What is a capstone, or senior thesis, or senior seminar project? What makes it so valuable to students, and parents paying for college alike? Outcomes, time, money, and, as technology advances, a better opportunity to stay employed. CAPSTONE 101 Senior thesis projects are the most personal expression of the value of an education in higher […]
Frequently, both parents and students wonder how certain members of their class were admitted to a school with lower class rank, test scores, etc. How do seemingly “better” students, with better grades, and better test scores, not get in? The answer is the most significant, and least talked-about word about undergraduate college admissions game: COHORTS […]
GOLD STANDARD SCHOOL Type: College Size: Small (1,791 Undergraduate Only); Style: STEM-Weighted Liberal Arts with Thesis/Capstone Honors College: Yes Affiliations: Tri-College Consortium (Haverford/Bryn Mawr); University of Pennsylvania Student Body: Undergraduate Only (1620 Students) Testing: SAT/ACT Admissions: 13% (Class Size 415); Early Decision 33% Students of Color: 36.8% Male-Female: 49.5%-50.5% Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 8:1 Freshman Retention Rate: 98% Freshman Graduating After 4 Years: 87% […]
Congratulations! You just got into one or more of the colleges of your choice. The first number is rarely the final number. Arriving at a financial aid package that works for you is a bit like shopping for a car, or haggling in a Turkish bazaar for a gold vase. Where you ultimately go will also […]
Overcrowding has been a reality at many large public and private colleges across the United States. Freshman class sizes that were a hundred, then a few hundred, are now rising up to 1,000 or more. Stanford has a few lower-level courses bordering 520, and U.C. Berkeley offers 101 chemistry to 1,000 students or more in […]
Type: Public Research University Size: Very Large; Style: Factory Honors College: Offered by Department/School Affiliations: University of California (UC) System Student Body: Total: 38,276 Undergraduate :27,496; Graduate: 10,708 Testing: ACT: 32 (In-State:31; Out-of-State: 33; International: 33) SAT: (Old system): 2143 (In-State: 2045; Out-of-State: 2204; International: 2182 Admissions: Applied: 82,573 (In-State: 45,786, Out-of-State: 21,219, International: 15,568); Accepted: 14,433 (In-State: 9,758,, Out-of-State: […]
Supplemental questions are a major tripping point for most college applicants. They’re also weeding questions, designed intentionally to trip you up, get rid of you. One is 500 words. The next is 500 characters. Even seemingly innocent questions like “Why do you want to come to our school?” require thought, and the “right answer,” which […]
If you’re NOT applying to a conservatory or fine arts school with a single-admission system, then consider playing the Early game. When you get done making up your short list of schools, you will have a top choice to which you want to apply. The three next questions are: How “top” is it, for you, […]
What’s a “test optional” school? Test optional is Latin for “We’re scared of dropping the SAT/ACT tests because U.S. News & World Report’s all-powerful college reviews will drop us like a hot rock.” There are over 900 schools, though, that put your performance at school first, and either look minimally or not at all […]
95% of students apply to places with nice lawns and good football programs, and a MAJOR, but have zero idea of who will be teaching them. One of the top reasons that students transfer between colleges is because they realize that they’re in the wrong place. You wouldn’t pick a car by saying: “I think […]