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Vol. 20 No. 10
June 2006
Inside Admissions Offices
EDITOR'S NOTE: Summer
is upon us, and this marks the end of CB's 20th year of publication.
Our mission has always been to bring you the latest word on college
admissions from a variety of fronts. So in summing up another
admissions season, here are more results for 2006. Have a good
summer!
Cleveland State Raises Standards. This fall,
it will become harder to get into Cleveland State U. According
to the The Plain Dealer May 20, students will have to
present a minimum 2.3 GPA, at least a 16 on the ACT or 750 on
the SAT and complete a core curriculum. Word of the tightening
of standards produced more applications for this fall; 2,437
so far, with 1,765 admitted. "I think that means that more
people are really looking at CSU as a good academic option,"
said Edward Mills, vice provost for enrollment services.
Grinnell Glimmering. As of May 8, the number of Grinnell
C. students who had sent in their deposits reached 414, 21 more
than at that time last year. "We're right on target,"
said dean of admission Jim Sumner in the school's newspaper,
The Scarlet & Black. About 223 of the new students
come from the Midwest, 51 from the school's home state of Iowa.
About 40 are international students. This year, Grinnell began
reducing the number of merit scholarships it offers and increasing
need-based assistance by several hundred thousand dollars. Sumner
doesn't expect Grinnell to go very deep into this year's wait
list.
Harvard's Yield. This year, Harvard posted an 80 percent
yield, an increase over last year's 78 percent. Harvard's class
of 2010 was chosen from 22,754 applicants. For the third time
in Harvard's history, women will outnumber men, this fall by
883 to 797. The 2010 class is also the most economically diverse
in Harvard's history. Two-thirds of Harvard students receive
financial aid, with the average grant award reaching $30,000,
or 65 percent of the cost of attending. Meanwhile, Harvard has
begun recruiting its class of 2011. More than 70,000 letters
are being sent to high school students and Harvard recruiters
are scheduling their trips to 60 cities. "Our outreach efforts
are more multifaceted than ever before," Marlyn McGrath
Lewis, Harvard College's director of admissions, told the Harvard
University Gazette, "and recruitment 'season' truly
never ceases."
Increases at The Ohio State. The Ohio State U. has
increased the number of applications it receives by 15 percent
over the past decade. Meanwhile, the number of students OSU admitted
fell by 9 percent. (The entire OSU system educates 58,000 students
a year.) Only in the early 1980s did OSU drop its "open
admissions" policy. Now, with more students placing in the
top 10 percent of their high school class, OSU's retention and
graduation rates are up as well.
Credit goes to merit scholarships created in the 1990s, and
OSU's First-Year Experience launched in 2001, according to Mabel
Freeman, assistant vice president for undergraduate admissions
and First Year Experience, who told The Plain Dealer,
"We made a decision that when we accepted a student that
they would be successful."
Plattsburg Hits Its Goals. This State University of
New York school filled its 2010 class by early May, according
to the local paper, The Press Republican. The upstate
New York university had hoped to recruit 975 new freshmen, and
by early May, it already had commitments from 1,082 students.
For the second year in a row, Plattsburg shut off admissions
in late spring.
U. C. Davis' Record Freshman Class. The 30,000-student-large
U. of California, Davis admitted almost 900 more students this
year than last, and is facing a record large first-year class.
The campus had planned on between 4,750 and 5,100 students to
reserve places. Instead, as of May 1, 5,953 students had reserved
their place in the class of 2010. Some 143 were merit winners
of the prestigious UC Regents Scholarship worth a minimum of
$7,500 a year.
Pamela Burnett, director of undergraduate admission, speculates
that the increase results from stepped up recruiting that attracted
8.6 percent more applications this year. About 27 percent of
them accepted a place in the new class. The university is working
with nearby apartment owners to create housing for the record
class. New courses are being designed. The school is also urging
current students to take more summer classes.
U. of Chicago Sociability. The U. of C. received 9,570
applications, and admitted 36 percent or 3,481. Some 3,000 students
applied early, and 1,139 were accepted. As of May 19, 1,322 students
had sent in their deposits. Ted O'Neill, dean of college admissions,
told the Chicago Maroon, the student newspaper, "Our
image has probably changed from a place that's more austere to
a place where a more balanced social life can be had," he
said. And the U. of C. has gone from a male-dominated institution
to one where the male/female ratio is even.
Out-of-State, Out-of-Luck. After floating a plan to
increase the number of out-of-state students from 10 to 15 percent,
(see CB May) U. of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign officials were forced to withdraw the idea in
the face of widespread in-state opposition, including from high
school counselors. Even though Illinois' out-of-state percentage
is the lowest in the Big 10, state residents balked at the move
to increase exclusivity because it is already so hard for Illinois
high school graduates to gain admission. Seven of the Big 10
schools admit more than 25 percent of their students from out-of-state.
The U. of I. receives three applications for every admitted
student. To increase quality, Illinois will go ahead with its
plan to shrink the freshman class from 7,500 to 6,500 .
U. of Washington Diversity Soars. Last year, the U.
of Washington in Seattle recruited 118 African American freshmen;
this year 146. Slots offered to Native American and Asian students
also are up 17 percent, and 13 percent more Hispanics were admitted
than last year. Offers to white students are also up 6 percent.
The freshman class size will increase by about 10 percent.
According to the May 16 Seattle Times, one reason is
UW's new "holistic" admissions system that admits students
on criteria broader than just grades and standardized test scores.
One counselor said the system also made students take their senior
year more seriously.
However, despite the new method that encouraged applications
from a broader range of students, the academic profile of admitted
students remained about the same as last year. The average new
student carries a 3.67 GPA and combined SAT score of 1195.
Wisconsin Also Goes "Holistic. Beginning in 2007,
the U of Wisconsin system, representing 13 public universities,
will implement a "holistic review" of first-year applications.
"There will be no automatic admissions, even for top students,"
said Larry Rubin, the system's assistant vice president, in the
May 23 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The aim is to boost
student diversity.
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People
are Talking About...
Wait Lists Unused? According to The Wall Street
Journal, few students are being admitted off of the wait
lists at selective colleges and universities this spring. Harvard
admitted between five and 10 students, down from 28 last year.
Georgetown admitted 10, down from 70 last year. The U. of Chicago
admitted seven off its wait list. Last year it admitted 34.
The U. of Pennsylvania expects to take between 10 and 15 students
off its 1,400 student wait list. Princeton, Emory and Ohio State
had not yet gone to their wait lists by mid-May. In part, that
is because the percent of students who accepted offers of admission
is up at these schools. And that may mean most of those record-high
applications came from interested students. Haverford C., however,
admitted about 40 students from its 305 student wait list, up
from 23 last year. The U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill plans
to admit 100 from its wait list this year, because it admitted
fewer students in the first place to compensate for a fuller
class last year.
What to do? The Journal suggested that students on
a wait list continue to show interest in a college if they are
still interested, without being a "pest." Also, if
they have new information such as their final grades or new awards,
they should submit them as well.
Double Deposits? The practice of undecided students
making double deposits to push back the May 1 final decision
date until they show up at one of the colleges in the fall appears
to be a problem again this spring. According to a New York
Times article May 20, more students seem to be doing it,
at the risk of having their admissions offer withdrawn from both
colleges or universities.
"It's fundamentally dishonest to say to more than one
college that that's where you're going to be in the fall,"
Dan Rosenfield, dean of enrollment management, the U. of Louisiana
at Lafayette, told the Times. "And it's not a victimless
crime."
Some students defend themselves saying that they are in wait
list limbo at one of their top choice schools. But many students
and parents pay the double deposit while they try to negotiate
a better financial aid deal from one of the institutions.
According to the Times, some colleges are thinking
of increasing the amount of the deposit to deter double payment.
Others are thinking of creating a clearinghouse to identify offenders.
Harvard's Challenge. A special report in the May 12
Chronicle of Higher Education charged that Harvard and
other elite colleges "lag behind in serving the needy"
and that "The institutions with the most money do a poor
job of reaching the students with the least." For example,
the paper pointed out that "just 8.1 percent of Harvard's
9,500 undergraduates come from families with incomes of $40,000
or less, the level at which students typically qualify for a
federal Pell Grant." Even though "Wealthy institutions
are increasing financial aid to low-income studentsthe proportion
of such students on many of the campuses remains small."
Are SAT Scores Down? Early word is that SAT scores
in combined Critical Reading and Math declined by a surprising
4 to 5 points this year, the May 19 Chronicle Of Higher Education
reported. Scores of students applying to the U. of California
system plummeted by 15 points, among the students who have a
comparable class rank and GPA to previous years. Scores fell
by the same number at LaSalle U.
However, at the C. of William and Mary, scores remained stable,
while Florida State U. saw an increase in SAT scores of 12 points.
At the U. of Virginia, SAT scores were up nine points on both
reading and math sections. "Scores go up and down-the difference
this year is so small that it's not significant," John A.
Blackburn, Virginia's dean of undergraduate admissions told the
Chronicle.
Some speculate that because fewer students retook the test
this year (with an average improvement of 30 points), scores
are lower. That may be because it costs $41.50 instead of $28.50
to retake it these days.
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Are
High School Grads
College Ready?
NOT REALLY,
claim Indiana U. researchers Martha McCarthy and George D. Kuh,
writing in the May issue of the Phi Delta Kappan, where
they reported on data about student engagement in search of the
causes of college dropouts.
According to the researchers, only 68 of every 100 ninth-graders
graduate from high school on time, and only 40 out of the 100
enroll immediately in college, while just 27 of the original
100 return for a second year of college. And among those who
make it to college, three-fifths of those in two-year colleges
and one-fourth of those in four-year institutions require remediation.
Many of them drop out. The question is, why do so many fail to
be college ready? The answer, in part, is because in high school
"they are not developing the skills they need to succeedwriting,
spelling, basic math computation and so forth."
Are Students Engaged?
Meanwhile, results from "The High School Survey of Student
Engagement" that questioned 170,000 grade 9-12 students
in 28 states indicate that 47 percent of high school students
spent three or fewer hours a week studying. On average, young
women studied two hours a week more than their male counterparts.
However, in college they will need to study at least twice as
long.
Only 53 percent said they put forth a great effort on their
high school work. Only 51 percent said they felt challenged to
do their best work. Only 47 percent said their schoolwork makes
them curious to learn about other things, while just 35 percent
said they were excited about their classes. And 80 percent said
they spend three hours a week or less reading assigned materials.
That is far less than they will need to read and far less intellectually
curious to succeed in college.
About 78 percent of high school seniors reported that they
wrote three or fewer papers of more than five pages, while 24
percent said they had written no papers of this length during
the school year. Fewer than 49 percent took a math class during
their senior year of high school. And, students spend more time
socializing and watching TV than studying.
So it should come as little surprise that many students are
just not prepared to do college work. The conclusion: high schools
must do more to prepare students if they are to succeed in college
and reach their goals of graduating.
NACAC's State Stats. The National Association of College
Admissions Counseling released its annual report, "State
of College Admissions 2006" which includes these interesting
stats:
- On average, the ratio of applicants to admissions officers
is 683 to 1 at public schools and 279 to 1 at private schools;
- Colleges spend $442 to recruit each applicant;
- 60 percent of the nation's 3 million high school graduates
enroll in a post-secondary institution;
- Although black and Hispanic students comprise 32 percent
of the college-age population, they make up only 18 percent of
undergraduates;
- 73 percent of colleges saw an increase in applications;
- 70 percent of all applicants were accepted;
- 55 percent of applications came from women;
- A majority of colleges recalculate GPA to standardize admissions.
Find the complete report at: www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ProfessionalResources/Research/SOCA.htm.
Good Economy for Grads. The good times are back in
the job market for college grads with the right set of skills.
Hiring is expected to increase by 14 percent. Computer engineers
can sign for $54,200. Accountants can command $46,188 to start.
Salaries are up in many places with new competition for grads.
"It's the best (college job) market" in four years,"
one expert told the May 17, USA TODAY.
P.S. A new report from the American Youth Policy Forum
and Pathways to College Network, "The Link Between High
School Reform and College Success for Low-Income and Minority
Youth" is available at www.aypf.org
or www.pathwaystocollege.net.
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THE COUNSELOR'S CORNER
Gap Year Options in
Israel
IN RECENT YEARS, CB
HAS TRAVELED OVERSEAS to bring our subscribers first-hand
reports about college options for U.S. students including those
in Australia and Spain, for example. This spring, CB traveled
to Israel to investigate "Gap Year" programs available
to U.S. high school graduates, and others from around the world,
before they head off to college. We also visited five of Israel's
seven public universities. Our trip with a national group of
highly-experienced school and independent college counselors
from the U.S. was sponsored by two Israeli organizations: the
Jewish Agency's MASA (meaning "Journey"), an umbrella
organization for 100 student programs, and the Avi Chai Foundation.
Most of these gap year programs are tailored for visiting
Jewish students of all religious traditions, although some, particularly
the universities, are open to non-Jewish students as well. All
offer scholarships for U.S. Jewish students through MASA.
The programs are supervised and have built-in security measures
to keep students safe. The streets of Israeli cities, and the
countryside, are filled with vibrant activities. Everywhere new
buildings are going up and people move peacefully about their
daily lives. And yet the tension of world politics is evident.
Students learn much through the uneasy balance. Here is some
of what we discovered.
WHY A GAP YEAR?
The gap year experience makes sense for students who,
for a variety of reasons, are not ready to rush off to college,
but who want a valuable and directed work or learning experience.
Gap year students typically apply to colleges in their senior
year of high school, and once accepted, ask the college they
decide upon to defer them for a year. Most colleges are willing
to grant such a request, knowing that the student is likely to
attend a year later but with a greater sense of themselves and
the world, and what they want to do in and out of school.
Parents sometimes sign contracts with their child saying they
will return to go to college the following year. A gap year in
Israel is not only a valuable religious experience for many Jewish
students, it is a dose of political, sociological and psychological
reality for students who, if they have not charged into college,
are probably in search of an authentic new adventure. These MASA
programs deliver on that front as well. Students who participate
in these MASA programs (all are conducted in English) learn a
new language (Hebrew), experience a new culture, make new friends,
participate in a variety of adventures exploring the country
and make volunteer contributions to society.
Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education
The Alexander Muss Institute is launching a new one-year
gap program called SIACH (Study Israel Academic Community Head
and Heart). "Siach" is a Hebrew word that means "conversation,"
"dialogue" or "exchange of words or ideas."
The program is pluralistic, associated with no particular tradition
(Orthodox, Conservative, Reform), but rather tries to help students
clarify their beliefs. Based in Jerusalem, overlooking the Old
City, it combines academic study, religious reflection and community
service. Students can earn between a semester and a full year
of credit through the University of Judaism. The costs for tuition,
room and board and activities for the 2006-2007 academic year:
$16,000. See www.amiie.org.
Bar-Ilan University's Foreign Students Program
About 70 foreign students live and study together in more
conservative Bar-Ilan U.'s Foreign Students Program. Bar-Ilan
U. has a much more religious feel than near-by Tel Aviv U., but
students participate in the same broad range of academic, cultural,
religious and volunteer activities as other gap year experiences.
According to the program guide, "at Bar-Ilan University,
Jewish scholars, scientists and educators share a common goal-ensuring
that Jews of all backgrounds discover their Jewish identity.
Bar-Ilan is the only university in Israel with a core curriculum
of Jewish heritage courses. All of Bar-Ilan University's 26,000
students, more than half of whom do not have a traditional background,
participate in these courses -knowledge of Jewish heritage and
ethics which remains with the students for the rest of their
lives." Costs: $14,000. For info, see www.biu.ac.il/overseas/.
Carmel Program at the University of Haifa
"Carmel: An Israel Study Program and Progressive Beit
Midrash" is a year-long "program of progressive Jewish
learning and living in Israel," according to Anat H. Levtov,
a coordinator in the Department of Overseas Studies at the U.
of Haifa. "Students complete coursework and receive academic
credit from the University of Haifa, and study at the Reform
Movement's Lokey International Academy of Jewish Studies at the
Leo Baeck Education Center...." Some classes are on the
university's beautiful hilltop campus overlooking the city of
Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea. Students also do volunteer work.
The program targets students graduating from high school. Cost:
$18,000. For more info, contact Anat H. Levtov, Carmel Program
Admissions Coordinator, at alevtov@univ.haifa.ac.il,
or see www.carmelisrael.org
or www.uhaifa.org.
Nativ, College Leadership Program
Nativ means "path" in Hebrew. The nine-month Nativ
Program, associated with the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism, combines a serious dose of academic work at Hebrew University
in Jerusalem or study in a Yeshiva or religious school, plus
community service or work on a kibbutz or collective farm. The
goal is to "strengthen Jewish identity, build a strong connection
to Israel and prepare students to assume leadership roles in
the Jewish community." Cost: $15,560. For more information,
go to www.nativ.org.
The Rimon Music Experience
This new international music program is at Israel's best-known
independent professional music school located in a suburb of
Tel Aviv. It is designed for aspiring but skilled musicians seeking
to broaden their creative range in composition and arranging,
film scoring, song writing, jazz, vocal and instrumental performance,
or music production and engineering. It includes a Hebrew language
component, volunteering with Israeli students, tours throughout
Israel and seminars on Israeli society. Students need to complete
a music audition to be accepted. The Rimon School also has an
accreditation agreement with Berklee College of Music in Boston,
which allows students to graduate from Berklee within two years.
Cost: $14,000 for tuition, room and board, transportation, educational
seminars.
For more info, see www.rimonschool.co.il
or contact talz@jazo.org.il.
The Rothberg International School
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Rothberg International School at Hebrew University (founded
in 1925) in Jerusalem attracts students from over 40 nations,
including many non-Jewish students, to its year-long Freshman
Program. Students study Hebrew, Jewish studies and issues of
war, peace and co-existence facing the countries of the Middle
East. Students who are fluent in Hebrew can take other courses,
or apply to a three-year B.A. program. Tuition: $10,000. See
http://overseas.huji.ac.il.
Young Judaea's Year Course
Based in Jerusalem with experiential opportunities throughout
Israel, the Young Judaea's Year Course operates out of an impressive
new multi-million dollar Judaean Youth Hostel and activities
center overlooking the ancient and modern city. Students who
are recent high school graduates learn Hebrew, participate in
other academic activities over nine months (receiving up to 26
college credits), volunteer in programs ranging from work in
soup kitchens, a school, the army, or on a kibbutz and traveling
around the country. Cost: $14,900.
Young Judaea also offers three-week and five-week summer programs
for teens entering grades 10-12 that include seminars, hikes
and culture. A Special Interest Week includes a Desert Trek or
a Sea-to-Sea Hike. To find more information, go to www.yearcourse.org
or contact yearcourse@youngjudaea.org
at the program's New York office.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Overseas Program
In addition to a Freshman Year Program, matriculated U.S.
college students or recent graduates who are looking for an experience
in the rugged but beautiful Negev Desert will find the Overseas
Program at Ben-Gurion U. fascinating. Located in Israel's fourth
largest city of Be'er Sheva, Ben-Gurion U., named after the nation's
founding father David Ben-Gurion, attracts 18,000 students, including
many Bedouin students. Courses in anthropology, archeology, Middle
Eastern studies, the environment (including desert studies),
political science, Hebrew literature and Arabic language. Cost:
semester, $7,810; year, $11,415. See www.bgu-osp.org.
Tel Aviv University
The Lowy School for Overseas Students at Tel Aviv U. is another
possible destination for matriculated U. S. college students
seeking a year or semester's study abroad in a more secular environment.
Tel Aviv U., built in the 1960s, draws 29,000 students from around
the world to the campus with a view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Lowy School students learn Hebrew and take courses in Jewish
studies, Israeli studies, Middle Eastern studies, politics or
other general courses taught in English, earning three credits
per course, or participate in internships. The program is accredited
by many U.S. universities. Cost for a semester: $8,010; for a
year, $11,760. For more information, see www.telavivuniv.org.
You can find a complete listing of MASA's 100 study programs
and info on scholarships at www.masaisrael.org
and you can access all the web sites directly at CB's website.
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COUNSELOR'S BOOKSHELF
Hot off the presses for summer reading.
Listening to the Experts: Students with Disabilities Speak
Out by Elizabeth B. Keefe, Veronica M. Moore, Frances R.
Duff (Brookes Publishing Co., 2006), ISBN: 1-55766-836-1; $19.95.
Professor's Guide to Getting Good Grades in College
by Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman (HarperCollins Publishers,
July 2006); ISBN-10: 0-06-087908-4; $15.95.
Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart (Basic
Books, Spring 2006), ISBN: 0-465-08231-9; $22.95.
The Thinking Parent's Guide to College Admissions: The
Step-by-Step Program to Get Kids into the Schools of Their Dreams
by Eva Ostrum (Penguin Original, June 2006); ISBN: 0143037412;
$15.
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COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig
Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally
Reed; Circulation: Irma Gonzalez-Hider; Illustration:
Louis Coronel; Board of Advisors: David Breeden,
Edina High School, Minnesota; Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford
(N.Y.) Central School District; Howard Greene, author,
The Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning Series; Frank
C. Leana, Ph.D., educational counselor; M. Fredric Volkmann,
Washington University in St. Louis; Mary Ann Willis, Bayside
Academy (Daphne, Ala.).
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In This Issue
Feature Articles
Inside Admissions Offices
People
Are Talking About...
Are High
School Grads College Ready?
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
-Gap
Year Options in Israel
COUNSELOR'S
BOOKSHELF
-Hot
off the presses...
HAVE A GREAT
SUMMER!
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