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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: college applications

college applications stories: 17 news summaries
opinion

 High School Seniors: 
 Skip College 

Taking a year off makes sense for most

Nov 7, 09 10:57 AM CST
(Newser) - A private consultant who makes a living helping high school seniors get into college has some unexpected advice for them: Don't do it. Take at least a year off instead, writes Gwyeth T. Smith. Yes, the idea of the "gap year" has been around a while, but the lousy... More »

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high school • college admissions • higher education • high school graduates • college applications

Colleges Use Student Blogs as Free PR

Warts-and-all posts by undergrads can lure savvy prospects

Oct 2, 09 12:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Colleges are loosening the reins on student bloggers in hopes that a dose of candid commentary will lure prospective applicants. At MIT, for instance, bloggers paid by the admissions office go about their work with no fear of censorship. That policy has caused some friction—including a spat between the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
admissions • college admissions • censorship • MIT • blogging • blogger • college student • high school students • college applications • undergraduates • Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Haverford College

SAT Prep Classes Exaggerate Improvement, Study Finds

Use of own diagnostic tests clouds real results

May 20, 09 10:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Many test-prep companies make impressive-sounding guarantees about students’ SAT performance, but an independent study finds that the courses offer little real improvement. Part of the problem may be tutors’ use of too-hard mock tests to judge students’ baseline performance, producing a false inflation that’s used to justify thousands of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
SAT • Princeton Review • college applications • ACT exam • College Board • SAT prep • Kaplan

Now NYU
Goofs on Acceptance Notices

Congrats, you've been accepted—not!

Apr 5, 09 7:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Just to make college admission a tad more excruciating, New York University has become the latest school to screw up on college acceptance notices, reports the Los Angeles Times. Some 500 rejected applicants were erroneously emailed last week that they had been accepted into an NYU graduate program. Officials blamed... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • New York City • college admissions • San Diego • New York University • NYU • University of California at San Diego • college applications

(Newser) - Private colleges across the nation are boosting the number of students they're accepting and the length of their waiting lists in case applicants can't write the tuition check when the time comes, reports the Washington Post. Applications are at a record high 3 million, but universities fear students planning on... More »

MORE ABOUT:
college admissions • UC Berkeley • college • UCLA • Johns Hopkins University • economy • college applications • fiscal crisis

Colleges Are as Nervous
as High School Seniors

Schools scramble to lock in as many students amidst faltering economy

Mar 7, 09 3:07 PM CST
(Newser) - College admissions season is here, and for the first time in recent memory, it’s a students’ market, reports the New York Times. Amidst economic turmoil, nervous colleges are uncertain how many students will apply—so they plan to admit more applicants and offer greater financial aid. “It’s... More »

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college admissions • college tuition • college applications • students

Students Hurt
By Colleges'
Digital Verdicts

Schools fawn over acceptees, but can be curt with e-rejections

Feb 26, 09 12:30 PM CST
(Newser) - College admissions offices are jazzing up acceptance packages—adding confetti, T-shirts, internet videos—to lure students, and are also trying to keep up with the times in their rejections, US News and World Report writes. But some efforts have backfired, with students hurt by brutally short, electronic turndowns—including text... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • Stanford • college admissions • text message • admissions officers • college applications

tech review

User-Generated College Review Site Gets It Right

Unigo allows students to post multimedia reviews of universities

Feb 19, 09 11:45 AM CST
(Newser) - A new online college guide “built for the age of YouTube and Facebook” employs user-generated content to give applicants a student's-eye-view of hundreds of schools, and Walter S. Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal likes what he sees. Unigo.com is free and ad-supported; professional editors help present reviews,... More »

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Web 2.0 • college admissions • college rankings • Walt Mossberg • college • college applications • Unigo.com

Harvard Applications Hit Record High

School's tuition policy helps draw 29,000 hopeful students

Jan 21, 09 5:12 PM CST
(Newser) - It's getting even harder to get into Harvard. A record 29,000 high school students have applied to be freshmen, an increase of 5.6% from the previous record set last year, the Boston Globe reports. School officials attribute the increase to a combination of the slow economy and its... More »

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Ivy League • college • Harvard • college applications

Last-Minute Flood Jams College Application Site

Students received timeout errors as server overloaded

Jan 1, 09 10:27 AM CST
(Newser) - Some high school seniors submitting college applications hours before the Dec. 31 deadline encountered timeout errors and slowdowns that gave them quite a scare, the New York Times reports. The Common Application site—used by a million students to apply for 350 colleges—buckled twice under the volume of last-minute... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • college admissions • higher education • website • colleges and universities • college applications • Common Application

US Students Flock North for Cheap Tuition

Canadian universities appeal to Americans in tough economy

Dec 25, 08 7:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Cash-strapped Americans with their sights set on college see Canada as an affordable alternative to domestic institutions, the Boston Globe reports. Low tuition fees and a stronger US dollar—it’s worth $1.21 in Canada right now—are luring more high school students in the northeast across the border,... More »

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Canada • college admissions • higher education • college • recession • college tuition • college applications

Applicant Pool Down, Private Colleges Begin to Panic

Fears of high costs may be driving drop

Dec 22, 08 7:19 AM CST
(Newser) - Private colleges are receiving notably fewer regular applications this year, sparking widespread concern among the schools that enrollment will plunge, the New York Times reports. Reasons for the drop may include families’ worries about soaring tuition and a general decline in the number of schools to which each student applies.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
college admissions • college • college costs • college applications

Want to Get Into College?
Try These Student Tips

College freshmen share their lessons about admissions success

Nov 30, 08 9:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Applications continue to flood into top US colleges despite the economic slowdown. With admissions as competitive as ever, the Wall Street Journal talks to six people who know—college freshmen—and asks for their advice:
  • Don't let naysayers deter you from your dream school: "It pays off to
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
college admissions • college • university • campus • college applications • students

 SAT, ACT Cheats Get Off Easy 

Agencies under fire for canceling scores without exposing, punishing students

Jul 15, 08 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - College hopefuls caught cheating on their ACT or SAT exams are likely to face few consequences, the Los Angeles Times reports, due to policies under which the administering agencies simply cancel suspicious scores on the college-admission exams. High schools and colleges are kept in the dark about potential wrongdoing, and... More »

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SAT • college admissions • test score • exam • cheating • college applications • ACT exam

Top Colleges Report Record Low Rates of Admission

Harvard accepts just 7% of applicants

Apr 1, 08 3:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Acceptance letters from the nation's top colleges will begin to arrive on prospective students' doorsteps today, but far more rejection letters are in the mail than ever before, reports the New York Times. Harvard and Yale accepted only 7.1% and 8.3% of applicants, respectively, both record lows... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • Columbia University • Yale University • Ivy League • college admissions • college • university • Dartmouth • Harvard • college applications

But Mom, It's a Really Great Football School

Big winners in college sports see increased applicants, study finds

Mar 25, 08 1:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - The admissions office at Davidson may be a bit busier in the coming year if a new study to be published in Southern Economic Journal holds true. Researchers found that the biggest champs in football and basketball were also the biggest winners in terms of student applications the next year,... More »

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NCAA basketball • NCAA football • college • Davidson Wildcats • Georgetown Hoyas • college sports • prospective student • college applications

Diploma Drop to Make College Entry Easier

Slump in high school grad numbers will
spark 'buyers market'

Mar 9, 08 4:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - Students will find college entry far easier in coming years as the number of high school graduates falls, the New York Times reports. The annual US grad count is expected to peak at around 2.9 million in the next year or two, and then slump until 2015. “For... More »

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African Americans • college admissions • college • university • student • Hispanic • high school students • college applications

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