Help With College Admissions

The Making-it-Count website is a useful information source for college searchers. Put together by Monster and the Bank of America, this site offers useful articles on the college search and admissions process, mainly written by students who have already been through the process. An extra bonus at the site is an online college personality test and a career personality test. Additionally, the company sponsors free college and financial aid presentations at various locations across the country throughout the year. Registration is required to access the full articles and to take the college and career tests for free.

Making the Right College Match

William E. Troutt, president of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., an excellent liberal arts college, has written a terrific OpEd piece Matching Students to the Right College. In it, Troutt notes that the mantra for families going through the college admissions process should be "College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won." More importantly, Troutt admits that current enrollment management strategies, which use merit money and preferential financial aid packaging to lure top students in order to boost prestige and rankings, can do more harm than good. Troutt points to his own institution's use of these strategies as an example, saying that sometimes they can do more harm than good, both to the institution and students. He ends by saying, "It is time to improve the system. Many families need to rethink their aim. So do many colleges and universities. Working together, we can make better colleges matches, enhance student learning and achieve better results for everyone."

Analyzing the "New" SAT Scores

The drop in median SAT scores on the test's new version reported yesterday by the College Board was not all that surprising. For months, college admissions officials and high school counselors had been grumbling about a drop in their school numbers, with the College Board tap-dancing around their questions.

Turn the music up a little louder. In spite of the biggest annual drop in reading scores in 31 years and continued achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups, the College Board continued downplaying the changes. College Board president Gaston Caperton told the press he wasn't concerned with the score declines continuing to attribute them to fewer students taking the test multiple times. That's an interesting comment, as the College Board also continuing to also tell students that repeated testing typically does not change individual student results significantly.

The combined national average of all three sections - critical reading, math and writing - was 1,518 out of a possible 2,400 points. The median score for each individual section was 503 for critical reading, 518 for math, and 497 for the new writing section. These numbers finally give us a a benchmark for evaluating individual combined scores, instead of continuing to look solely at math and reading scores. You can bet that college admissions officials will also be using this information to judge this year's seniors next spring.

If you're a high school junior who hasn't yet taken the SAT, the College Board also released some important information about how to improve your scores on the writing section. For instance, longer essays on average received slightly higher scores, as did those that were not written in the first person.

What do you think of the new SAT results? Share your thoughts on AdmissionsAdvice.com Discussion Forum

Need-Aware Policies: An In-Depth Look

I've talked a great deal in the past about how each institution must make decisions that meet its needs and goals. I've also talked quite a bit about how colleges use financial aid to control their enrollment and manage their operating budgets. Here's an indepth look at the thinking that goes on behind the scenes. Although the article focuses on Reed College and its need-aware admissions policies, the truth is, Reed is not particularly unique or different these days, nor should it, in my opinion, be bashed in any way for telling the truth about its need to make difficult choices. Many other colleges and universities struggle daily with the same questions that are discussed in this article. Smart college hunters will use this information to ask the right questions as they research colleges, and to make informed decisions about what their chances may be. If you're a new reader, and would like to know more about enrollment management and financial aid leveraging, do a search of past issues of this blog to turn up many other helpful insights.

Student Aid and the Cost of Attending College

How much does it really cost to attend college? A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics provides a detailed look at the price of an undergraduate education and the amount of aid students receive. The report "Student Financing of Undergraduate Education: 2003-4" analyzes data collected from a sample of 80,000 undergraduates enrolled in college in the 2003-2004 school year.

Some highlights from the report:

- The average published tuition and fees for full-time enrollment were $2,000 for attending a 2 year public school, $5,400 for a public 4-year school, and $18,400 for a private 4-year school.

- In addition to tuition and fees, the study also looked at the total cost of attendance, including books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses. The total cost of full-time attendance at a 2-year public college was $10,500, at a 4-year public, $15,200, and at a 4-year private college, $28,300.

- However, few students atually pay the full cost of attendance. The study found that 76 percent of full time undergraduates received financial aid, with the average financial aid package averaging $9,900 with student loans averaging $6,200. For students at 2-year private schools, the average financial aid package was $4,900 a year, at 4-year public colleges, $8,700 a year, and at 4-year private schools, $16,300 a year.

- The Net Price of Attendance, in other words, the cost of attendance minus financial aid, was therefore $7,400 at a public 2-year, $8500 at a public 4-year, and $13,900 at a private 4-year school.

Finding Majors By College

Are you looking for a list of colleges offering a major in plant pathology? Ceramic sciences? Scandanavian languages? Or, perhaps you're seeking a list of schools with more common majors such as psychology, American history, and biology. Look no further than the list of majors tool offered on the website of U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges Guide. The page pinpoints the colleges offering nearly every conceivable major. Click on the school's link to get the college's main website address, or, for $15 gain access to the Premium online edition which profiles every school in detail. All in all, it's a very useful tool, especially for those seeking more unusual and hard to find majors.

Best Places for Tuition Discounts

What's the best part of the country for getting a discount on the published price of college tuition? Head for the Plains states: Iowa, Kansas, Mnnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Published tuitions of schools in those states have the highest average discount rate (43.4 percent) of any other area of the country, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) which surveys colleges across the country annually.

Tuition discounting is defined as financial aid in which colleges award institutional grants to individual students, regardless of need. The tuition discount rate is the average proportion of tuition and mandatory fees covered by the grants, and does not include other forms of financial aid, such as student loans.

According to the NACUBO survey, the national discount rate in 2005 was 38.6 percent, approximately the same has the previous three years, with approximately 83.5 percent of incoming full-time freshmen receiving an institutional grant. The highest discount rates were offered by small colleges with published tuitions of $25,000 or less. Colleges and universities in the Southwest - Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas - offered the lowest discount rates, an average of 31.1, followed by colleges and univesities in New England, 34.4 percent.

The bottomline: If you're looking for a good deal on tuition expenses, it may pay to look outside of your home region.

Insights Into This Year's Freshmen

For this year's college freshmen, the Soviet Union has never existed, "google" has always been a verb, and smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines, according to Beloit College's annual Mindset list which was released yesterday. The Beloit Mindset list identifies the cultural landmarks of each incoming freshmen class, most of whom were born in 1988 this year. It's an interesting - and to some adults, frightening - reminder of how times change.
Related Link: Beloit College's Mindset List released

Where CEO's Went to College

Time magazine had an interesting list in its college issue last week showing which colleges the CEO's of Fortune 500 companies attended. The list highlights an important fact: attending an elite college doesn't necessarily lead to an elite career. In fact, as the magazine notes, "When measuring CEO undergraduate education, the University of Texas System has just as much representation as Harvard." I think this fact often gets lost in the frenzy surrounding elite college admissions. I'm not saying students shouldn't aim high, but just getting into an elite college is not the guarantee of success that some assume it to be. Ultimately, what leads to success is individual effort, not a designer name on your college diploma.

Looking Beyond Harvard

Who needs Harvard? That's the question posed by an article in this week's Time Magazine that suggests that students and parents look beyond the traditional name brand schools to find the excellent educational values that exist at hundreds of schools. The article does a good job of summarizing the reasons for looking beyond the designer label, including the all-important "fit" aspect of the college search. That's good news. The bad news is the article includes examples such as Vassar, Davidson, and Washington University in St. Louis as schools that aren't as impossible to get into as Harvard and the other Ivies. True, but they're hardly "easy" to get into either. Still, the article is worth a read, and the points it raises are important ones for all college shoppers to mull over.

Newsweek/Kaplan College Guide

Newsweek's 2007 College Guide is now online and will also be on newstands this week. It contains many useful and informative articles so I thought I'd pass the link along before I leave. Enjoy!

The College Hunter's Bookshelf

In three days, I'm leaving to take my daughter to college. What a difference a year makes. This time last year, my daughter was starting to write her college essays and still trying to figure out her final college list. Even though I'd worked with many other students as they went through the college admissions process, there was something very different about watching my own daughter approach college applications. No matter how calm and cool I advised other parents to stay, it was impossible for me to take my own advice 100% of the time.

Fast forward a year and here we are packing for college. She'll be attending a wonderful small liberal arts college in the Midwest that fits her like a glove. The fears and anxiety we both felt this time last year seem pretty minor at this point. My daughter is excited, happy, and anxious to get started on her new life. Although I've shed a few tears at the thought of her leaving home, I'm also excited and happy for her and very proud of how far she's come to reach this point. If you or your child is standing on the edge of the college admissions process, try to keep our experience in mind: Yes, the coming year will be challenging and, at times, nerve-wracking. But this time next year, you may be wondering what all of the fuss was all about as you stand, suitcase in hand, ready for the next part of the journey.

Because I won't be posting this week, I thought I'd leave my readers a list of recommendations for ten books that should be on every college hunter's bookshelf. Happy hunting and I'll be back on August 21st!

1. College Match by Steven Antonoff is the place every college hunter should start their college search. Antonoff leads students through the process of figuring out what they need and want from a college, and explains some of the myths of college admissions and college attendance.

2. Want to know which schools have the biggest Greek scene? A golf team? A strong program in English? The College Finder, also by Steven Antonoff, is a good place to turn. You won't find much detail here - this book is basically a book of lists, but it is an invaluable way to track down specific characteristics you want or need in a college.

3. Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges is another useful book of lists. Looking for the colleges that have strong programs in a particular major? Rugg's lets you find them quickly and easily. One particularly nice thing about Rugg's is that it doesn't just focus on the most selective schools, so it is a good place to get ideas for matches and safeties as well as reach schools that have good programs in your major.

4. After you've pinpointed some names, my favorite guidebook for initial college research is the Fiske Guide to Colleges. I like Fiske because its profiles tend to be more unbiased and based on solid factual research than other similar guidebooks.

5. Even if you're sure that a research university is the only school for you, I recommend you still read through Colleges that Change Lives by Loren Pope. This book is subtitled "40 Schools that Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges" and even if none of the 40 schools are right for you, you will get a clearer idea of some good questions to ask of every school on your list.

6. Get up to speed on important college financial matters with the College Board's College Costs and Financial Aid early in your college search, and you'll be ahead of the game.

7. There are many college admissions "how to" books on the market, but I am partial to Richard Montauk's How To Get Into the Top Colleges. Montauk explains all you need to know about positioning yourself to best advantage on college applications, and, in spite of the book's name, it is useful to have on hand even if you're not applying to a "top" college.

8. Admission Matters by Sally Springer and Marion Franck is another straight-forward how to guide that explains the basics of finding the right college, preparing an effective application, and making your final choice. Like Montauk's book, I like this one because it doesn't pretend that there are hidden secrets out there that will get you into any college. It stresses that the key to getting into a great college comes back to basics: knowing yourself, knowing the colleges you're applying to, and making sure your applications make the connection between the two.

9. I'm not a big fan of college essay books that contain nothing but examples of other people's essays. An effective essay is about you, and reading other people's essays does little to help you get the essential you on paper. That's why I recommend the unfortunately titledCollege Admissions Essays for Dummies. Here's one book that doesn't contain a single "real" essay, but it does walk you through every step of the process in a simple, easy to undertstand way, and it also provides plenty of brainstorming exercises to help you get started.

10. The Gatekeepers, by Jacques Steinberg, is a classic. Steinberg sat in on admissions meetings at Wesleyan University for a year and recorded what goes on behind the scenes in this book. While the focus is on elite college admissions, this book is a worthy read for all college hunters because it helps you to understand that there are always going to be parts of the admissions process that you can't control.

These are just ten of my personal favorites. If you have a book on college admissions or the college search that you've found particularly useful, please feel free to share it by posting a comment here.

America's Most Expensive College Dorms

College tuition isn't the only cost college shoppers need to keep an eye on. According to a new Business Week report, at some schools the cost living on campus can also be astronomical. The magazine surveyed colleges to uncover the ten priciest dorms in the country. Number one? The University of California-Berkeley, where students will pay $13,074 for room and board this year. Others that made the list, in order of cost: Suffolk University (Boston), Marymount Manhattan College (New York), Sarah Lawrence College (New York), Drexel University (Pennsylvania), the University of California-Los Angeles, New York University, Eugene Lang College (New York), the University of California-Santa Cruz, and Manhattanville College (New York).

When looking at housing and board costs, however, don't forget to factor in the expense of setting up a dorm room or off-campus apartment with the basics. Linens, electronics, decorations, lighting, and even trash cans can quickly add up to many hudreds of dollars and aren't typically fully included in the cost-of-attendance calculation upon which financial aid is based.

Decoding College Applications

What do colleges really want to see on applications? Is it OK to stretch the truth just a bit? Do poor grades early in your high school career mean you have no chance? All of these questions are answered in a short new article, on the U.S. News & World Report's College site. After you've read the article, don't stop there. The U.S. News site's "toolbox" offers many excellent tools, tips and ideas for managing your college applications. There is also a wealth of information here for students just getting started with their college search. And, for less than $15 for a year's subscription, the Premium Online Edition, is an excellent investment that lets you pull up detailed information about admissions, financial aid, and student life at every college and university in the U.S.

Tips for Holding Down College Costs

Is it worth going into debt to pay for a name brand college? Are there ways to minimize student loans? Those are the questions asked and answered by Janet Bodnar, deputy editor of Kiplinger's Person Finance magazine in two recent articles, Who Pays for College? and Trim Your College Bills. Key tips: consider utilizing state merit scholarship programs, graduate in three years using AP credits, and look for tuition deals. While on the site, you may also want to check out Kiplinger's list of the 100 Best Private College Values and the 100 Best Public College Values. Both were last updated in 2003.

Washington Monthly College Rankings

As regular readers know, I am not a huge fan of college ranking systems. While they can sometimes provide a useful datapoint for college seekers, too many students and parents take them as the only datapoint. As a result, they often overlook the only ranking that truly matters: Is this particular school right for me personally?

Another big problem with college rankings is that each ranking system relies on its own methodology to determine which colleges rank highest. It's easy to come up with an entirely different ranking for the same college just by using different measures and weights.

Take the recently released College Ranking developed by Washington Monthly as an example. As the magazine points out, their ranking results were very different from those produced by the U.S. News and World Report. The Washington Monthly college methodology looks at three categories: Community service, research spending and PhD. production, and social mobility. The U.S. News and World Report's college ranking looks at items such as peer opinions of schools, alumni donations, and graduation rates. While all of the data used in both systems is worth considering as you hunt for a college, none of the data really tells you what you personally will experience or gain from attending any particular college. Someday, I'd like to see a college ranking system that looks at what really matters to the day-to-day life of most college students: dorm facilities, the quality of dining hall chow, number of hours you have to spend studying each week, and, of course, the quality of the number of parties each weekend. I bet the results of that college ranking would be quite interesting.

Joking aside, the bottom line: College ranking systems are fun to look at and compare, and the details can give you some key datapoints to think about, but never make college rankings your sole criteria for choosing a college.

Maryland College Guide

If you're considering one of Maryland's many colleges, or just college shopping, take a look at the Baltimore Sun's Online College Guide. Here, you'll find helpful, well-written profiles of all of the colleges in Maryland, from well-known options like Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College and Loyola to less well-known colleges like McDaniel College and
Washington College that are worth considering. The site also includes some excellent articles on the college search and application process, with additional articles added regularly.

College Visit Tips

If you're heading out to visit college campuses in the next few weeks or months, an article in today's Seattle Post-Intelligence offers some helpful tips. The two places on campus every family should be sure to visit, according to the article? The student union and the library to see how (and if) students use them.