tests popular? Convenience for admissions officers, says Robert Schaeffer, of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, who argues standardized tests get misused. It's less expensive and time consuming but "less fair to students," he says. The College Board says it offers guidelines on appropriate uses of test results but doesn't control their usage.

2. "We score on a curve."
SAT RESULTS USED to mean scores in the traditional 200 to 800 range for each section of the test, a scale that depended in part on the performance of other students. Today's test taker still gets these, but she also receives her "raw scores," which directly reflect the number of questions she got right and wrong.

A big improvement, say many students and their harried parents-until you learn that it's the original 200 to 800 scores that really matter as far as most admissions officers are concerned.

How does scaled scoring work? The College Board says that a missed question typically means a debit of 20 points. But the higher a student's score overall, the more missed questions will weigh, says Leslie Lukin, director of Assessment and Evaluation at Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska. No small thing, given that more than 20 percent of schools impose minimum scores for admission, and studies indicate that even a 10- or 20-point difference can significantly improve one's chances at more than a third of colleges, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Indeed, says Fitzsimmons, these tests can be "a very blunt instrument."

3. "You don't have to be Shakespeare to ace the essay."
IN 2005, THE College Board unveiled an updated SAT, designed to restore the test as a measure of ability in at least one area. The main new feature: a 25-minute essay. But it hasn't exactly impressed some admissions officers. "We don't think it's a measure of anything that's supportive of a student's writing ability," says Ann Bowe McDermott, director of admissions at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.

When the test was released, the College Board said the writing section "sends a loud and clear message that strong writing is essential to success in college and beyond." But critics like Robert Yagelski, associate professor of English education at SUNY Albany, disagree, saying the essay section "misunderstands what makes effective writing." One problem is that scoring focuses on organization and tends to ignore factual errors. "It's taking a step away from how students need to write in college," Yagelski says. A College Board spokesperson says the essay "very effectively measures students' writing skills and, in particular, their ability to write concisely, coherently and quickly."

4. "You can game the system."
THERE HAS ALWAYS been concern about the legitimacy of the SAT and ACT-which is why the College Board and ACT Inc. frequently tweak the tests, then put out new studies reconfirming their validity. One factor experts use to determine whether a standardized test is legitimate is its vulnerability to gaming techniques. "If you can take shortcuts to do better, then it's a bad test design," says Mark Reckase, an education professor at Michigan State University; studying subject matter is the only thing that should help improve a score.

But according to the $2 billion test-prep industry, performance on the SAT and ACT can be improved with tips and tricks. "We don't pretend to teach students a lot academically," says Ed Carroll, an executive director at The Princeton Review. "Taking tests is a skill that can be developed, like playing a guitar or tennis." A study by the NACAC supports his claims; it found this type of test prep could add roughly 30 points to a score, or 5 percent per section. A common suggestion: Skip a question if you're unsure of the answer, since it won't count against you. However, if you can eliminate at least one answer, then the odds of guessing correctly shift in your favor.

5. "The practice test is more stressful than the real one."
BEFORE THE test-prep industry took off, the only real way to prepare for the SAT was to take the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT, which debuted in 1959 to offer students a "low stakes" practice version of the pressure-filled admissions test, says Glenn Milewski, executive director of the PSAT at the College Board.

But in 1971, the stakes suddenly got a lot higher for high school kids taking the PSAT. That's when the College Board teamed up with the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which doles out $36 million in scholarships annually to high school students, and renamed the test the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The crux of the relationship: The College Board allows the NMSC to use the test as a way of narrowing the field of potential scholarship recipients based on score. Before the NMSC will even glance at GPA, class rank or any other measure of a student's merit, it looks at results of the PSAT-which can be taken for the National Merit Scholarship competition only once. "We're not saying we get every great student who's out there," says a spokesperson for the NMSC.

6. "Our side business is selling your data."
AFTER MATEI ALEXIANU took the PSAT in his sophomore year, test scores weren't the only thing that showed up in his mailbox. Soon the 17-year-old high school senior from Spokane, Wash., was getting postcards, letters and brochures from colleges-"a whole bunch of junk," he says. The reason for the blitz? He had opted in for the College Board's Student Search Service, which allows colleges to contact you.

Selling your info is just one added way testing services bring in money, says Harry Henry, vice president of Outsell Inc., an education research company. Schools pay the College Board 32 cents a name and ACT 31 cents for address, gender, date of birth, e-mail and other such data. "They're selling the information you paid to give them," says Schaeffer. A spokesperson for the College Board says students don't pay to participate in this elective, opt-in service. Nonprofit ACT says the program "is used to improve our products and services and keep their cost to students as low as possible." Alexianu says when he retook the PSAT/NMSQT junior year, he chose not to opt in. "I already know the schools I'll be applying to," he says.

7. "There's no point in taking both tests."
WHEN IT CAME TO deciding which test to take for college admissions, the decision used to be easy-it depended on where you lived. The SAT has always been more popular on the East and West Coasts, while the ACT has been the admissions test of choice for the Midwest. But now, with the vast majority of colleges accepting both, students can choose. And since admissions officers generally don't give extra weight to one or the other, there's no good reason to take both, says Molly Baab, director of StudentEdge, an online test-prep service.

So how to decide which one to take? Baab suggests taking both tests at home, using versions found online (for the SAT, free at www.collegeboard.com; for the ACT, free with a $20 annual test-prep program fee at www.actstudent.org), then see how you did on each. Some other factors: For students who get stressed by short, timed intervals, the ACT might be better since it's divided into five sections, half the SAT's 10. The ACT also has a science section-if that isn't your thing, go with the SAT.

8. "We've been known to make mistakes."
THERE IS ENOUGH pressure on high school students who take the SAT without their having to worry that their test isn't being scored properly. But unfortunately, just as students slip up sometimes and fill in the wrong answer, Pearson Education, the third-party company that scores the SAT, can make mistakes too-as more than 4,000 students who took the test in October 2005 can attest.

Heavy rain in transit caused wet answer sheets to expand; as a result, some scores were off by as much as 300 points. Exacerbating the problem, affected students weren't informed of scoring errors until five months later, enough time to derail admissions-which is what some students alleged in a class- action lawsuit filed in federal court in Minnesota in 2006 against Pearson and the College Board. The suit was partially settled out of court; students had the option of receiving $275 in damages or submitting a claim for more money, which some have done, according to Joe Snodgrass, an attorney at Larson King, the firm representing the students.

(A spokesperson says the College Board is taking steps in quality control to ensure it doesn't happen again; Pearson had no comment.)

The College Board offers a $50 Score Verification service for those surprised by their score. The fee covers the cost of regrading by hand, says a College Board spokesperson. But even The College Board is skeptical about the service; the PSAT's Milewski, who hasn't heard of a score being changed through Score Verification, says he wouldn't recommend it. If a scoring error is found, the fee is refunded.

9. "We cost more than you think."
BOTH THE COLLEGE Board and ACT recommend taking their tests twice for optimum results-that's around $90 for two go-arounds, not counting test preparation, which can run anywhere from $100 to over $1,000 for tutoring and other approaches. But for many, these costs get compounded by additional fees.

For example, if you miss one of the seven registration dates for the SAT, it will run you about $20 more to register. If an emergency comes up on test day and you need to reschedule or change the location, that's another $20. Want to apply to more than four colleges? The College Board and ACT both charge about $9 for each additional college a score report is sent to after the fourth one. The one safe haven from all this nickel-and-diming: Checking your scores online is free.

10. "We're becoming obsolete."
THE BIG NEWS for the nearly 3 million high school students who take the SAT and the ACT every year is that these tests may start carrying less weight than they used to. The National Association for College Admission Counseling recently recommended that colleges and universities deemphasize the importance of standardized tests unless there was proof these scores predicted college grades and graduation rates, according to Harvard's Fitzsimmons. So far, there are more than 800 test-optional schools, which don't penalize applicants for not including an SAT or ACT score. Instead, high school GPA, class rank and Advanced Placement courses are given more weight in the admissions process.

Of course, the reasons for going test-optional aren't all altruistic on the part of the schools, says Jack Maguire, chairman of educational consulting company Maguire Associates. Since the test-optional schools are more likely to have students submit scores only if they're high, the optional route can raise a school's average test score, Maguire says, boosting its reputation. Still, going test-optional should lead to a more diverse class population, Maguire says, "one that's more representative of society."

by Jason Kephart

Some Undergrads Shave A Year Off College To Save

While educators debate the wisdom of three-year college degrees, some ambitious students are going ahead and finishing their coursework in three years anyhow as a way to save thousands of dollars in tuition.
It takes discipline, they say, a clear study plan and, often, an armful of advanced placement credits from high school.
"I didn't think it was worth it to pay another $40,000 to play with my friends for another year, cheer for a year, and write a thesis," said Nina Xue, who earned a bachelors degree in history and French in three years this spring at Rice University, where she also found time to be a cheerleader.
Xue says she didn't start college with a three-year plan, but did have a head start with 26 AP credits. She took more than 15 hours of classes during two semesters and studied abroad one summer for credit. At the start of her third year, she realized she had enough credits to graduate at the end of the year.
It was hard leaving friends behind, but "making my parents pay for another year of school would not have been fair," says Xue, who plans to pursue a law degree and work in New York City next year.
Only 4.2 percent of U.S. undergraduates earned bachelor's degrees in three years, according to the most recent statistics from the Education Department. The average student spends six years to get a degree at a public university and 5.3 years at a private institution, according to the College Board.
A handful of colleges have begun offering three-year degree programs, an idea trumpeted by Sen. Lamar Alexander, a former education secretary and college president, at the American Council of Education's annual meeting in February. He called three-year degree programs the higher-education equivalent of a fuel efficient car.
But critics say shaving the fourth year off college could limit a student's social experience and provide a narrower education.
"From a financial standpoint, particularly in these economic times, it's a great deal," said Roxie Catts, an academic adviser at the University of Arizona. But that would mean sacrificing some general education courses, she said — "the things that get you out of your comfort zone and stick with you for life."
Barbara Rupp, admissions director at the University of Missouri, added, "In some disciplines it would not be possible" to finish in three years. "Engineering, for example — it is tough to graduate in four years much less three years."
Another student at a four-year college who figured out how finish in three was Charles Jacobson, 20, who graduated this year in business at Skidmore College. He credits good planning and not AP courses. "Halfway through my freshman year, I had all my courses planned out," Jacobson said.
He was motivated to get a business degree after a summer job with a pet store in high school. He recalls going to the Skidmore registrar's office and posing the idea of a degree in three years.
"The first thing they asked me was, are you sure you want to do that? I said yes, and here is my plan."
Jacobson also found time in college to work as a ski instructor and complete a summer internship with a financial planning firm. He said he needed help from the registrar's office to pull off his plan, but he never had a problem registering for the right classes.
"I did have to take 8 a.m. classes, but that is no big deal," he said.
Raphaelle Peinado of Rye, N.Y., a three-year graduate of McGill, said the tough job market has made her wonder whether she should have hung out in college for another year. "It is pretty daunting for students with a three-year degree to go into a very hostile work environment with little work experience," she said.
On the positive side, she thinks finishing in three years may have helped her get into graduate school; she'll be attending a masters program at the London School of Economics.

By PHIL H. SHOOK (AP)
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press.

For Colleges Needing Cash, Summer’s No Longer a Quiet Season

New York Times
June 21, 2009

Time was you could hurl a Frisbee clear across a college green in summer and be assured that you would not bop anyone on the head. If not exactly a ghost town, the typical campus was strangely still from June to August, offering administrators an opportunity to regroup and recharge.

But in recent years, empty campuses have been recognized as potential cash cows, and colleges have tried to fill those once-sleepy weeks with enrichment workshops, for-credit courses, day camps, conferences, private parties and film shoots. That is especially true this summer, as financially battered schools seek to wring all the value they can from venerable halls and shiny athletic centers.

At the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Pomona, administrators offered discounts of up to 20 percent on tuition for summer courses, advertising heavily in local media. The college also reeled in two new summer camps, a general-interest day camp and a wrestling camp, that will pay for the privilege of using the facilities.

“The overall landscape now is one in which you’ve got to become leaner and meaner and more competitive, and that means trying to find more sources of revenue,” said Tim Kelly, a college spokesman. “Summer is an important piece of the puzzle.”

There is a marketing upside, too, in maintaining a busy campus in summer, administrators say. On campus tours, prospective students and their parents respond better to a vibrant environment. And a high school student who takes, say, a three-week screenwriting workshop might remember that institution when applying to college.

But while colleges may be working harder to derive revenue from campuses this summer, some are running headlong into the weakened economy. For years, Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has held or run more than 20 athletic, cultural and academic programs and camps in summer. This year, a half-dozen have folded, citing falling enrollments.

In a usual year, Vassar would reap $400,000 to $500,000 from all the summer activity, but this year the yield will range from $300,000 to $350,000. “That’s a reality we’re all facing,” said Susan DeKrey, a college spokeswoman. “Families and individuals are looking at what they can afford to spend on extra things.”

Some colleges are using the economic downturn as a sort of muse, developing summer workshops geared specifically to downsized workers. Hofstra University on Long Island, for instance, created a class on résumé-writing and interviewing skills.

Hofstra also sought to deflect any economic impact on its sports camps by dispatching coaches, armed with brochures, to high school sporting events. “It was much more intensive this year,” Rich Guardino, vice president for business development at Hofstra, said of the marketing campaign. “We had an early-registration discount and offered some payment plans, which we haven’t done in the past.”

Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., pitched its summer-session graduate courses to those switching fields or bolstering résumés. “We’ve emphasized our summer school a lot more as a way to catch up, get ahead, stay on track,” said Mary Anne Nagy, vice president for student services at Monmouth. “In times of recession, higher education can actually benefit because people are retooling.”

It’s working: enrollment in graduate courses has jumped 20 percent this summer over last. Summer courses are just the tip of the ivory tower at Monmouth, however. This weekend alone, the university leased parts of the campus to a bridal-wear catalog for a photo shoot, a local hospital for an annual carnival and a father-son basketball clinic.

Several outside camps, including one devoted to cheerleading and another to yearbooks, as well as the college’s own sports camps, are returning this summer. Also back is a Police Explorer training program, a boot camp for teenagers, as Ms. Nagy put it. (“The high school students in the police camp also learn that we have a criminal justice program,” she said.)

But the university is most excited about two new revenue sources. An international school nurses conference will bring more than 100 nurses in late July, from as far away as Japan, along with about $30,000 in income. And Fort Monmouth, the nearby Army post, is renting some 30 university-owned apartments for its interns, for an additional $50,000.

All told, the university expects to make $600,000 to $800,000 from outside groups this summer. “If we didn’t have that revenue, then we couldn’t do certain things and we might not be able to keep tuition down,” Ms. Nagy said.

Some colleges have layered on new programs for high school students, tapping into the interest in constructing college résumés. Purchase College in Westchester County already had visual arts and jazz institutes for teenagers, with two- and four-week sessions. It now boasts several more: programs in photography, filmmaking, journalism, theater and Shakespeare.

“Any college worth its salt is constantly looking for new program development,” said Christine L. Persico, dean of the School of Liberal Studies and Continuing Education. “But the need for revenue is greater than ever, so the pressure might be a little bit more.”

Four years ago, Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester received orders from its board of trustees to make more hay of summer. Like Purchase College, it created workshops for high school students. But being residential in nature, the three-week programs have attracted teenagers from around the country for instruction in writing, visual arts and screenwriting.

One, called Summer in the City, involves faculty-led excursions to New York City, with the focus on history one week, scientific research the next and architecture the third. “We’re in the third year of most of them, and from the first year to the second we doubled,” said Micheal W. Rengers, the college’s vice president for operations. “This year we’re holding our own.”

As Sarah Lawrence waits for the economy to rebound, administrators are grateful when something falls from the sky, as happened recently when a new sports camp was looking for a venue. “We’ll make just around $50,000,” Mr. Rengers said of the deal for a six-week session.

The single biggest tenant at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., is a seven-week sports camp that pays more than $300,000. But the other uses — a summer institute for gifted children, an adult theater camp, a music festival and a swim program — add up. It certainly did not hurt that last week HBO shot scenes for a Martin Scorsese series in the college’s signature 1888 building, Reid Castle. (Ka-ching: $25,000.)

“If you add up all our summer programs, it’s probably in the $750,000 range,” said Greg Palmer, the college’s vice president of operations. “It’s not an incredible amount of money, and I’m sure a lot of bigger colleges do a lot more. But our endowment has taken a hit like most schools’, and for us it’s very important.”

By LISA W. FODERARO

Ten Items to Research Before Ever Committing to a College

The Times Herald
May 28, 2009

High school juniors will begin to look at colleges soon and some of the key factors that these students will look at in their college search is the looks and size of the campus; the quality of campus life; the honors and study-abroad programs; fraternities and sororities; and the sports programs. However, before the student makes a commitment to any college, here are ten other areas to consider:

1. The number of course requirements

Course requirements vary widely from school to school. You don’t want to find yourself mired in courses that don’t interest you, while you’re unable to take electives in the areas that do interest you.

2. The flexibility of course requirements

Schools that require specific courses can put you in a bind if you’d rather take more advanced courses, or if you need to take more remedial courses, to fulfill that requirement. Be sure to check that the school allows a choice of course levels to satisfy the various requirements. Also, keep in mind that many top professors avoid teaching required courses that route hundreds of students through the course.

3. The availability of your college major

Never assume that your college of choice offers every possible major, especially if you have a very specialized major in mind. It’s critical to check the list of majors at each college. At certain colleges, some majors are not open to all students, especially those majors that require talent or training (music or art), or those majors that are extremely popular (psychology or journalism).

4. Availability of your desired classes

In the past few years; college enrollments have risen, but the faculty size has not grown commensurately. As a result, there may be very long wait lists for some classes and shortages in first-year classes for students who did not register on the first possible date. Be sure to check the availability of your desired courses before sending in your acceptance letter to the college.

5. Availability of professors

At many state universities, a significant number of instructors are graduate students. It’s important to know how much of your instruction, especially in the first years of college, will be designated to graduate student teachers. It’s ok if a regular professor gives the lectures and the grad student leads discussion sections; however, the real issue arises at schools where grad students are allowed to teach entire courses on their own.

6. The student/faculty ratio

If you attend a school with 10 to 20 students per faculty member, you’re likely to get a lot of individual attention from the faculty. Once the number of students per faculty member goes above 20, you may not get much hand-holding from a professor.

7. Graduation percentage rate

A school with a graduation rate over 80 percent is good and a graduation rate of 60 to 80 percent is quite normal; however, a school whose gradation rate is under 60 percent is not good. Also check out the average time a student takes to receive a degree. You may want to avoid schools whose students take an average of six to seven years to graduate.

8. Quality of the career placement

Very few students even think to ask about the career placement department, but this should be a key item on your checklist assuming the student would like to graduate with a job. Students should ask questions such as, what job placement services are provided by the placement office, what percentage of graduates will be employed prior to graduation, and which companies and organizations recruit your graduates?

9. Are computer classes required?

To save money, some colleges use computer programs for course instruction, or have their lectures posted online, rather than use live instructors. It’s the new do-it-yourself method of instruction, which may not be the best learning experience for the student.

10. The total cost of college

If you plan to attend college then you should know up front what the total cost of college will be to get a degree. The student should also research any opportunities to receive financial aid to help offset that total cost. You will need to find the answers to questions such as, how does the college financially reward a good student, what forms are used by the college to determine financial aid eligibility, what non-need or merit grants and scholarships are available from the college, and what is the average debt incurred by each student upon graduation?

How can a student get this much needed information from the various colleges? Check out the college guides and the college web sites themselves. Ask admissions officers, students,~and recent graduates of the schools. Send e-mails to the appropriate college contacts. Regardless of how you get this information, it~is very important in order to make the best possible college choice and get the most out of your college experience.

By GARY AIKEN