Don't read that, read this

Don't read that, read this

In a December blog post, I contemplated the "thought experiment" of using a lottery to decide admissions to elite universities.

But just a few days later, the author of that thought experiment published an article where she really gets down to the essence of the message: "In fact, we should discard the notion that admissions is a meritocratic process that selects the 'best' 18-year-olds who apply to a selective university. When we let go of our meritocracy ideals, we see more clearly that so many talented, accomplished young people who will be outstanding leaders in the future will not make it to the likes of Harvard, Stanford and Yale."

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Jack is still making changes to his list

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Jack is still making changes to his list

This week I got responses from Jack, and there's one I don't quite understand. He's pretty excited about his early application getting deferred from Yale. I've never heard a student happy about being deferred before. I assume he's happy because because a deferral--which basically means "we're not saying yes, but we're not saying no. We'll look at your application again with the batch of regular applications instead of the early ones"--isn't a rejection. But I'll update when I hear back from him about his happiness. Also, if you happen to be an admissions professional at Reed, you should follow up with Jack. Read the full interview below. 

What should you do with your break?

What should you do with your break?

Most of this is for seniors in the midst of their college applications. But don't worry, underclassmen, there's advice for you in here, too. Most high schools give you a break for a few weeks around the holidays, and most students are good at procrastination. These combine to produce way too much to do over your break. Here's some advice for handle it.

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What's wrong with an admissions lottery?

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What's wrong with an admissions lottery?

In the past few weeks I've written about Affirmative Action (I'm not at all against it) and Legacy Admission (I'm not at all against it, either). There's one more admissions policy I'd like to consider, and it's mostly just a hypothetical one: using a lottery to admit qualified students to elite universities.

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Are people afraid of the University of Chicago?

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Are people afraid of the University of Chicago?

I visited New York City over Thanksgiving with extended family. It was a fantastically fun and relaxing trip. On top of all the lights and crowds and excitement, something else really caught my attention. Standing in line one night, I overheard someone in my group say that there has been a 20% decrease in applications to the University of Chicago over the past five years. It has to do, he said, with the growing violence in Chicago. People are scared to go there. (I checked with my wife, and she heard the same thing I did.) My immediate thought was that there is no way there's been a decrease like that to such a prestigious school, no matter what the news reports say about Chicago. But I didn't have any evidence for my argument. And I'd only met this guy, who is really nice and really smart, a few hours earlier. And it's the holidays. So I let it go...

...but I couldn't let it go. This week I did a bit of investigating to learn more about applications and crime near U Chicago. And it turns out he's right. Kind of. 

How do colleges treat plagiarism?

How do colleges treat plagiarism?

There are a few things I know about plagiarism in high school. It's rampant. High schools tend to be pretty lax about it--it's seen more as a teaching opportunity than a reason to destroy someone's yet-to-begin career. Teachers warn that colleges are much more strict and you better learn your lesson or there will be dire consequences.

But how often do we hear about someone suffering dire consequences from cheating in college? Rarely. The "things will be more strict in college" threat seems about as empty as the "this will go on your permanent record" threat. How exactly do colleges treat plagiarism? The answer isn't simple. It depends on the circumstances, the school, and the professor. It's very subjective and case-by-case.

So here's a story about an actual case of plagiarism and the consequences. It's by no means the only way that plagiarism gets treated, but I think it's fairly typical.

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Jack is feeling a little calmer

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Jack is feeling a little calmer

Jack is in a much better mood this month than when I last talked with him. I guess finishing your Common Application, submitting an app to Yale, and having a successful fly-in visit will do that. jack goes to a pretty diverse high school in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, so coming across less-diverse campuses is making him reconsider some things--and schools. Read the entire interview below. 

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Grace and the really important questions

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Grace and the really important questions

Checking in with Grace this month I was reminded of some important truths that colleges and parents should not neglect: a good overall program is more important than a particular major; geography is important; access to good Asian food is really important. Read the entire November interview with Grace below, and catch up with her past interviews here. 

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How would I change admissions?

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How would I change admissions?

I spend my time reading and thinking about college admissions from a certain viewpoint--high school students. I rarely think about parents' perspectives or colleges' perspectives. I help out with the demand part of the equation. But what about the supply side? If I could advise colleges to make their search for top-notch students more efficient and effective, what would I tell them? How would I design the college admissions game?

If I could magically change the whole system, I would basically make it a two-cycle year.

Be kind to your counselor

Be kind to your counselor

Most high school students--and their parents--think their own counselor at school is less than great. But most high school counselors are severely overworked. The American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor per 250 students, but in the U.S. the average is almost double that. Even the best counselors have trouble keeping up with twice as much work as is reasonable. There's not much you can do about the quality of your own assigned counselor nor the workload they have, but there are some things you can do to make it easier for your counselor to do a great job for you.

What are scholarships good for?

What are scholarships good for?

Early this October, as I was sitting in on a meeting of College Possible coaches, the program coordinator specializing in scholarships brought up this amazing stat: When their students got some sort of scholarship, 93% graduated college within six years. When there was no scholarship, only 45% graduated in six years. This is based on College Possible Minnesota's 2008 cohort, meaning their participating students who graduated high school in 2008 and have been tracked since then. So even with all the coaching and support that all College Possible students receive, getting a scholarship more than doubles their odds of graduating. This doesn't just mean "full ride" scholarships that pay for all of college, but any type of scholarship that helps make college cheaper. 

Statistics rarely have stories or explanations, so it's up to us to brainstorm some reasons why getting even a small scholarship can increase your success so dramatically.

Study in the quiet places

Study in the quiet places

You're not a software company, but you still want to improve your productivity, which means getting more useful things done in less time. As a student, one of the best things you can do for both the quality of your study time and how much study time you need is follow the company's lead and find quiet places for concentration. This may sound obvious, but I know from years of teaching that lots of students try to do their studying in loud and distracting places. (Extreme example: I once saw a student doing AP Calculus homework at her senior prom.)

Getting the support you need in college

Getting the support you need in college

More and more high school programs are focused on getting students through college, not just to college. About 10 years ago, some of the major charter school networks made college graduation a goal.  Posse has been around since the late 1980s. College Possible has been doing their thing since 2000. What wisdom can you gain from these success-through-college programs even if you're not a part of them?

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What's wrong with Legacy admissions?

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What's wrong with Legacy admissions?

Last month I wrote about affirmative action, and now I want to talk about Legacy. Legacy is the practice of a university giving an admissions advantage to children of alumni.

I've seen increased calls to end Legacy lately, and one of the clearest and strongest just appeared. In "Higher Education's Biggest Scam Is Legacy Admissions Policies," Richard D. Kahlenberg looks at three reasons that many colleges cite for their legacy policies and refutes them. Kahlenberg edited a book about Legacy, so he knows what he's talking about.