College Admissions Counseling Blog

Adds Tufts University to the list of schools which is replacing loans with grants for at least some of its students. Tufts has announced that they are replacing loans with grants in financial aid packages for students with family income below $40,000. Congratulations Tufts.

More good news as Haverford College has announced that it will be eliminating loans for incoming freshman and will be reducing the loan burden for continuing students. I suggested earlier that I hoped that we would see a trend for more colleges to eliminate loans from financial aid packages and it appears that this is indeed happening. Haverford and all of the other colleges who have eliminated loans and otherwise made college more affordable for their students are to be congratulated.

The latest college to announce the elimination of loans from financial aid packages is the University of Pennsylvania. Penn is using a phased in approach to eliminate loans. Beginning in Fall 2008 Penn will eliminate all loans for students with family incomes less than $100,000. Families with income above that level will have their loans reduced by 10%. In Fall 2009 all students, regardless of family income, will receive loan free packages.

As each new selective college eliminates loans, it puts more pressure on the other selective colleges to do the same. Hopefully the pressure will continue. Congratulations Penn.

The good news just keeps coming this week in the world of financial aid at the selective colleges. Swarthmore College and Pomona College have each announced that they are eliminating loans from their financial aid packages. Hopefully this trend among the colleges with significant endowments to cap or eliminate loans continues. This may result in some trickle down effect so that colleges with less substantial endowments can find creative new ways to also limit the loans to their students.

Congratulations to Swarthmore and Pomona.

Cal Tech announced yesterday more good news for students seeking financial aid. Starting in 2008 domestic students with family income below $60,000 will generally have a financial aid package that replaces loans with grants. Cal Tech has historically not give many loans in their financial aid packages anyway but reducing loans for these families is a great step.

Harvard has announced that they are expanding their financial aid to students in several areas. First, families with incomes between 60,000 and 120,000 will pay up to 10% of their income based on a sliding scale. Families with income between 120,000 and 180, 000 will pay 10% of their income. Second, Harvard is eliminating all loans from financial aid packages. Third, they will no longer be considering home equity in the financial aid calculations. Previously, Harvard had a policy that families with income below 60,000 would not be asked to contribute to the cost of their education. That policy continues.

Harvard has a huge endowment and can easily afford the additional cost involved in this initiative. I am pleased that they have joined the ranks of other several other selective colleges that have eliminated loans from financial aid packages and that are working to make a selective college more affordable for low and middle income students.

The entire report on this new initiative can be found here.

Duke University recently announced that they are eliminating a parental contribution for families who make less than $60,000 a year and are making it possible for families with income below $40,000 to graduate debt free. They are also reducing loans for famliies with incomes up to $100,000 and capping loans for families with income in excess of $100,000. Here is the link to Duke's web page describing this new finacial aid support.

Although the loan reductions by Duke are not quite as generous as for some colleges that I reported on earlier, I applaud Duke for helping low income and middle income students to better afford the cost of a highly selective college. You can see a list of the colleges that have been reducing loans to students and replacing them with grants by looking at our home page and clicking college financial aid under the labels section.

I was recently made aware that several highly selective colleges are now combining ACT sub scores from different tests to create a super score like is down with the SAT. The colleges are Washington University in St. Louis and Amherst College. With the increasing popularity of the ACT exam in the traditional SAT areas of the East and West coast the significance of super scoring can be significant. If these two colleges are starting to super score their ACT reported scores will increase and put pressure on other colleges to also start using super scoring for the ACT. If this occurs then the average ACT scores reported by these colleges will increase which will make it appear that the college's test scores are higher than they really are.

I general discuss with the students I counsel the advantages and disadvantages of the ACT and SAT. One of the advantages of the SAT, relative to the ACT, was the super scoring that occurs at most colleges. Now it appears that that advantage may be going away. More and more it is becoming important for students to understand each of the exams to determine which is a better choice for their needs.

Tom Bottorf, of GetCollegeFunding, makes a simple but important point in a recent article on college funding. Most high school counselors do not understand the basics of college financial aid and as a result get students and parents involved in the search for the right college too late in the process. Finding the right college means the best college for a particular student's needs that does not cost more than is necessary. Unfortunately, as I have pointed out in the past, this failure to understand basic college financial aid works to the disadvantage of the student and their family in the form of paying too much for a college.

Most good private college consultants have a good working knowledge of not only how college financial aid works but also how to utilize this knowledge to help a family find a college that does not cost more for that family than necessary. This often means that a family that hires a private college consultant pays less for college in the long run than a family without such help.

College Answer has announced an update to their college scholarship website. I have certain reservations about scholarship websites but for some students such sites can provide valuable information that might help reduce the cost of college.

Students need to understand that most colleges will subtract any money received in outside scholarships from your financial aid package. Some colleges will reduce the loan burden by the amount of the scholarship, but other colleges will reduce your grant money. If the college reduces the amount of loans you have to take out that is a benefit to you. There is no benefit to you if the college reduces the grant aid. So before getting too excited about a revised scholarship website do some investigation to find out how your prospective colleges will handle any outside scholarships that you might get.

US News is reporting on a loophole in the federal financial aid rules passed last year that will provides that the government will not consider the assets of owners of small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. I understand that rational behind the law but I think that it is too broad in scope and should be narrowed. There is a difference between a small business with 5 employees and one with 95. Further to ignore the assets of the business entirely is to ignore the reality that some small businesses will use this exemption as a way to convert income into protected assets. It would make more sense to say that for small businesses, however defined, that assets below a certain level will be excluded. Of course some businesses have more need for capital investments than others but this still seems like a fairer approach.

With the limited resources that the government has to contribute to financial aid, this loophole does not seem to pass the fairness test that should be used to make sure that the neediest students receive the greatest financial aid.

Historically, in looking at admissions, private colleges looked at the whole student including the grades, test scores, activities and essays. Public colleges on the other hand relied much more on the simple numbers of grades and test scores. Recently, however, more and more public colleges are started to use the more holistic approach and considering factors beyond grades and test scores. Oklahoma State University is the latest to propose using the holistic approach to consider the applicant's talents and leadership skills. The University of Oregon, the University of California system and the University of Wisconsin are already using this more inclusive approach in admissions.

For students this means that they may need to be more concerned about factors outside the classroom even if they are considering a public college. Personally, I think this is good for admissions. Yes, college is about academics and learning, but it is also about exploring the world and learning about yourself. Students who do nothing outside the classroom often do not contribute to society as much as those who follow their interests. I would encourage more public colleges to consider using the holistic approach to admissions.

The Wall Street Journal is out with some numbers for some selective early action colleges and as expected the numbers of applicants is up. This was expected after Princeton and Harvard eliminated their early application programs earlier this year. However, the amount of increase is somewhat surprising. Yale's applications for early action are up 36%, University of Chicago early applications are up 42% and Georgetown's early applications are up 30%.

Of course the reason for the increase in early applications also includes more students applying in general and a push among many educators who urge students to apply early action since the decisions are not binding. The problem with this significant increase in applications for early action admissions is that it makes if more difficult for the colleges to determine how many students might accept the colleges offers of admissions. With increased uncertainty the colleges will most likely increase the number of students put on a wait list to try to give themselves some lee way in meeting their goals for class size.

The former dean of admissions at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania gives his thoughts on how to gain college admission in a report out at US News. There is nothing earth shaking about this advice but it is good to see the consistency among the selective colleges on what they are looking for in making admissions decisions.

As expected, Wesleyan University has announced that they will replace loans with grants for most students with family income of $40,000 or less. And Colby College, located in Maine, has announced that they will replace loans with grants for students who are from Maine. Typically, about 10 to 12 percent of incoming students are from Maine. While the action of Colby only benefits those students from Maine it is still a step in the right direction or reducing, or as some schools have done, eliminating college loans altogether.

Williams College has announced that they will be eliminating all loans from financial aid packages for all students. Williams has limited loans to its students in the past but the elimination of loans is great news. Davidson College and Amherst College announced earlier in the year that they were also eliminating loans from financial aid packages. Top private colleges like these are able to use their large endowments to do things like eliminating loans.

This action reinforces what I have often said before about financial aid. It pays to understand how college financial aid works and in particular how it works at particular colleges. If you are interested in a college like one of those that has eliminated loans you would be able to come out of college with no loans. In contrast, other schools of the same caliber, still have significant loan components to their financial aid packages. By offering a great education with no loans these colleges are presenting as great options not just for the low income students who might not otherwise consider them but also for the middle class students who would otherwise have to go significantly into debt to pay for their education.

The Dean of Admissions at Vanderbilt University, a highly selective university in Nashville, is shown in a video entitled "Getting into College: An Insider's Guide". The Dean answers questions on such topics as how to get into a good college, the importance of extracurricular activities, preparing the college essay, whether to take AP classes, how colleges evaluated different high schools, financial aid issues, the costs of private colleges, how colleges consider admissions of students, who should write letters of recommendations and how to sound your best on your college application. This video is a must view for all students but particularly those looking at selective college admissions.

Going "green" and an increased emphasis on sustainability have become major issues in society in general but on college campuses in particular. When I discuss with students what they are looking for in a college, this issue of sustainability has started being mentioned. For students interested in this issue there is an article at Inside Higher Ed talking about what some colleges are doing in the realm of buying food locally.

Each student is different in their wants and needs for the right college. Whether the sustainability issue is important for you or not in choosing a college, it is important for you to determine what your needs are and to find the right college for you. And just for the record, I think more students should be considering how a college addresses sustainability issues in their search for a college.

There is another new article out on the difficulty that students and their families are having paying for college. I have no question that many families do in fact struggle with the costs of higher education. However, I also strongly believe that if students and their families understood college financial aid better, that many fewer students would be struggling.

The problem inherent in the process of paying for college is that the cheapest choice, i.e. the college with the lowest tuition, is not in fact the cheapest choice for many families. Most state schools are cheaper than the private colleges. Yet many of these same "cheap" colleges, gap the amount of financial need that they will meet for their students.

Here is what that means. All families applying for federal financial aid need to complete a FAFSA. That form, using standardized formula, gives a number that a family is expected to contribute to help pay for the students college expenses. Let's say that this number is $5,000. The student looks at two colleges, each costing $20,000. But College A covers 90% of need and College B only covers 50% of need. College A will subtract the FAFSA contribution of $5,000 from the $20,000 cost of the college and come up with a need of $15,000. College A provides financial aid to meet 90% of that need or $13,500. The cost to the family for College A is $5,000 that the FAFSA said they could pay plus an additional amount of $1,500 that the college gapped for a total payment of $6,500.

College B takes that $5,000 from the FAFSA, subtracts it from the $20,000 cost of the college and also comes up with a need of $15,000. But because College B only meets 50% of need they only give financial aid in the amount of $7,500 or 50% of the $15,000 need. The cost of College B to this family is the $5,000 from the FAFSA plus an additional amount of $7,500 that the college gapped. Total cost is $12,500.

Both colleges cost $20,000 but at College A the family pays $6,500 and at College B they pay $12,500. Which is the better deal? That is easy to answer when you understand gapping but few families do and thus often pick the college that has a greater out of pocket expense.

This issue is even more of an issue if the student is also looking at mega expensive College C. College C costs $45,000 a year but they meet 100% of need. When figuring financial aid College C subtracts off the $5,000 from the FAFSA from their cost leaving a need for the family of $40,000. And because they meet 100% of the need, they provide $40,000 in financial aid. All of a sudden, College C is the cheapest college for that student even though it has the highest cost.
For other issues regarding college financial aid, look at the article I put together on college financial aid basics. The more people know, the less college can cost.

There is an interesting article today over at Inside Higher Ed regarding some efforts to make comparison shopping of college loans more of an option. I always encourage families to put some effort into the search for the right college loan as there are many options available. Generally, families should start by looking at loans from the federal or state government as they often offer the best loan rates. However, even when only looking at federal or state sponsored loans, the terms can very from lender to lender on such topics as the interest rate and discount rates for loan origination. Like everything else related to the college process, the more knowledge you have the greater the chance that you will make an informed decision.

I just commented on another blog that I contribute to on a recent study regarding the advantage of taking college courses while in high school. For those who are interested go to the College Admission Guide. If you haven't already found that blog there are several people there besides my self also discussing college admissions related issues and I would recommend that you check it out. When trying to find the right college you can always use more information.

The New York Times recently reported on what they think is a new trend in college admissions: the thank you note. Thank you notes after an interview or after meeting with a professor have always been appropriate and continue to be so as common decency. This has not changed in 100 years. What the New York Times was reporting on are those that are written simply for strategic purposes such as those that include items meant to be meaningful such as food or using college stationary to write the thank you notes.

College admissions officers and other receiving such notes appreciate receiving sincere thank you notes but they are not stupid and those notes sent for strategic purposes are seen for exactly what they are; attempts to gain an advantage by those who do not feel that their academic and other credentials are sufficient to gain admission.

Show common decency and write thank you notes where appropriate. But using insincere tricks to try and gain an advantage doesn't work.

The Huffington Post has a recent post regarding the use of class as the new affirmative action. It summarizes some of the recent articles on why class is a better use for affirmative action than race has been. Whether one agrees with the use of race or class for affirmative action in college admissions, the reality is that such issues exist and need to be understood by all persons seeking admission to college in the current environment.

For the past few years the percentage of women applying to, and attending, college has been increasing relative to the number of men. According to the "State of College Admission" from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, in 2004 women submitted 58% of college applications. The significance of this is that many colleges are increasing the acceptance rate for men compared to women. This is seen most particularly among many of the liberal arts colleges. There are some colleges, particularly those with a more technical focus, where male applications still dominate. At MIT for instance, the 2006 acceptance rate for men was 9.7% while the acceptance rate for women was 22.4%. However, for most colleges, men are beginning to have an advantage in the admission process.

Because of the acceptance rate variations that are developing based on the sex of the applicant it is becoming more important for students to investigate the actual acceptance rate for men and women to determine what the actual rate is for men compared to women.

President Bush today signed legislation today that will help low income and middle income students pay for college. The amount available under the Pell grant will increase over the next 5 years from the current $4,310 to $5,400 a year. While it is also helpful to have more money available for the Pell grant which is for the lowest income families, the reality is that the increasing costs of college will more than offset any minor increase in the Pell grant.

The other part of the legislation decreases the interest rate on federally backed student loans from the current 6.8% to 3.4% over the next 4 years. This is a direct benefit to those students who borrow to pay for their college education. While the benefit from this legislation will most likely be touted by both sides as evidence of their commitment to higher education, I would like to see even greater contribution to higher education by the federal government. Higher education is so critical today that it is incumbent on the government to be fully involved in helping students afford this education. Will it potentially increase taxes? Yes, but one of the critical jobs of the government is to help educate its populace. I think this is money well spent.

The project on student debt has released their state by state data regarding the student debt level at colleges around the country. The site lists the average debt of students graduating from college in 2006 for each state in the US. More importantly, you can look at debt information about specific colleges under each state. The information available includes the average debt of graduates from 2006 and 2005, the proportion of students with debt in 2006 and 2005, full time enrollment, the instate tuition costs and the percent of students receiving Pell grants.

To get to the particular college information just click on the state in which the college of interest is located. Knowing the average amount of student debt for each college of interest should be a critical piece of the puzzle in deciding which colleges you wish to apply to and ultimately attend. The information presented also will reinforce what I have often said. The stated cost of a college is not a number that most people should be concerned with. You want to know how much a college is going to cost you. The data available in this website provides some of that information.

A test prep company, ePrep, is now offering free PSAT prep including 2 full PSAT practice tests. I assume that the company is offering the free PSAT prep in the hope that students will then buy their SAT prep program. I don't know anything about this company other than what I read on their website but it rarely hurts to practice for any standardized test. There is little available on the web involving free PSAT prep as most sites just focus on the SAT.

I am not a huge fan of paying for test prep but there are students that can benefit from such a program. With a free offer, I would recommend that people give the prep a try to see if it helps. Although the PSAT is not used by any college for admissions purposes, it is the test used to determine National Merit Scholars so doing well on the test can have some real benefits.

The UCAN (University and College Accountability Network) today introduced their version of a college search site meant to provide information to prospective students. Although the format is colorful and generally easy to get around I was disappointed in the site overall. There are a number of well known colleges that are not listed when a search is done and when a search is done to find colleges within a certain distance of a zip code, there are colleges missed that are in the database. Futhermore, the search capability is weak and the available information is no greater than what is generally available in other sites.

I applaud the UCAN group for working on an alternative to the information provided by US News but this site needs a lot of work to be as useful as the IPEDS/COOL site which was just revamped this week.

The US Department of Education has a new college search site available called College Navigator. This site is part of the redone IPEDS/COOL site that I have mentioned before as providing information for students seeking a college. College Navigator allows students to search colleges for different criteria much like several other websites. The nice thing about this, however, is the results tie into the information provided by the colleges themselves to the Department of Education. This generally provides the most accurate information about the colleges that is available. Remember, however, that like most information about colleges, the data is at least one year out of date.

IPEDS/COOL was a helpful site before and the new website is even better.

Several weeks ago we mentioned that Yale was considering an expansion of its freshman class. Now the president of Stanford has opened the same discussion in the Stanford Alumni magazine. In the article the president of Stanford mentions many of the same arguments for expansion that Yale has raised. The effect of Stanford expanding would be the same as Yale's expansion. More students admitted into these extremely competitive colleges would mean more places available down the academic food chain. And if more students have the opportunity for a great education by going to Stanford, Yale or any of the schools that would lose students to those schools then everyone benefits.

Congress has passed legislation cutting huge federal subsidies to institutions making student loans and instead are giving most of the money to increased student financial aid. The Washington Post has reported the details as well as an indication that the president will sign the bill despite early objections to various portions of the legislation.

There are many problems with federal financial aid for college students but this legislation is a step in the right direction with an increase in the amount of money available through Pell grants and a cut in the interest for student loans. Although it may cause a small increase in tax rates, the importance of providing higher education for all students that desire such an education is so important that the tax increase should not be a deterrent. Moreover, providing higher education to more students through increased financial aid will ultimately result in a more educated populace that can generate greater income and thus greater tax generation.

So you think you know what college is going to cost? It may cost more than you think, particularly if you are planning on attending a public college. Many colleges are now adding on extra fees for a variety of campus activities including a technology fee, health service fees and even a fee to pay for a school to move to Division I sports. There is an interesting article in the New York Times on the rise of hidden fees in the cost of college.

The solution here is to ask lots of questions of the college you are considering attending to make sure you know what the true cost of attending that college is.

Yale University has announced that it is considering plans to expand future classes by 200 students per year. Expanding the size of each incoming class would make Yale's class sizes closer in size to those at Harvard. While this may be good news for those students considering Yale, there is a believe that it would have some impact on a number of other colleges that are ranked lower than Yale. Enrollment experts expect that if Yale does increase its class size, colleges such as University of Pennsylvania and Columbia would be the colleges most likely to lose those students to Yale. And if those students aren't going to Penn or Columbia, then Penn and Columbia would have more room for other students who might have otherwise gone to .... You get the picture.

So if you have an interest in attending a selective college, this may be good news even if you weren't thinking about Yale as other colleges down the academic food chain might have more room for other students if Yale goes forward with the possible size increase.

In October 2005 thousands of students took the SAT. This was not news until information started to come out that the scoring on many of those tests was wrong and in many cases lower than they should have been. Supposedly this occurred because of extra moisture in the area where the tests were being scored. A lawsuit resulted and it was announced today that the Collegeboard and NCS Pearson, the company scoring the tests, would pay $2.85 million into a settlement account to be used to pay damages to the students involved. Each student that took the October 2005 SAT is entitled to $275. If the student believes she can show damages greater than that they can file a form for additional review. Such forms are subject to binding awards made by a retired judge.

It is good that this matter has now been resolved but unfortunately many of these students will have no way of proving their damages exceed $275. While the mistakes in scoring may not have made any difference in admissions or financial aid, none of these students will truly know what it was that they might have missed. This news comes under the category of sometimes life just isn't fair.

Bruce Poch, the Dean of Admissions at Pomona College in Claremont, California, last week responded to questions about college admissions from Newsweek readers. Pomona College is a selective college and is a part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of 5 excellent colleges. Although Mr. Poch did not say any thing too surprising, it is always helpful for students and their parents to read what an insider to the selective college admissions process has to say about their world.

Here is an interesting take from another college admissions counselor who also happens to be a lawyer. Steve Goodman, a counselor in Washington DC advises students to make a small mistake on their college application to convey authenticity to the colleges. Since colleges are looking for the "real" you, making a mistake, which no one would purposely do, makes you seem more authentic.

Although I understand why Mr. Goodman is making such a recommendation, I would advise against such a tactic. Students should be trying to convey who they are to the colleges without the use of the pretend mistake. Writing a strong essay, getting appropriate recommendations, and properly completing your application are all ways to communicate the real you. Besides, mistakes are common enough without trying to make a mistake that you might come off looking like you didn't care enough in the application to avoid all of the mistakes. Moreover, this is a very fine line to walk. You want a little mistake, but not too big a mistake. What spelling error is appropriate and what makes you look uneducated? The biggest problem I have with this is by faking a mistake you are not conveying who you are but rather try to fake who you really are.

Do colleges play games in the application process? Sure they do. But that doesn't mean that you need to play games such as fake mistakes to convey the person behind the application.
Be yourself and you are more likely to be accepted at and enjoy attending the right college for your needs.

One of the topics I cover in advising students about finding the right college is to look at the middle range of test scores to find if they are competitive for any particular college. This middle range is often called the 25% to 75% range. There are several potential problems with using this approach , however, and I wanted to point them out.

First, is the danger of combining middle range of test scores in critical reading, math and writing. US News in their current ratings is an example of how this problem occurs. If college A reports that their middle range on the critical reading portion of the SAT is 650 to 750 we know that 25% of students scored above 750 on the critical reading section of the test and 25% scored below 650. If that same college reports that their middle range on the math section is 620 to 720 we can again determine how many students scored above 720 and how many were below 620. The problem occurs when we combine these two sets of ranges to say that the middle range for critical reading and math at school A is 1270 to 1470. This is not necessarily accurate because the student who scored 750 on critical reading did not necessarily score 720 on math. If this is student is strong in reading and weak in math they might have only scored 550 on math. Therefore in combining the scores you are presented with a false level of what the middle range is. Most likely the range is lower than stated because the person who does very well on one subject often does less well on the other subject. This combining of scores is what US News did in providing test scores averages for their ratings and thus the ratings are not accurate for comparing test scores.

Having a false range of test scores may cause some students to not apply because they believe there scores are too low compared to the average when in fact they might be solidly in the middle if breaking out the scores. Therefore, do not rely on ratings that combine scores from different test sections but rather compare your test scores from each section to see how they compare to the test score middle range for each section at that college. To find a breakdown by each test section for most colleges go to the IPEDS/COOL database of the US Department of Education.

A second potential problem is the question of exactly which test scores is a college submitting for use in these databases. Some colleges will provide the middle range of test scores of students they have accepted rather than the middle range of students that choose to attend. By showing the middle range of accepted students the scores are artificially higher than the scores of those who chose to attend because high scoring students usually have a variety of college options and will not necessarily attend a college where their test scores are higher than the average student. Some colleges will also not report all of the test scores of admitted students and will exlcude students that might have lower scores like recruited athletes or legacy students. Again, this will artificially raise the test scores for these colleges.

Comparing your test scores to those of the admitted students at any particular college can be a valuable thing to evaluate. However, be an informed consumer and if it is not clear with the information you are reviewing, contact the college in question and ask them exactly how they determine that middle range. That will give you a better feel for whether you are a competitive candidate for that college or not.

The head lecturer in expository writing at Harvard University recently offered some suggestions on how to write the SAT essay portion. Although the suggestions were offered to students in Korea they apply just as well to American students who plan on taking the SAT. This short article should be read by all students before taking the SAT.

The latest US News college rankings are out and the best colleges for 2002 are... No, the 2002 isn't a typo. Princeton, Harvard and Yale are one, two and three respectfully in the National Universities category for 2002 as well as 2008. Amherst, Swarthmore and Williams are in those positions in the liberal arts colleges in 2002. Sure for 2008 it's a major upset with Williams at number one and then Amherst and Swarthmore. (For those of you new to this blog, that last sentence was sarcasm.)

My point, as I have often said, is that people get way to caught up in where each college ranks according to the US News criteria which by the way changes every year anyway. Students and their families need to be concerned about whether the colleges they are looking at attending meet their needs, not some artificial ranking scheme. Did Williams really improve in 2008 compared to 2002. No. Williams is by almost any measure a wonderful college but it is no better today than it was in 2002.

The most unfortunate thing coming out of the latest rankings is the punishment that US News is giving certain colleges that are not using standardized tests in the admissions process. Sarah Lawrence College and Gustavus Adolphus College are two such examples. These colleges have been put into the "unranked" category because of their refusal to play the game that US News wants to play. This reminds me of the petty punishment that US News first gave Reed College when they refused to provide information that US News wanted.

In the past I have said that if people want to use the information provided by US News on such topics as the graduate rate or admission rate of various colleges that the ratings were appropriate for that use. However, at this point, I would suggest that people ignore these ratings altogether and use alternative sources for such information. One such source for much of the same information is the IPEDS/COOL database of the US Department of Education. Here you can find the needed information without the silly games played by US News in their arbitrary ranking guides.

There is an article today following up on the New York Times discussion of the potential conflict of interest issues cropping up in the study abroad field. I commented on the Times article when it came out and for those students wanting more information on this topic, the article from Inside Higher Education provides just that.

Students often wonder if they need to participate in a summer program at a college to be competitive for admission at a highly selective colleges. The answer is no you do not need to participate in such a program but for some students it may have some benefit. A recent article in Inside Higher Ed discusses some of the issues related to the participation in college summer programs.

The bottom line to this discussion is that if you have a particular academic interest that can be enhanced by participation in a college summer program then by all means consider participating in such a program. But simply attending a program at a highly selective college will most likely have no effect on your chances of admission.

For many students the opportunity to study abroad during their college years is one of the critical issues in the search for the right college. Although many colleges use their own study abroad programs, there also are a number of private companies providing study abroad programs. Unfortunately, it seems that some of these companies are paying the colleges that use their services for each student that signs up. The New York Times is reporting that some of these paybacks include free and subsidized travel for officials as well as cash payments.

This raises another issue that students need to be aware of in searching for the right college. If you are considering doing a study abroad program in college, make sure that you inquire of the study abroad program of the college in question to see if they accept any perks from outside study abroad programs.

Taking a year off before starting college, known as a gap year, has been fairly popular in Europe but not as common in the United States. However, a recent article describes how it is becoming more common in the US to take that first year off before starting college.

I have always encouraged students who are not sure about whether to attend college or who need a little maturing to consider a gap year. Most colleges are more than willing to allow a student to defer admission for a year as long as you plan on doing something productive with the year. The key to a successful gap year is that "something productive". Not all students need to travel the world or engage in humanitarian efforts during their gap year. If that is what you wish to do then enjoy yourself. But for many students, they just need time to explore their interests in more depth or maybe just better determine who they are and what they want from a college education. That does not mean lying around the house watching TV all day. But it might mean working at a job or an internship that you might have some interest in to see if it would be a good fit for you after attending college. Your options for a gap year are limited only by your imagination and your need to do something productive.

Recently there was an article about a college admission consultant that is being sued after charging a client $200,000 and then not providing services. The allegations are that this consulting firm met with the young man from Kazakhstan who wished to attend an Ivy League college. After having $200,000 wired to an account in Hong Kong the group told the young man that he wasn't Ivy League material and did not provide any more services to him. He eventually was accepted at Columbia University.

As a lawyer I am always cautious about believing everything alleged in a complaint. There is often two sides to the story. The story, however, if true, is more than a little disturbing. Charging someone $200,000 for college admission counseling is offensive if it actually occurred. Even if services were provided there is absolutely no justification for that kind of charge.

I understand that there are consultants that charge large amounts and basically guarantee admission to an Ivy League college. However, since no one is guaranteed admission to any particular college, I find such guarantees less than honest. But if the consulting group in question really did not do anything to justify a fee of $200,000 other than meet with the young man this raises serious ethical questions about the firms actions.

Students and their families who are searching for a college admission consultant should understand that there are many very qualified firms available that can help them with the process of finding the right college. But if the terms sound too good, maybe they need to start asking some questions. Again, no one can guarantee admission to any college. Yes, there are some students that you can definitely say are likely to gain admission particularly those who are development cases where the family may donate millions of dollars to the school. But never, never, pay anyone $200,000 to do college admissions counseling.

Yes, seniors, it is already time to think about starting your college application for next year. I know you are still enjoying your summer vacation but the more you can get accomplished on your application, the better your senior year will go. And trust me on this, you will have many better things to do your senior year than work on your college application.

So what can you do to get your application going? If the colleges in which you are interested accept the commonapp, go to their website, register and start to fill out the general information portion of the form. Although most colleges don't have their supplemental applications available, most will have them available in the next few weeks. Moreover, many colleges don't change their supplemental applications much from year to year and by looking at last year's supplement, you can get a feel for what information they will want this year. If you can get most of your essays accomplished before school starts in the fall, you will be well ahead of the pack. If the college doesn't use the commonapp, go to the college's web site and see when they are posting this year's application. Most will tell you when it is available. Again, you can often look at last year's application to see what information will be required and what type of essay questions you might have to answer.

Now is the time to think about who you are going to ask to write your recommendations and what information would be helpful for them to have in writing your recommendation. Does your school offer interviews? If so, you should take advantage of this opportunity to better communicate to the college why they are a great match for you and to find out more information about the personalty of the college that you might be able to use on the essays. Interview times at many schools fill up completely, so now is the time to be arranging an interview.

If you have completed your SAT or ACT and have scores that you are comfortable with, good for you. If not you still have time to do some more studying before retaking the exams this fall.

I hope you are all having a great time this summer doing what you want to do. But spending a little time this summer working on all aspects of your search for the right college will make life much more enjoyable next year. Then you can sit back and wait..... until admissions come out.

I recently published a new article discussing the issues to consider when trying to decide whether to take the SAT or ACT for college admissions purposes. The article has been published at College Basics as well as my own site. One of the first suggestions is to take a practice test of each exam to see on which test you do better. If you find that you don't do as well as you would like on either test then you might want to consider some of the many great colleges that don't require testing at all. If that is the case, head over to FairTest for their list of test optional colleges.

There are a number of other suggestions that all students starting the college search process should review. If you are not looking at a test optional college then the score you get on the SAT or ACT can sometimes make the difference between admission or rejection.

Goucher College, a selective liberal arts college in Baltimore, announced today that they are joining the ranks of colleges that will no longer require standardized tests for admissions. The other day Merrimack College, a selective Catholic college near Boston announced that they were also eliminating the testing requirement for admissions. This brings the current total of colleges that don't require testing to over 740 according to Fairtest.

Students with good test taking abilities can still submit test scores to most of the colleges that don't require them but for those students that don't do as well on standardized tests, the test optional schools provide some reassurance that you can still find a good college for your needs.

Following in the footsteps of Davidson College earlier this year, Amherst College has announced that they are eliminating loans for all students effective with the Class of 2012. Eight years ago Amherst eliminated loans for families making less than $40,000 a year but they are taking a further step by eliminating all loans. We congratulate Amherst and Davidson on making the move to eliminate loans for all students. While not every college has the resources to make such a move there are a number of other colleges that could afford to eliminate loans if they choose to do so.

Students often look for a comprehensive source of what colleges require or recommend the SAT subject tests. Here is a list put together from another blog, Admission Source. The information appears correct but of course, you should check with any particular college in which you are interested to verify their testing requirements. These requirements are subject to change and you can only be assured of correct information by talking to the admissions department of the college itself.

For those of you who are fascinated by college rankings there is an interesting new article put out by the Institute for Higher Education Policy. The article, entitled College and University Ranking Systems, Global Perspectives and American Challenges, first examines the historical background of the US News ratings and then looks at university rankings from countries around the world. Finally, there is a review of the impact these rating systems have had on student's choices of colleges particularly in the United States.

The article puts a more global view on ratings and their impact on students around the world than is normally seen in articles discussing college rankings. While there is not much disclosed that hasn't already been known, the synthesis of all of this information into one source provides a good overview of the college ranking systems.

Now is a great time for those students interested in pursuing a science field in college. A number of major research universities have announced new science building initiatives in the past year or two to be able to accommodate their future needs in the areas of science and engineering. A recent New York Times article discussed many of these projects including Yale's recent announcement that they have acquired existing science and laboratory buildings very near their main campus.

Several of the colleges gearing up their existing science facilities, such as Yale, have in the past not been known for their strong science programs. With the investment that the colleges are putting into science facilities those students entering the science fields will be able to benefit from these improved resources. This is an example of a benefit that a student can receive when colleges compete with each other in various ways.

Students often debate the question of whether the prestige of a college makes a difference in getting a job after college. In a new study out by Accountemps only 13 percent of the chief financial officers polled felt that the prestige of the undergraduate was very important. However, another 38% felt that prestige was somewhat important. Basically 1/2 of the people polled felt that there was some importance to the prestige of the college you attended. Obviously that also means that 1/2 of the people polled felt that the prestige of the college was not at all important.

While some people, like some students, feel that prestige is important, I continue to suggest to students that it is much better to have a good fit in the college you attend than to go to a college simply because it is prestigious. If you want to consider the prestige of the college as one of the factors to consider that if fine; just don't make it the only criteria.

Inside Higher Ed had an interesting article today regarding the approach that Tufts University is taking in their admissions process. Basically Tufts is still using grades and test scores as a filter to determine automatic admits and automatic application rejections. However, for the vast middle group of applicants, Tufts is asking students to respond to additional essay questions specifically designed to identify applicants with abilities that Tufts would find attractive in a student. The essay questions are meant to identify students who are creative, possess practical skills or who have wisdom about how to promote the common good.

It will be interesting to see how this approach to admissions works but the early indications from Tufts is that they are still getting high quality students who have that something extra that colleges are looking for in students. Moreover, this approach has increased the number of under represented students on campus. According to the article, at least one other college, the University of Washington is examining Tufts approach to see if it can be used at other colleges. We'll see if this is a new trend in how to evaluate students.

Good recommendations are important for students applying to college, particularly those who seek admission to the most selective colleges. There are many ways to make sure you get good recommendations. Some of these include the following.

1) Ask the recommender if they can give you a good recommendation
2) Ask teachers who know you well inside and outside the classroom if possible.
3) Ask in advance for the recommendation so that the person has adequate time to prepare the recommendation.
4) Check with students in the grade above you for their opinion on who writes strong recommendations.
5) Provide each recommender a bio sheet about you and your accomplishments including any pertinent information about your performance in that teachers classroom.

However, there are certain ways NOT to get a recommendation. One of these is discussed in a recent blog at The Right Thing. In essence a parent of a student sent a teacher who had been asked to do a recommendation some suggested language to use in the recommendation.

Most colleges want a true evaluation of you from the people who are writing your recommendations. Yes, they understand that generally these will be good recommendations but they are not looking for your parents appraisal of you. Besides insulting the person you asked to write the recommendation, writing your own recommendation is unethical and should never be done.

Finding the right college isn't about cheating to do so. You want to find the right college for you based on who you really are.

The Annapolis Group, a group of many of the selective liberal arts colleges, has put out a group statement on college rankings. Basically this group of colleges have agreed to develop a format to present data to students and parents that will provide much of the same information as available in the US News rankings, without actually ranking the colleges. Moreover, the majority of the presidents of the colleges at the meeting agreed to not participate in the peer rating requested by US News for their college ranking edition. This is significant because the peer rating accounts for 25% of the US News ranking formula and is the most important piece of the formula. Losing this information, particularly for some of the most selective liberal arts colleges will put the validity of the rankings further into question.

As regular readers of this blog know, I am not a fan of individualized rating systems like US News. While the information available is helpful, people get too wrapped up in differentiating between the No. 2 college and the No. 5 college. This is ridiculous. Look at the factors that are important to you in choosing a college and then find colleges that meet that criteria. If you want to rank your colleges based on the information you find important, go ahead and do so.

There is a new way to apply to some colleges called the Universal College Application. The people behind the Universal College Application are the people that created the Common Application. While this may not sound significant, particularly since only 13 colleges are currently using this type of application, its importance can be better shown by looking at some of the colleges accepting this type of application: Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins and Washington University in St. Louis.
The Universal College Application is seeking a bigger market than the Common Application which limits its members to those who use essays and recommendations in the admission process. Because many public colleges don't consider such factors, they have not become members of the Common Application group. The Universal College Application does not have such requirements and hopes to provide students applying to public colleges many of the same benefits as students applying to the Common App colleges. Keep an eye on the Universal College Application as it may just become the best way for future students to apply to a wider array of colleges.

There is an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times recently about colleges, particularly those in California, revoking admissions to students who let their senior year grades slide too much.

This isn't necessarily big news but every year some students just don't get it that they need to keep their grades up particularly if accepted at a selective college. Colleges don't like to "unaccept" students, but they will if the student indicates that they don't have the maturity to continue to get strong grades. If there is something else that has caused a drop in grades, most colleges will look at the explanation before automatically rejecting the student. But don't take that risk. Continue to work during the senior year so that you don't have to explain to the college that accepted you why they should continue your acceptance.

A new study out by the University of California suggests that grades are the most important indicator of performance through all four years of college. At the same time SAT scores have very little predictive value for college performance.

An excellent summary of the study was published in Inside Higher Education by reporter Scott Jaschlik. We would encourage anyone interested in the topic of the importance of grades vs. test scores to read this article. While test scores will probably always have some importance, their influence seems to be under almost constant attack the past few years as more and more colleges go test optional and the College Board continues with problems with the SAT.

Because of the large scope of this study, many colleges will look seriously at the results. Hopefully the result is a moderating of the influence of standardized test scores on the entire college admissions process.

A poster at CollegeConfidential recently posted a resource that could be very helpful for students interested in participating in college sports. The NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association, requires Division I schools to perform a self study every 10 years. These self studies often contain information regarding test score data and breakdowns on freshman classes by gender and racial catagories.

The poster then provides links to a wide variety of Division I schools where this self study information can be found. If you are a potential student athlete you should investigate this information to see if the colleges you are interested in have recently performed a self study.

Thanks to Papa Chicken for this information.

Carleton College's alumni magazine recently featured an article taking an inside look at the admissions office at Carleton. Carleton is a highly selective liberal arts college in Minnesota for those who might not be familiar with it. I also happen to be the father of a rising senior at Carleton.

It is generally helpful to see these articles that talk about the admissions process at different colleges particularly the selective colleges. Back in March I wrote about several other articles looking at selective college admissions offices. I would suggest anyone that is considering a selective college view some of these articles before applying to get a better feel for the type of student these colleges are looking to admit. However, also keep in mind, that there are no guarantees with applying to highly selective colleges and you should always have a safety college that you like in mind.

The Harvard alumni magazine recently published an article on students that Harvard rejected in the past but probably wished they hadn't.

Getting rejected from Harvard or any other "big name" college hurts when it happens. But this article makes it clear that one need not attend a prestigious college to be successful. Keep that in mind when making the decision on where to apply. Look for the right fit for you and your wants, and don't worry about the name of the college. You too can be successful even if you don't go to Harvard.

You may be wondering why you should care if Dartmouth College wants to reconsider the way its trustees are elected. Dartmouth elects its trustees, the governing board of the college, in one of two ways. Members are elected by each other and by elections by alumni. The problem, at least for Dartmouth, is that the recent alumni elected trustees have not been the officially nominated candidates. Rather, they were elected by alumni who are critical of the administration of the college and the way it is being run. In an effort to control such criticism by trustees the administration is seeking a review of the way trustees are elected.

This is yet another example of one of the issues that a student may want to consider in deciding where to apply to college. If the administration of the college is not open to critical comments from its trustees, are they going to be willing to listen to criticism from its students? And remember that the trustees in question are alumni of Dartmouth, not some strangers unfamiliar with the culture of the college.

Issues like the one facing Dartmouth are faced by colleges all the time. You as a prospective student need to be aware of such issues to make an informed decision in the selection of where to apply. Like most other issues, there are no right or wrong answers to the search for the right college. But each student needs to consider issues like the one facing Dartmouth in their search for the right college for that student.

Vassar College has announced that they will be need blind for all freshman admissions. Vassar was need blind until 10 years ago when they went to a need aware policy for some freshman admissions.

For those people confused by the difference, a need blind college makes all of their admissions decisions regardless of the financial circumstances of the applicant. In other words, it doesn't matter whether you apply for financial aid, you will be considered equally with all other applicants. A need aware college admits most students without regard to their financial aid status. However, a certain percentage of students will have their financial aid status considered when the college decides which students to admit. Typically this meant that if you were one of the last students to be considered by the college, you might not be admitted simply because you had a need for financial aid. At Vassar, this usually meant about 2% of students were admitted giving consideration to their financial aid status. Colleges use a need aware aid policy to save money in their limited financial aid budget. While it is understandable why a college would use their limited resources in this manner, it is unfortunate that the ability to pay for a college is considered in the admissions process.

We applaud Vassar for returning to a need blind admission policy. This is a great way to ensure that the best students are being admitted to a college.

A recent article in the New York Times tells the story of a young man from Pennsylvania who had no help and yet got into George Washington University. The focus of the article is on how wonderful it was that this young man was able to get into a college without help. I will be the first to admit that many students are able to find a good college without using professional help. However, the real question is whether the college is a good college for that student.

In reading through this story several items jump out at me. First is the list of schools to which this young man applied. He applied to Columbia, Delaware, Skidmore, Boston University and George Washington. All fine schools but all very different colleges. We have colleges in the middle of New York City to rural colleges. Large universities and small colleges. Extremely competitive to much less competitive. And the feel of each of these colleges is going to be very different from each other. These are colleges that do not normally compete for students with the other colleges on the list. Maybe there was some factor that made each of these colleges make sense for this young man but it appears to be a random list of colleges whose only similarity is that they are all on the East coast.

The second thing that struck me was the apparent lack of understanding of how financial aid works. The colleges this young man applied to range from one that provides 100% of need to one which only provides 79% of need. And many of these colleges have limited merit awards. With a middle income parent he did not have a financial safety college and may be paying more to attend college than he would otherwise need to if he had investigated the financial aspects of attending college.

Was this a good list of colleges for this young man? Possibly. But I suspect that this is really a story about a typical student who had inadequate guidance and ended up applying to various colleges without investigating who he has and what he wanted from a college. Without doing such self reflection a student ends up at a college that may be adequate for their wants and desires but won't be the best fit.

I don't see this story as a triumph of the little guy against those who had professional help. Rather, I think this story further illustrates the failure of most students to understand what it takes to find an appropriate college for each student. Do all students need professional help? No. But if they don't have such help they must take the time to understand the process of finding the right college and the basics of financial aid. Otherwise, they face the very real possibility of finding the wrong college for their needs and paying too much for college.

I was recently at an admissions event when the dean of admission mentioned inappropriate email addresses that the college routinely receives. You know the ones; partygirl@xxx or icarryguns@zzz. The dean made it very clear that they routinely reject such applications based simply on the applicant's email address.

Yes, I know people like to be different and sometimes shocking with their email addresses. But when you are applying to a college that is not how you want to be thought of. Colleges are looking for interesting students but that doesn't mean they want to admit someone who they feel might be a security risk or a student who will spend all of their time partying. If you want an interesting email address, use some version of your favorite activity as your email name. laxguy123@zzz if you are an avid lacrosse player for instance. This has the added advantage of letting the college know that you really are serious about your activity if you use an email address such as this.

For college application purposes, and later in life when you are looking for a job, having a more routine email address will make life much easier.

Many colleges offer summer programs for high school students. These programs are typically viewed as enrichment programs for the high school students interested in a particular field or topic. A recent article from the Palo Alto High School journalism program points out another advantage to such programs; the ability to get the experience of living on a college campus before actually moving away from home.

There are some wonderful summer programs sponsored by the colleges and if that is an option I often encourage students to consider attending a program that meets their interests. However, attending such a program should only be done if the family can afford the program and if the student really wishes to attend the program. As the article points out, the simple experience of attending such a program does not necessarily mean that your ability to gain acceptance at that particular college will be enhanced. Some student do gain an advantage in the admissions process because by spending several weeks on a campus they begin to have a better feel for what that colleges values are. This may translate into better admission essays and thus enhance your likelihood of admission.

But the reality is that most students attending selective colleges have not had such an experience and yet were able to gain admission. If you are not able to attend such a program at one of the colleges in which you have an interest, you simply need to make sure that you understand that college's culture by other means such as talking to current students or faculty in departments of interest.

A new report out from the Women's Sports Federation shows that women are significantly underrepresented in college athletics. The report claims that women made gains in participation during the 1990's but that the gains have slowly during the past 7 years. The report even provides a report card evaluating colleges on the gap they have between men and women athletes.

If you are a prospective female athlete, you might be able to use the report card to help find colleges where your skills might be desired and where you may have an increased chance of admittance. For instance, a college that gets a poor score on the report card may be inclined to increase the number of female athletes in its programs to better comply with any claims of discrimination under Title IX. This may make admission to such colleges easier for women athletes for a period of time. Of course you should also consider whether the culture of that college's athletic programs are in fact biased against women which might have an effect on your enjoyment of attending that college.

As I have noted on many occasions, there are many factors to consider in choosing the right college and this is just one more factor that the student athlete needs to consider.

Another selective college has decided to go test optional in its admissions. Rollins College of Winter Park, Fl, will be test optional for students beginning with the class entering fall 2008. Rollins, with approximately 1,700 students, is a liberal arts college with a very strong business program and some limited graduate programs.

Like a number of other colleges that have gone test optional, Rollins will require those students that are not submitting test scores to submit some other evidence of their abilities. According to their web site the supplemental material would include the following: "a graded paper from a core academic course in the senior year (e.g., essays or research papers, lab reports, or work in mathematics or related fields) and a portfolio reflecting the candidate’s strengths, talents, or interests."

Rollins joins over 735 other colleges that have gone test optional in admissions. Although many of those colleges are non selective, more and more selective colleges have also begun to change their approach to admissions.

Yes we do need women's colleges according to an editorial in the Boston Globe by Joanne Creighton the president of Mount Holyoke College.

You would expect that the president of a women's college would be in support of their continued existence but the arguments in favor of women's colleges is quite strong. As pointed out by President Creighton, the number of successful women that have attended an all women's college is very high. Modern women's colleges are not the finishing schools that many believe them to be. Their placement rate into top graduate programs is very high and their graduates are able to compete in the "real" world just as ably as those women who attended coed colleges.

Several of the all women's colleges are also very strong in educating women who come from a lower economic status. Smith College and Mount Holyoke College have some of the highest percentages of students who qualify for Pell Grants of any four year college in the country. And given the education that the women who attend these colleges receive make that statistic all the more impressive.

If you are a women looking for a very high quality education you might want to consider an all women's college. Admission to even the best of the all women's colleges is relatively easier than comparable coed colleges because they have fewer students that apply. And if you investigate the all women's colleges what you will discovery is that many of them are associated with coed colleges so there will be men on campus and in the classroom. For the right women, these colleges represent an excellent educational opportunity.

This is the name of an article published by Carolyn Lawrence on her blog Admissionsadvice. I think this is wonderful advice for all parents to review as they work with their students who are getting involved in the search for the right college.

“My child doesn’t seem interested in looking at colleges.”

“My child will be devastated if he doesn’t get into his top choice college.”

“My child could never be happy at a college that no one has ever heard of.”

These are just some of the stresses addressed in this article . If these sound like something you would say I strongly recommend reading Carolyn's article to get some perspective on college admissions.

I often hear people say that they want to attend a "top" college. The statement, however, begs the question, "top" at what? The entering students with the highest average test scores, the best football team, the students most involved in creating a better future? A recent New York Times articles discusses the increased competition for the colleges considered almost "top" based largely on the quality of the entering student body.

The article discusses a number of wonderful colleges that in the past were often easier to gain admission to than some of the Ivy League colleges. The article discusses how these "lesser" colleges are now getting more competitive and thus rejecting more of the students who are applying.

I think the thing to take from this article is that there are many excellent colleges in this country and just because you, or your neighbor down the street, hasn't heard of one doesn't mean it might not be a great choice for you. Once again, the major media is feeding into the hysteria of there only being 10 or 15 colleges in the country that are worth while attending and since they are so difficult to get into now, the rest of the students are forced to consider Pomona or Middlebury. I will admit that I am a fan of the liberal arts colleges and think that many of them, including these two schools, provide an education at least as strong as that provided at any of the Ivy League colleges.

But remember that there are approximately 3,500 colleges in this country, not the 10 or even 50 whose names are often mentioned in the national media. Each student should look for the best match for their particular needs, and the sole criteria for whether a college is good or not should not be the number of students they reject each year.

I often talk about the need to find the right college and part of that search is looking at the "feel" of a college. That can sometimes be difficult to define but a recent article in Inside Higher Ed illustrates one of the issues to consider.

The administration of St. Louis University, a Catholic university, is changing the charter for the student run newspaper because of stated concerns for the accuracy of the paper as well as financial concerns. The change will give the administration more power in approving articles written for the newspaper. Not surprisingly, the student editors of the paper as well as their faculty advisor, claim that the changes are being made because of criticisms that the newspaper have made regarding actions of the university and its administration.

I don't personally know the facts of this dispute and they don't really matter for our purposes. The question is whether a student looking to apply to St. Louis University would be comfortable with the issues surrounding the student newspaper. If you believe that the administration of the university is being heavy handed in their control of the student newspaper, you might want to consider in what other ways the school may infringe on fundamental rights. On the other hand, if you review the student paper and observe the frequent misspellings and the inaccurate information reported you may very well feel that the administration needed to step in to preserve the dignity of the college.

There is no right or wrong answer to how an individual student views a controversy like this. Each student must decide whether freedom of the press outweighs sloppy journalism. But it is issues like this that form the fabric of individual colleges. How each college handles the issue is the issue for the prospective student to examine to see if they would be comfortable in that type of culture.

There was another recent story about a home schooled student being admitted to a selective college. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported that one of the state's National Merit Scholarship winners was a home schooled student heading to Northwestern University. In the past it was unusual for a home schooled student to attend a highly selective college in part because the colleges didn't know what to do with a student with no grades other than those give by one of their parents.

While some colleges still are weary about home school students, the number of colleges welcoming these students is increasing every year. What the colleges have finally figured out is that strong, talented students come from a variety of backgrounds including some who are home schooled. It is true that these students need to show some basis for their academic strength outside of their grades. But keep in mind that while grades are the most important factor for most colleges in admitting a student, it is not the only factor. Test scores, essays, and recommendations are also important and even more so for students without traditional grades.

If you are home schooled you can still consider selective colleges. You just need to show why you are a student that will provide something of benefit to the colleges you are looking to attend. Which is exactly the same thing that traditional students need to show.

I know what many of you are thinking; another Harvard bashing article from a student who didn't get in. Actually, the title of this article is a quote from a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, one of Harvard's two governing boards. This statement was made in a New York Times article entitled "Harvard Task Force Calls for New Focus on Teaching and Not Just Research".

For those of us who are involved in college admissions Harvard's lack of focus on undergraduate education is hardly a surprise. Yes, many undergraduate students get a wonderful education at Harvard. But it is also true that many could have received an even better education at any number of other colleges whose focus is on undergraduate education, i.e. liberal arts colleges.

Harvard belongs to a group known as the COFHE group, a consortium of 31 of the most selective private colleges in the country. The group has several functions but one of them is to evaluate various programs at each of the colleges to compare best practices with each member. Several years ago an internal memorandum was released showing that student satisfaction at Harvard was lower than at almost all of the other COFHE schools. Even the Harvard Crimson has acknowledged this problem.

My point in all of this is not to pick on Harvard. Harvard is a wonderful college for some students. It is not, however, the best choice for many of the students who focus on attending the college. Students should focus on the quality of the education they will receive as well as the various other factors that different people might want to consider in choosing a college. Yes, prestige may be one of the factors a student wants to consider. But if this is one of your criteria, it should be a small one near the end of the list of things you want from a college. Whether a student will succeed in college is often more a function of the student than the college which they attend.

Moreover, by seriously investigating the colleges you might be interesting in attending, you will find out the advantages and disadvantages of each school. With that information, you can make a better and more informed decision on the right college for you.