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Stanford Adds Alumni Interviews – Inside Higher Ed
College Admission Office
Stanford Adds Alumni Interviews – Inside Higher Ed.
Our thought: Preparation is the antidote to fear. Mock interviews can help ease nerves.
“Richard Shaw, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid, said in an interview Thursday that the pilot program showed that the alumni interviews “add texture” to the applicants’ portfolios. In about 10 percent of the cases, he said, the report of the alumni interviewer influenced the decision one way or another.
Given the size of its applicant pool, Stanford admissions staff members do not interview applicants. As a result, Shaw said that “the human dynamic” can be lost in an application — and alumni reports can add that.”
Private colleges try to round out fall’s enrollment into summer – USATODAY.com
Sewanee took the path less traveled.
Private colleges try to round out fall’s enrollment into summer – USATODAY.com.
Our thought: Parents and students need to be empowered consumers when it comes to the college search and application process.
“The boldest strategic shift this year may have been by the University of the South, which in February announced that it was cutting all student charges for the next year (tuition, fees and room and board) by 10 percent. At the same time, Sewanee announced that it planned to end the bidding wars for top students who, while not necessarily needy, were asking the university to match offers from other institutions. Notably, the announcement came in February — too late to influence applications, although the shift was expected to have a major impact on whether accepted applicants enrolled.
The results so far suggest that Sewanee’s strategy paid off. Last year at this time, Sewanee had 397 deposits. This year it has 424. With the university hoping to enroll a class of 425, it may admit a few off the waiting list to offset any “melt” during the summer. The academic quality of the class appears to be similar to last year’s. And the yield (the percentage of admitted applicants who sent in a deposit) is up by half a percentage point, to 23.5 percent.”
Play Hard, Work Little: Life on America’s College Campuses – CCAP – Higher Education and the Economy – Forbes
Animal House
“Throughout every permutation that I ran, the tuition variable had a statistically significant and negative effect on partying, meaning that as students pay more in tuition, they are less apt to go out and party. In other words, the more invested a student is in his education, the less likely he will be to take action (such as heavy partying) that could be detrimental to it.”
Our thought: Ensure that students are committed to their choice for college enrollment. Requiring students to invest financially is a sound goal for parents.
Debating Legacy Admissions at Yale, and Elsewhere – NYTimes.com
University of Notre Dame
Debating Legacy Admissions at Yale, and Elsewhere – NYTimes.com
Our thought: Like it or not, legacy is a factor for admission at most colleges and universities. Use the connections where you have them.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation found that the admission rate for legacy students to a selective institution was 19.7% higher. Using Harvard University’s reported admission rate of 6%, the study suggests that the rate would be 26% among legacy candidates to the nation’s most selective university.
Does legacy admission preference assist fundraisers? Not at Berea College (KY) which favors low-income students in the admissions process AND reports a larger endowment than Middlebury, Oberlin, Vassar, and Bowdoin.
Check out Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions by Richard D. Kahlenberg.
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