Waiting List: Not the Best Fit
April 12, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303772904577333680574993686.html
The Wall Street Journal reported on April 10, 2012 in a print article, Colleges Tough Waiting Game, and more recently online at link above how unlikely it is for students to be admitted from a waiting list. 2011 Princeton admitted 19 of 1248 on waiting list and Stanford admitted 13 of 1078 on waiting list. Some may argue that it is different at non-Ivy league schools. I do not agree. Though your chances may be better at less competitive schools they are NOT good. I advise students to embrace the school that has accepted you, that is most likely your best fit for two reasons: you decided to apply, and they decided to accept you.
Posted by info at 7:14am
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Any Spots Left for Me? 22%
March 19, 2012
Mid 50% SAT and ACT ranges. Cristiana Quinn.
This is a statistic published in most college guide books and online. While the numbers are real, they are misleading for the nation’s top colleges. You need to keep in mind that last year at Princeton, 37% of the entering freshmen seats went to minority students, 17% to athletes, 13% to legacy applicants and 11% to international students. Not published are the number of spots that were given to the children of faculty or staff, VIP development candidates (non-legacy, high wealth individuals) and performing/visual arts students. Those groups all tend to have lower SAT ranges, and If you don’t fall into one of those categories, then your SATs better be in the top 25% range at Princeton and elite colleges.
If what Ms. Quinn reports is accurate, then at Princeton for those of you who are not minorities, athletes, legacy applicants or international then 22% of spots are yours to fight for.
Posted by info at 8:51am
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Ivy League and Athletics: All Div. I’s are not the same.
March 05, 2012
As with other aspects of the college search, find the athletic recruiting and institutional practices that give your student a relative advantage. Ask admissions and coaches to explain how applications of athletes are processed. Check out the article below and you will see Dartmouth’s take on the Ivy League. Note private scholarships with specific criteria are available for athletes at these schools.
Quoting from the first installment of an article in the Dartmouth college paper:
Ivy League institutions offer only need-based financial aid and do not grant any athletic scholarships, making it unique among athletic conferences. Ivy League athletes must also meet certain academic standards in order to be considered for admission.
http://thedartmouth.com/2012/03/05/news/athletics
Posted by info at 8:54am
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Cal States to Fine CSUN $7M for Trying to Educate Too Many Students!
February 06, 2012
Cal State system plans to fine CSUN $7M for not cutting enrollment as ordered. In Northridge’s defense many of the “over enrollment” students were on leave or part-time and “got their life plans going, and this creates a bump in the road.” (Stevens, a director of counselling at CSUN). It should be noted that if you are not a full-time student (get 3-4 classes) then you lose financial aid, housing, athletic eligibility and day care for children to name a few consequences. MORE than a bump in the road to some! The Director of Financial Aid quoted in the Los Angeles Time article: “They’re (students) doing what they’re supposed to do but the rug keeps getting pulled from under them.” Can they take time off and get a job? Not likely in this economy. Are we making a backroom choice WHO gets a college education and who DOESN’T? Life is choices, but let’s get it out in the public. And for those who cannot take the college path, lets offer options other than for-profit trade schools that cost more than CSUN.
articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/28/local/la-me-csun-20120128
Posted by info at 9:53am
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Not Enough Counselors at Community Colleges!
January 10, 2012
A Student Success Task force approved the following for Community College students:
“Under the new plan, all students will be expected to set up an education plan to move quickly toward an associate’s degree or vocational certificate. If they linger too long or take too many classes unrelated to their goal, they lose registration priority.
Posted by info at 8:25am
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Best Public Universities 2012!
January 05, 2012
http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/best-values-in-public-colleges-2012.html.
To get the most out of this article start by reviewing their criteria and note the ratings for some public universities vary substantially when considering as an in-state student or out-of-state student. Despite substantial cuts the University of North Carolina appears to continue to protect the classroom. A lesson the University of California should study. Good news UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego are in the top 10 this year which has not always been the case in past years. Note Kiplinger ranks private universities as well. Again the key to considering rankings whether Kiplinger, US News, Colleges that Change Lives or others is to first understand their criteria.
Posted by info at 8:12am
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UC Changes: Ticket on A Flight to Nowhere
October 24, 2011
The University of California admissions process has rolled out two major changes for this year’s applying seniors both adding only STRESS to the already pressure-cooker process. FIRST, they proudly announce that UC’s will now guarantee to 9% of high school seniors at each high school admission to a UC (up from 4% last year). BUT the only school accepting those students is UC Merced! Those additional 5% would all be accepted at Merced if they applied regularly. Nothing against UC Merced, its a fine school but it like all UC’s does not have every academic major. Is this a change to help qualified seniors get into a UC or is it a ploy to increase enrollment in UC Merced? You be the judge. NOTE also that this year the most competitive UC’s have all increased their available space for out-of-state students, many by as much as 8%. It does a senior no good to win a ticket on a flight if its not going where he needs to go! SHOULD the student pick the school or UC just slot them into to the flight to nowhere because it has an empty seat. SECOND, UC Board of Regents voted years ago that this year’s seniors would not have to take the Subject Tests. But now they say they will look at them and for competitive engineering programs (every UC that has one is competitive) recommend math and science subject tests. The UC’s didn’t have the backbone to JUST SAY NO to the College Board test machine despite their earlier decision that subject tests unfairly disadvantage certain segments of applicant pool. Money talks more than high school seniors?! 2012 finds UC admissions looking more like “the Great OZ” hiding behind his curtain than a transparent admissions process recognized for non-biased decisions focused on fair review of the applicants.
Posted by info at 12:17pm
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Rankings “Rank” with Inflated Nos.
October 07, 2011
Today’s Chicago Tribune names two law schools University of Illinois and Villanova University who have admitted submitting inflated LSAT and GPA figures for their incoming classes to the American Bar Association and US News magazine. The pressures are great to have a high ranking vis-a-vis competing institutions AND to have your ranking continue to rise. We don’t know how many give false reports. For this and other reasons,I counsel my clients that the US News rankings should not be a major factor in selecting a school to attend. For the complete story see:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-1007-chicago-law-20111007,0,6214332.column
Posted by info at 8:23am
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Money Given / Money Taken: Diverse Admission Goals
September 21, 2011
According to today’s New York Times article: “More than half of the admissions officers at public research universities, and more than a third at four-year colleges said that they had been working harder in the past year to recruit students who need no financial aid and can pay full price, according to the survey of 462 admissions directors and enrollment managers conducted in August and early September.”
Money Taken: tuition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/education/21admissions.html?_r=1
Money Given: scholarships intended to entice students from west and east coasts to midwest and pacific northwest colleges/universities trying to gain a footing in national market. This later effort has had lowered yield at some of the east coast private schools that are outside the always popular NYC and Boston areas.
Posted by info at 10:37am
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Taking the Mystery out of the Admissions Process.
August 27, 2011
An interesting book by Mitchell Stevens entitled Creating a Class discusses the application review process putting it in three steps: (I add my comments to each of his categories)
1. Reading and Rating Applications: In my opinion this process drives the creation of a balanced list of schools to apply to. At stretch schools they will be rated relatively low as compared with their safety school. Because this is an inexact science, a continuum of 10-12 schools is a prudent plan.
2. Storytelling (giving the application a memorable third dimension): This is not unlike branding a product. What I describe as putting the “why” behind what you did with consistency across essays, teacher rec’s and application itself. There are thousands of Eagle Scouts…no information really…what did being a scout mean to who you are now? That will be useful information.
3. Class Crafting: Less can be done here. But I do encourage my students to apply to different regions of the country so they are not competing with the exact group of students with each application. ALSO I encourage my students to not apply to all the schools their friends apply to…most colleges do not have the luxury of admitting multiple students from same high school. In essence this then goes back to building a diverse list of colleges.
The process is not so mysterious after all.
Posted by info at 10:24am
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