As reported in Inside Higher Ed www.insidehighered.com today, both Dartmouth and Williams have reversed their two-year old policy of no loans except for the most needy of students. In addition, Dartmouth is cutting non-teaching positions in response to a “structural” budget deficit. Translated, their endowment revenues that are relied upon for operating budget are down. EVEN the rich and famous private universities are hurting in this recession!
What should parents and students do? Take the time to research the financial viability of the colleges/universities you are considering. A good starting point is www.nacubo.org/research , the National Association of College Business Officers. As will all other parts of our economy each college/university will bring a different set of circumstances to the recession.

Just a reminder…
It’s getting closer to the time when seniors will begin applying for housing at colleges and universities. Most colleges take this process very seriously requiring students to complete detailed questionnaires. Their goal is not only compatibility, but also roommates that cause each other to grow by experiences roommates from different  places,  backgrounds or with different interests.
URoomSurf solicits, for example, “Students of University of Iowa Class of 2014” to join in a search for their roommate on line. Perhaps an interesting way to meet people, but the University of Iowa is not going to honor those choices and perhaps they shouldn’t. My guess is most students who participate in URoomSurf won’t step too far out of their Comfort Zone…plenty of time for that the rest of your life, college may be one of your last chances to experience the new or different.

The papers have been filled with discussions of waiting lists at UC’s since the Regents meeting last week. Waiting lists are not new to colleges/universities, they allow universities to avoid the risk of too many seniors accepting their offers which wrecks havoc on dorms and class size. They are new to the UC’s driven by reduced capacity and budgets.
Historically, not many seniors are accepted off of the waiting list because admissions officers “guess” right with their targets for freshman admissions.
As you can see waiting lists for colleges are much like standby lists for airlines–great for the airline and sometimes good for the passenger who happens to want to fly on an unexpectedly open flight . For private colleges/ universities that report their admissions off of the wait list it is typically 1-3% of those on the waiting list.
I hope that Seniors and their parents who are placed on a waiting lists for one or more UC will recognize that much like flying standby your acceptance requires an unexpected opening at one of the all very, over-crowded and under-funded UC’s…not likely. Make alternate plans.

Jay Matthews reports in the Washington Post today that AP tests are being redesigned to move away from fact-based content tests to tests of mastery of concepts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The first test to be changed is Biology. Necessarily high school curriculum will be adjusted. …and perhaps how colleges treat AP credit depending on their preference for students to have a strong fact base.
A voice tells me I don’t like “The College Board” (whoever they are) driving education decisions. Is the tail wagging the dog?..once again.

Los Angeles Times reports today that the Cal State University system currently graduates 48% of its students in 6 years. Graduating only 48% of its students in 4 years is unacceptable.

52% either never graduate or graduate in their 7th or 8th year.

PARENTS AND STUDENTS do the math…the cost of a Cal State education will likely exceed that of a private school. 65% of students at LMU graduate in 4 years.

To address the problem the Cal States are considering reducing the number of general education requirements and not allowing students to change majors easily. These changes and more online audits of student credits is hoped to raise graduation rates to 54% BY 2016 (raise it 1.25% each year..) Cal State officials are putting the blame on the students. First, all students should be required to take general education requirements given the likelihood of changing careers five times. Second, no help for the students who know their major but there is no space–ie nursing. THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT INROADS INTO THE LOW GRADUATION RATES IS MORE CAPACITY, MORE CLASSES AND MORE GUIDANCE.

Applications are up to both public and private universities! Space available at California’s public universities and community colleges is down. Space available at private schools remains constant.

The UC system reduced enrollment of California-resident freshmen by 6 percent, or about 2,300 students, and is expected to shrink enrollment further this year even as a record number of applicants applied for admission for fall 2010, said Nina Robinson, UC  Director of student policy. YES, you read it right cut 2,300 PLUS more!

CSUs are mandated to cut enrollment by 40,000 students statewide over two years, despite having a record number of applications. Bernard Vinovrski, California State University, Fresno, associate vice president of enrollment services, said Fresno State has received 10 percent more applications this year, despite having a shorter enrollment period.

On the private side for the sixth consecutive year, Princeton University has set a record for students applying for admission, with 26,166 applications received for the class of 2014 which will be comprised of 1200 freshmen which translates to 4 in 100 applicants being accepted. The number of applicants for next year’s freshman class represents a 19 percent increase over last year’s record of 21,963 completed applications for the class of 2013. This will be the year when 4.8 GPA, concert pianist and ASB President is nothing special.

ADVICE: YOUR LIST SHOULD INCLUDE SCHOOLS OUTSIDE OF CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK AND MASSACHUSETTS. APPLY TO NO MORE THAN  TWO HIGHLY COMPETITIVE SCHOOLS IF ANY. AND GO OUT AND FIND THOSE GREAT SCHOOLS THAT HAVEN’T YET GOTTEN ON THE NATIONAL RADAR…START BY LOOKING IN THE MIDWEST.

Your lists are complete, teacher and counselor recommendations are being prepared and …

1. SAT’s
NOW is the time to make sure you have sent the appropriate SAT scores to the schools on your list.  The October SAT sitting scores are out Thursday, October 29. Please have your scores sent ASAP particularly those of you who have Early Action or Early Decision deadlines…along with those applying to UC’s, Cal States and other schools with priority deadlines or rolling admissions.

There is a lot of talk in the media about Score Choice, the new SAT option (for some schools) allowing students to not send ALL scores. However, this system is not as simple as it may sound because each  college/university is free to create its own SAT Score-Use Practice. There are currently FIVE different practices with the remainder of schools reporting “Contact Institution for Information”. For a complete listing by individual colleges please cut and paste the link below into your web browser:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/score_choice.html

To show the variety of requirements: UC’s require that you send ALL scores, USC asks that you submit all scores promising they will look at the only the highest section scores, San Diego State is the same as USC (not like UC’s), and Arizona State is Highest Sitting ( highest score on a single test day).

Now you’re all shaking your heads…”How will we ever figure this out?”  Please return to the same link (above) on College Board and take the Score Choice Tutorial. It takes 5 minutes and you will see it is actually quite simple. Most important is that when you select a college or university their policy pops up and you merely do as directed.

BUT…what if I took advantage of my free registration score reports back in June and they were not my highest Math score or they were not my highest sitting???!!!  I do not believe that will hurt your application. From all that I have read the colleges/universities appreciate receiving all of the scores as early as possible for use offering scholarships, subsidized visits etc AND they will follow their SAT Practice whether or not they have additional scores.  I see no reason for them to play “Got ya!” with those who express an interest in them early by sending scores Junior year.

That said…I DO NOT recommend ever taking the SAT or a SUBJECT TEST without adequate preparation…as you can see there is a very strong likelihood that it will be viewed by at least one of the schools to which you apply.

2. ACT’s
ACT’s do not have the added complication of Score Choice.  When you send a score report for ACT’s you do it by test date and location…one day, one score. If you wish to send a second set of scores, then its a separate score report that you send. I did not find on ACT site a list of individual school practices re ACT’s though I would assume they would mirror the SAT’s.

If you wish to view ACT tutorial on sending score reports: http://www.actstudent.org/flash/scores.html?utm_source=actstudent&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=send …you’ll need to cut and paste this.

Now is the time to get those scores sent to your schools and print the send receipt for your records.

The San Diego State University admissions website advises applicants “all applicants are strongly encouraged to have alternate education plans.” SDSU President Weber’s fall convocation reported that 22,000 eligible applicants (had taken all a-g requirements with requisite GPA) were rejected…a single file line 8.4 miles. Where are they to go? Overcrowded Community Colleges?

SDSU is now removing its guarantee for local area admissions which of course helps those students in Los Angeles county. It’s all based on GPA and SAT’s. But remember the GPA’s and SAT’s will be up because there are fewer spaces and broader competition. Another BIG change is that a student must declare a major. Cal Poly SLO has done this for years. Most majors are impacted and even pre-majors are impacted. Could mean years of taking general ed classes waiting for a spot in your chosen major or pre-major!? OR…chose a major wanted to change it…years of general ed waiting for a space. $$$$$$

SDSU is not the only bad guy in the room.  Hats off to them for being upfront.  Across the Cal States for next year 40,000 fewer spots for freshmen will be available.

One must wonder if this is the best solution for the future of California? Is anyone even thinking about it?

My advice to parents and students when considering college ratings in various categories that are based on email responses…”interesting but not truth per se”.
Everything reported is probably true for some students, those who completed the survey…but an overnight stay on a Friday night will let YOU be the judge.

Exerpts from Inside Higher Education Article
Surviving the Party School Rankings
July 28, 2009

Summer means rankings season is upon us. On Monday, the Princeton Review unveiled its newest edition of the The Best 371 Colleges. Though the book has over 800 pages, one page in particular often sends university press relations staff into damage control mode — the top 20 “party school” rankings, the winner of which this year is Pennsylvania State University….
Annemarie Mountz, a spokeswoman for Penn State, was quick to dismiss the accuracy of these rankings, saying that, “This survey doesn’t have any bearing one way or the other.” When she checked Facebook this morning, she found 10 groups “pumping” other students to vote Penn State number one in the party school rankings. Her point was that the lists, which are completely based on the opinions of 122,000 students nationwide, have the potential for manipulation. On average, 325 respondents from each school take the 80-question survey, she said — that’s less than 1 percent of the total population at Penn State. For many students, attending the number one party school is a “badge of honor,” she said.

WESTERN INTERSTATE COMMISSION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
www.wiche.edu
Background: The Commission was established in the 1950’s to support higher education opportunities in what are now the 15 member states. The states are:
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming. The Governor of each state appoints commissioner (s) to serve on the board.

Programs:
1. The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is a program of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Students who are residents of WICHE states may enroll at participating two- and four-year college programs outside of their home state at a reduced tuition rate. Typically, it is in-state tuition plus 50% which is less than out-of-state tuition.
2. The Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP) is a similar reduced
tuition program for professional programs. For example, law school, business school and med school.
3. The Western Regional Graduate Program (WRPG) again is a reduced
tuition program for students wishing to attend graduate programs.

How do students qualify: It is important to check each university to which a student is applying. All colleges or universities do not participate. For example, Washington State University does not participate in WUE but has a
program to assist out of state students from entire country called Compass. Visiting the university’s financial aid site will give you the individual school information. Many participating schools have a specific number of these WUE spots they offer each year. For that reason, it is recommended that students get your admissions application on or before then financial aid deadline which in many cases is February 15. The criteria for selection is NOT based on demonstrated need, but often is related to minimum GPA and/or SAT scores.