Collegewise

You can't always get what you want...

...but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

OK, so I used some Rolling Stones lyrics to convey my point, but they were the first words that popped into my head after reading this article.  I'm glad to hear that colleges who ask some freshmen to start in the second semester are creating innovative study abroad programs and community building activities to help these non-traditional students assimilate into college.  And this article comes at the perfect moment in time, as students are receiving acceptances and rejections at this very minute.  I love that Mr. Shaw encourages students to see the bigger picture, reiterating a familiar Collegewise-ism that it's not where you go, but what you do while there.  There's no need for high school kids to think that they can't get no satisfaction from colleges.  In the end, they'll get what they need.  (My apologies to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.)

Let them be kids!

There's no question that this college admissions process has spun out of control.  I, personally, want to see the craziness end.  Just read my previous post and you'll know that I'm about to launch a one woman revolt.  This article both irked me and reassured me.  An example of the irksome parts: "Last Tuesday, for the second year in a row, Westhampton Beach [Long Island, NY] hosted a college night for families of fifth-graders. Counselors and 12th-graders spoke about selecting the right courses and saving money for college. 'It seems crazy, talking to elementary school families about college,' said Rob Finn, director of guidance. 'But it's less about grooming students for the Ivy League than talking about the importance of college in a global marketplace.'"  It "seems crazy?"  It is crazy!

Give it the old college try...again.

This is the time of year when seniors get all their news--both good and bad--from colleges.  Some of those applicants across the country will, unfortunately, get all bad news and be left with no college choices.  This article reminds them (and the rest of us) that there is still plenty of room on lots of college campuses, like UC Riverside, UC Merced, Cal State Northridge, Cal State L.A., Loyola Marymount University, Whittier College and Mount St. Mary's, to name a few.  It's nice to be reminded that, no matter who you are, if you want to go to college, you (still) can go. 

Viva la Revolution!

This article is wonderful because it shows that even college presidents are sick of the arbitrary ranking system employed by US News and analyzed by students all over the country.  Hopefully this article will make you wonder why anyone pays attention to these rankings in the first place.  If colleges stop supplying the data and prospective students refuse to craft their college lists based on these numbers, then a real college admissions revolution will be underway...and it will be better for everyone.

A Fool's Errand?

A Swarthmore professor of psychology offers his proposed fix for the college admissions craze in this article.

While I don't necessarily agree that drawing students out of a hat is the right solution (though he certainly makes a good case), his premise is absolutey true--"Students trying to get into the best college, and colleges trying to admit the best students, are both on a fool's errand. They are assuming a level of precision of assessment that is unattainable."

A Curious Game

Students and parents alike are always searching for more insight into the mystery-shrouded college admissions world.  I was happy to see this article from a former Brown University admissions officer make its way to USA Today.  The writer's perspective certainly applies to selective schools, like Brown and the other Ivy League colleges, but it is not vital for prospective students to think that "college admission is a game of strategy that must be manipulated if it is to be won" for every university.  The vast majority of institutions accept most students who apply and for them "hooked applicants" don't really exist.  But I am happy to see the truth about admission to highly selective schools unearthed, even if it has a tinge of cynicism.

Fake Ranks?

We're not fans of the US News rankings, and apparently, neither is the president of Sarah Lawrence College.  Her recent op-ed piece in the Washington Post argues that the problem with US News college rankings is that they "are far from reliable" and in fact, "some of their numbers are made up."

The letter is sparking even more discussion of the perils of college rankings.   Inside Higher Ed just did a great piece entitled "Would US News Make up Fake Data? "  A lot of people in the know seem to think the answer is "Yes."

Bravo Oregon State

When we're neck deep in Senior Season (application time), we secretly wish that schools would merely require an applicant's name, address, courses, grades, and test scores in order for the application to be complete.  But then we step back from the madness and remember that colleges ask students for essays, activities, and letters of recommendation because they truly want to understand who these students are and how they will bring their unique interests to campus.  I love that Oregon State has instituted a holistic evaluation process, even though I'll admit that at first I groaned upon learning about their short essay Insight Resume.  This article illustrates the personal and human qualities of the application process.  At Oregon State, "The answers [to the Insight Resume] are evaluated blindly — reviewers do not see the rest of the application or even know the name of the applicant. Gender, race and ethnicity are apparent only if applicants decide to provide the information."

The Influential Tour Guide

We've all done it; we visit a college campus, meet the young man or woman assigned to be our tour guide, and within minutes we make judgments about the guide and the school.  I certainly did it when I was a high schooler touring college campuses. Even now that I'm 23, a college counselor, and a former tour guide myself I still catch myself doing it every now and then. Yesterday, as I listened to my Caltech tour guide (who was dressed in Tevas, a flowing ankle-length skirt, and navy blue fencing windbreaker) talk about her three hours of violin practice a day and her fascination with quantum physics, I was pretty sure we would never be best friends.  But it didn’t matter. When I looked around at my fellow tourists (all of whom were students or parents of students), a number of them were incredibly absorbed.  They ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the guide's stories, laughed at her jokes, and smiled at the idea of physics taking over their lives. From my vantage point at the back of the crowd where I stood shuddering at the thought, I could also see those kids captivated by all my guide had to say, those very kids who might fit in at Caltech someday.  They were seeing in Caltech what I saw when I first visited Pomona—a perfect match.

St. John's College

Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM

The home page of the St. John's College website reads: 

“The following teachers will return to St. John’s College next year: Plato, Newton, Galileo, Cervantes, Dante, Melville…”

The list of recognizable names continues on and fades into the background.

No, St. John’s doesn’t literally reincarnate history’s greatest minds, but its unique “Great Books” program means that students spend all four years reading, studying and discussing the most important books in Western tradition.