Top College Prep » Choosing College

Accepted to College?

admin — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:58:53 +0000

Now that your child is accepted to the colleges your child and you hope to gain admission to, what is next?

1) Look at ALL the offers.

2) Visit the school again.

3) Discuss who is footing the bill.

4) Consider buying a home in the town where your child is going to school.

5) Ask about starting salaries of graduates.

6) Consider Work-study programs.

7) Look for paid internships.

Be honest.

9) Consider taking a gap year.

10) Don’t forget your tax credit of up to 2500$ each year for the tuition you pay.

College Admissions Lottery

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:42:36 +0000

Here is an interesting article from insidehighered.com about the college admissions process.

By Chad Aldeman

Students will soon be receiving word from their chosen colleges and universities, but as more students apply to more colleges than ever before, the joy of acceptance or the agony of rejection are increasingly random. It’s time to stop treating the college admissions process as we have in the past, and start treating it as it’s become: a lottery.

A friend of mine worked for two different college admissions departments. The first was a traditional liberal arts college in the Northeast, an institution that prided itself on the character of its class. Admissions officers there more or less knew the high schools of applicants, had time to read the students’ personal statements and letters of recommendation, and truly thought about whether the applicants would be a good fit for this particular institution. It was a relatively sane process.

Mainly because of the sheer size of the applicant pool, my friend’s second institution operated differently. This competitive institution in the greater Washington area relied much more heavily on the all-important numbers — high school grade point average and SAT score — rather than some holistic determination of student quality.

Each year, thousands of qualified applicants bombarded the admissions office, and, even after setting a relatively high standard, the admissions office had far too many qualified applicants to choose from, and very little time to do so. During admissions season, each officer was expected to sort through 50 distinct applications per day, five days a week. At eight hours a day, not counting breaks, meetings, visitors, and phone calls, the admissions officer had roughly 10 minutes to devote to each applicant (eight hours a day times 60 minutes per hour divided by 50 applicants). Ten minutes, unless, as my friend points out, they were athletes or legacies.

At many institutions, in other words, it is a far more random process than colleges would like students to believe. The myth of a meritocracy, on which the selective admissions system is built, is substantially a lie.

Selective colleges did not mean for this to happen; rather, they are victims of their own success, along with the emergence of a truly national higher education market and the rise of a rankings-driven consumer culture. But, there is no going back now, so colleges should embrace the unavoidable randomness and go from a lottery-like system to a true lottery.

Institutions would set a threshold based on high school grades and SAT score and then open the lottery to anyone meeting those levels. A public university might have one lottery for state residents, after determining how many slots they should receive, and fill remaining spots with another lottery for out-of-state students. Everyone would have an equal chance of gaining admission, and the process wouldn’t be subject to influences from money, alumni, or human error. Students who submit scores would be eligible for admission to institutions without going through the tedious and expensive process of writing essays, asking for recommendations, and paying separate application fees to each institution. They’d pay one fee to be a part of the lottery. Institutions would save on the cost of operating admissions offices that would be better invested in scholarships or teaching.

There are several examples of lotteries operating successfully in other fields. The system of placing medical students in residency programs is a good example of a large, higher education-created lottery. An objective third party inputs preferences from residency programs and prospective students, and then conducts a fair, impartial matching process to fill seats. Successful lotteries vary in the level of control afforded participating parties, but they require some minimal standards, an ability to receive preferences from each party, and then an objective system to match the two sides.

A lottery would increase opportunity for students who lack social connections, and a lottery would make it impossible for colleges to favor candidates unlikely to need financial aid over those who do. It would also reduce the perceived stigma of non-acceptance, and thus the terrible pressure that many high school students face. It would create an objective baseline for each institution, end the pretension that college admissions are non-random, and focus institutional missions back where they belong: teaching and preparing students to be productive members of society.

College admissions are already random; let’s just admit it and begin developing a more effective system. A lottery might be the answer.

College Admissions Webinar

admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:34:38 +0000

There are a lot of ways to get information on the school that you want to apply to. You can visit the college campus in person, or visit their web sites. Another way that I learned yesterday was through a webinar (Web Seminar, I suppose).

After dinner, I and my son sat in front of the computer screen in our family room. My son had signed up for the webinar about a week ago and received a link to the webinar. After clicking the link, we were taken to the site where the webinar was taking place. If you are not familiar with this idea, just imagine that you are in a lecture hall with a presentation made on a screen in front of the audience. Webinar is the same; the screen is your computer screen. You can even ask questions. The webinar site provides a little gadget on your screen where you can type in your questions. Then the lecturer selects some questions that are representative of other questions and provides answers live, through the speakers connected to your computer. It was my first experience with a webinar last night. It was so cool. There is no need to drive or fly 5 or 10 hours to attend college admissions seminars held by the colleges that you are interested in. The college admissions presentation comes to your living room!

There are many more webinars on college admissions, I suppose. All you have to do is call or contact the admissions offices of colleges you are interested in and ask if they hold webinars on admissions. If they don’t, they will after enough people ask them about it.

College Visits

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:05:29 +0000

Robert Frost at Amherst.

When visiting colleges, spend some time listening to and watching what students are doing. See how the students are interacting, what they are wearing, what books they’re reading and so on. Are the students lively and enjoying what they are doing?

It is always a good idea to do the traditional tours, to observe classes and to attend informational meetings on campus. To get a real sense of the school, go and speak with the students and observe what they do outside of classrooms.

The alumni network will tell about how the graduates feel about their college education. Find out what career paths alumni have chosen and who some of the “famous” alumni are.

If the college offers an interview, you must use that opportunity or you will be put at a disadvantage, at least with some colleges. However, many schools do not require or recommend that you ask for an interview. If you do have an interview, try to highlight yourself with what the college wants to know more about yourself. The most important thing, however, is being yourself. You want to attend a college because it will fulfill your educational needs not because of its ranking, after all.

Whatever you do during your visits to a college, enjoy yourself, try to imagine yourself among the students and see if you will like it.

Harvard Application Increased

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:42:16 +0000

Harvard Library

“A record-breaking number of more than 29,000 students have applied for spots in Harvard’s class of 2013, up about 5 percent from last year’s 27,462 applicants, the admissions office announced today. With an increase in applicants but the same number of spots available, this year’s admissions season is poised to be even more competitive than last year’s.” – quoted from Harvard Crimson.

According to William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, the admission rate will be lower than usual since Harvard is expecting to have only 1660 seats available for the new freshman class. They are expecting to offer less number of admissions to the applicants, offer less admissions in April then go to the waitlist to fill spots.

Yale has also announced that they had a great increase in the number of applicants this year. Both of these schools offer great financial aid packages to students so that students do not have to rely on student loan to pay for their education. So… Does this increase in the number of applicants at both of these top notch schools have anything to do with the economic difficulties? What do you think?

Good luck to all the applicants!

It’s never to early.

admin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:35:14 +0000

I found a great web site on helping parents prepare their junior high school children for college. The site gives a very generalized view of preparing for college. Getting ready for college early gives information on why going to college is important, how to prepare and how to pay for college.

Another web site run by the government gives good information for high school students, their parents and teachers. Go check it out.

Liberal Arts College Ranking: Top 10 (U.S News)

ckpiano — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:14:50 +0000

These liberal arts college are schools which emphasize undergraduate education and award least half of their degrees in the liberal arts field of study.

1. Amherst College: Amherst, MA. Tuition: 37,640. 2007 enrollment: 1,685

2. Williams College: Williamstown, MA. Tuition: 37,640. 2007 enrollment: 2,046

3. Swarthmore College: Swarthmore, PA. Tuition: 36,490 2007 enrollment: 1,491

4. Wellesley College: Wellesley, MA. Tuition: 36,640. 2007 enrollment: 2,380

5. Middlebury College: Middlebury, VT. Tuition: 49,210 2007 enrollment: 2,500

6. Bowdoin College: Brunswick, ME. Tuition: 38,190 2007 enrollment: 1,716

6. Pomona College: Claremont, CA. Tuition: 35,625 2007 enrollment: 1,547

8. Carleton College: Northfield, MN. Tuition: 38,046 2007 enrollment: 2,005

9. Davidson College: Davidson, NC. Tuition: 33,479 2007 enrollment: 1,674

10 Haverford College: Haverford, PA Tuition: 37,525 2007 enrollment: 1,169

College Ranking and Selection

Scott — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:58 +0000

Well, Harvard is on top of the list. Then come Princeton, Yale and so on. Does it really matter how US News people rank the colleges in the US? They do give us some objective data, the usual scores, acceptance rates and so on. Rankings based on numbers alone can be misleading, in selecting the right college for your children, or yourself. Studying at a top ranked schools can be challenging and rewarding. Should you try to get into one the top ranked schools?

“Dropping the H-Bomb” is what the Harvard students call it when they let people know that they attend Harvard, and it sounds so cool. Tons of people would do anything to be able to say it. Am I trying to put my children into Harvard or Princeton? Not really. I want my children to attend a competitive school where they will get good education and have to work for it. I want them to learn that hard work in school pays off with good grades and apply that later when they join the work force. I want them to have the opportunities to really test their abilities and still do well.

“A stretched mind never goes back to its original size.” As my older son studies in high school, I want him to be prepared to do well in any college he goes. I try to teach him how to study, how to manage his time, how to prepare for tests and etc. I want him to make the best of his opportunities and his talents. College should be the time to have fun, meet different people and also prepare for the future. I want him to be ready for the right college that he chooses. Where will he end up? Harvard? Yale? UCLA? or??? I will let you know in about 3 years; so, keep reading!

Please, feel free to leave your comment.