Collegewise

Mustangs and Horned Frogs

The day began early with a quick stop at Starbucks to fuel up for our day of tours at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Texas Christian University (TCU). With our trusty rental car navigation system, we arrived at SMU just before our 10 a.m. tour. Immediately, we were in awe of the lush, sprawling campus. Driving down the main boulevard, Margot exclaimed, "Look at these wide, luxurious lanes!" We later learned that this boulevard is home base for the famous tailgating festivities that precede each football game. These SMU fans rally around their Mustang sports teams, even when the football team loses every game in a season. Football is actually on the upswing, with 6 wins this past season, and women's and men's soccer are perennial players on the national scene. After all of the pre-game celebrations, students probably unwind at the student designed tanning and wading pool. SMU has four undergraduate colleges--art, humanities, business, and engineering. Every student enters SMU undeclared and completes general education courses. There are actually more female engineers at SMU than there are males! This is a place where professors man the writing center, the king and queen of Spain cut the ribbon for the Meadows Museum of Art, and the student center looks like the White House! If you want to graduate from SMU, be sure not to step on the University seal on the floor of Dallas Hall. See our campus tour right here.

College of Wooster

Wooster, OH

We love a college with a sense of style.

Take the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, a community of 1800 students who take learning much more seriously than they take themselves. The college’s mascot is the “Fighting Scot.” The marching band wears kilts and plays bagpipes. Seniors are each given a Tootsie Roll when they hand in their senior projects, and the head football coach conducts the Scot Marching Band during its Fall Concert. Stan Hales, Wooster’s President, sums up the importance of Wooster’s tradition this way.

"Tradition animates Wooster. We can treat it seriously or tongue in cheek, which is indicative of the institution's willingness to do things a bit funky or quirky. There's less peer pressure here, and a wider range of student behavior and dress. We have a lighthearted view toward personal expression. We're very unpretentious."

Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard

I've done my share of ranting about the media's focus on all the bad news in college admissions today.  So it was nice to see this article as a voice of reason in the "Parenting" column of the New York Times.  The author, a Harvard interviewer, points out that most of the kids he interviews won't get in to Harvard.  In fact, he admits that none of his own four children will get in (they won't even apply).  And most importantly, he reminds readers that all of those kids will still be OK even without a Harvard acceptance.  Thanks to Paul K and Katie K (though not the same "K") for sending it to me.

It Bears Repeating

A message to high school seniors--I know that Kevin recently posted a warning to those students afflicted with senioritis.  As it is now the end of April, this sentiment bears repeating.  Sure, it's fine to plan for the prom and to map out fun summer road trips with your friends.  Just remember to do those things after you've studied for your physics exam and written that paper on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  Colleges are very serious when it comes to your academic performance.  This article is concrete proof of the outcome of slacking off.  Those admissions officers are tough!  Let your grades slip to the C and D range and you're looking at writing a lengthy book report on the text of their choosing just to show them that you can really handle college work.  And if they're not convinced, you are no longer welcome at that school.  You've worked hard enough in high school already.  Keep it up and find a balance between celebratingthe end of senior year and the beginning of the next era in your life.

Decisions, Decisions

Like many seniors across the country, the members of our Collegewise class of 2007 are making their final college selections before the May 1 deadline.  And more than any class we can remember, they seem to be wrestling with their choices, seeking our advice about which college will really be the right  choice for them.  That's something we love to see because it means...

1.  In spite of all the bad news, seniors are still getting accepted to colleges.  They have choices. 
2.   Our seniors giving this decision the time and attention that it deserves.

If you're in a wrestling match with your college choices and are struggling to make the right decision, we've got a few tips that might help a little. 

Telling It Like It Is

We've always been impressed by colleges who aren't afraid to come right out and say, "We aren't for everybody."  We think kids deserve honest answers about what their life at each college would actually be like, but it's often hard to get those answers from the slick brochures and flashy websites.  Student blogs, however, are a different story.  They'll tell it like it is.  And according to this article, one quarter of college admissions offices now offer blogs written by students or admissions personnel, and the vast majority of those blogs are largely uncensored.   What a great way to give prospective students a sense of what it's actually like to be there.   

Apps Don't Lie

Honesty really is the best policy...especially when you're applying to college!  My students often ask me how colleges ensure that applicants are telling the truth on their applications.  Couldn't a student make up a college essay about a summer spent studying Buddhism in Tibet?  Are the colleges going to ask for airplane tickets and passport stamps?  How would they know if the student was really involved in any of their activities without a background check?  Turns out that colleges are asking for proof and hiring professional background checkers to safeguard against these exact situations.  This article shows prospective students and the rest of the population who gets swept up in to college admissions pandemonium to put the brakes on the mere thought of faking an aspect of an application.  You know how your mom has an uncanny way of always knowing when you're lying?  Well, now the colleges know, and, unlike your mom, they have no problem with rejecting you.

Just Say "Yes."

We're always telling our Collegewise kids that where they go to college isn't nearly as important as what they do while they are there.  That's an even more important concept to remember at this time of year for kids who might be dealing with some admissions rejections.  Four minutes is hardly enough time to explore this idea, but NBC's Today Show recently had on Lloyd Thacker from the Education Conservancy.  Lloyd advises that kids say "no" to colleges that rejected them, and start saying "yes" to a future at a college who did.  It's good advice, and as we're big fans of Lloyd and the work his organization is doing, I just wanted to share the clip.   

A Brief Trip to the Soapbox

This year, the nation's most selective colleges got even more competitive.  Is anybody really surprised?  Every year they get more competitive.  And every year around this time, respected media like the New York Times run articles like this one about acceptance rates dropping, applicant numbers rising, and exceptional students failing to gain access to the highly competitive colleges of their dreams.  I'm a college counselor, and it's gotten to the point I don't know why I even bother to read these articles because I know exactly what they're going say--the same thing they said last year and the year before that.  So while I'm on my soapbox, I've got a college-related suggestion for kids, parents and media. 

The Madding Crowd

Here's a shocker: it's not that difficult to get accepted into a great college!  There are over 2,500 four year institutions in the United States.  They're excited about opening their doors to students of all interests and academic prowess levels.  So then why does it seem so hard to secure one of those fat envelopes from a college, shouting to the world that "you're in?"  Because the madding crowd--the 3.2 million high school seniors in the USA--are basically all talking about the same highly selective 25 or so schools.  This article provides the hard facts on the sheer size of the Echo Boomers, the children of the Baby Boomers.  There's a lot of competition out there, but they're all running the same race.  The truly smart applicants choose their own unique contest, far from the madding crowd.  This article espouses rationality for the stressed-out masses of 17 year olds.  Escaping the insanity of the college application season with acceptance and rejection letters in tow, one senior remarked, "I was just relieved that I was finally in college."