New York Times - College Admission Counseling

Another Alternative Ranking System: The Washington Monthly

Jared Hobson — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:44 +0000

In a September 28, 2012 op-ed, New York Times columnist Joe Nocera decried the U.S. News and World Report college rankings for being inherently flawed — much as I did in my recent blog post, How Reliable Are College Rankings? Nocera blamed U.S. News for creating a status-climbing frenzy among colleges and the students who want to attend them. He argued that this system encourages colleges to try to improve their ranking by cheating the system, and indeed, there are several examples of such trickery.
Nocera suggested an alternative set of rankings: those published by The Washington Monthly. The magazine’s editors argue that U.S News “rewards colleges for spending more money, raising prices, and shutting out all but the most privileged students. While the college cost crisis has many causes . . . the relentless chase for status is undeniably driving prices up.” (The Washington Monthly)
Rather than focusing on how selective colleges are and the resources they provide for their students (as is the case with U.S. News), The Washington Monthly‘s system examines what colleges do for the country as a whole. Since 2005, these rankings have been based on three factors: social mobility, as determined by the number of low-income students a college enrolls and the percentage of them who graduate; research conducted by the college; and student invovlement in community service both during and after college. This year, the magazine’s editors added another factor, which they call “cost-adjusted graduation rate”. This measure is designed to give a higher ranking to colleges with above average graduation rates and below average costs.
To read more about The Washington Monthly‘s methodology and to see its rankings, click here. And remember, any rankings you consider in your college search should be just one of many sources of information.

The post Another Alternative Ranking System: The Washington Monthly first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

How Much Merit Aid Will Your College Give You?

Jared Hobson — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:15:26 +0000

Curious how much merit aid the college of your choice is likely to award?
Educational Life, a quarterly of The New York Times, recently released a list of more than 600 colleges and universities that award merit aid. This list includes the college’s tuition and fees, the percentage of freshmen who receive merit aid, and the average amount of money that they receive.
Take some time to check it out here.

Great College Advice

The post How Much Merit Aid Will Your College Give You? first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

Is There Such a Thing As Applying To Too Many Colleges?

Jared Hobson — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:13:13 +0000

As educational consultants we are often asked by our clients – how many colleges should I apply to? Unfortunately, there is no perfect answer. Four? Six? Ten? It all comes down to figuring out that magical word “fit.” Finding a group of schools that are a good fit for you academically, socially, and financially.
However, I do believe you can run the risk of applying to too few colleges or too many colleges.
A recent post in the New York Times The Choice discusses why too many college applications may not be a good thing.
Enjoy!

Great College Advice

The post Is There Such a Thing As Applying To Too Many Colleges? first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

Interesting Tidbits From "The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2011" Survey

Jared Hobson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:56 +0000

Interested in learning a little more about your peers who will be entering college? Check out the “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2011” for some interesting tidbits including:

Students enrolling at their first choice college has declined since 2006.
Incoming first-year women use social network sites more often than men
Students cite “better job prospects” as the number one reason to attend college
This year’s incoming freshman class has more liberal views
Compared to 2010 more students report that as high-school seniors they “frequently” took notes in class
More incoming students expect that as college students they will discuss course content outside of class

For more information you can also look at the New York Times “The Choice” blog.

image credit:https://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/thenextgreatgeneration/2011/09/freshman_15_the_characters_youll_meet.html

The post Interesting Tidbits From "The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2011" Survey first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

Student Loans–Too Much of A Good Thing

Jared Hobson — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:09:28 +0000

Student loans can help you pay for college. But too many student loans can ruin your life.
An article today in the New York Times reports that student loans have now outstripped credit card debt in the US, and that the amount of loans will surpass $1 trillion next year.
That’s a lot of debt.
To those undergraduates thinking about taking out student loans, please hear me and hear me good: don’t take out any more than the Federal loan limit, which is $5500 your first year, $6500 your second year, and $7500 in each of your third and fourth years.
So your maximum for undergraduate loans: $27,000. And if you can do it for less than that, you should.
If your college of choice asks you to borrow more, tell them “no thanks” and walk away.
A loan of $27,000 paid out over 10 years at an interest rate of 6.8% (the current rate) without any loan fees (and there will be fees) will mean that you will pay $310.72 per month for 10 years. Your total amount paid will be $37,285.87.
So think about it. For a slightly higher monthly payment, you could lease at brand new, 2011 Mercedes C300 4Matic Sport coupe (okay, so you have to come up with a down payment of $5000). But hey, you can easily get a Hyundai for that sort of payment. And you can lease a new one every three years!
If you’d prefer to pay your loan over a longer period (say, 20 years) you can reduce your monthly payment to $206.10, which would mean that you would have to pay a total of $49,464 for the right to borrow your $27,000. This payment might not seem like a lot. But let’s put it in perspective. According to the article, the average salary of a college grad in America–of all ages–is about $55,000. This is higher than the average for people without a college diploma. Remember, however, that this is only an average. About half of Americans with college degrees make LESS than $55,000, and some (especially younger grads) make a lot less. So paying back nearly $50k to The Man At The Bank is like losing a whole year of salary (on average) over your lifetime.
And don’t forget, twenty years after you graduate, your own kids will likely be in high school…so then it will be time to take out loans to pay for college for THEM!
This may be manageable for many students. But when you think about borrowing more than the Federal Stafford loans, look out.
If you borrow $50,000, your monthly payment will be $575 if you pay in 10 years and $382 if you pay in 20 years (assume no loan fees and a 6.8% interest rate, which is lower than the market rate for non-Federal loans.
If you borrow $75,000, your monthly payment will be $863 if you pay in 10 years and $572 if you pay in 20 years, based on the same assumptions. (Note to students: you can rent a nice two bedroom apartment in Denver for $850/month).
Want to borrow $100,000? Why not. Your your monthly payment will be $1,150 if you pay in 10 years and $763 if you pay in 20 years. My colleague, Katherine Price, heard about a student today who decided to attend NYU to get a degree in dance, and who will take out over $100,000 in loans to pay for it. In order to pay off her debt, she will have to make $14,800 per year after taxes for 10 years just to pay off her debt. As a dancer. Sure, college is an “investment.” But does that investment make any sense to you?
Don’t do it, folks. No college is worth tying an anvil around your neck.
Borrow no more than the Federal limits.
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant

The post Student Loans–Too Much of A Good Thing first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

Are College and Universities Bankrupting Themselves?

Jared Hobson — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:06:59 +0000

An opinion piece in today’s New York Times from a professor at Columbia University raises some excellent points about the skyrocketing costs of higher education in the US.
He criticizes huge expansion efforts at Columbia and New York University at a time when endowments are down, debt levels are up, and ambitions may be bigger than these institutions’ ability to shoulder new debt obligations.
This question comes at a time when the US government has reported that 149 colleges have failed its “financial responsibility test” (see the article here from the Chronicle of Higher Education–registration required). While the colleges on this list may or may not be able to bounce back from their clear financial difficulties, it seems reasonable to predict that more colleges will start to show up on this list in the coming years. Like so many businesses and individuals who spent the last decade or two living beyond their means, colleges and universities gorged on debt. And some, like Birmingham Southern College, have been in the news recently for making huge mistakes in managing their money. Some colleges are actually closing or merging. Does it really make sense for Columbia and NYU to continue feeding voraciously at the debt trough? Sure, Columbia and NYU are financially stronger than, say, Guilford and Ripon Colleges. Are these big boys “too big to fail?” Is Columbia like AIG, or like Lehman Brothers?
While I’m not ready to run around like Chicken Little quite yet, I do know that the rapidly rising prices in higher education are unsustainable. And I do think that parents–and their kids–need to take a step back and ask themselves whether they want to go into debt to a place like NYU in order to finance NYU’s debt. Like derivatives, higher education services are not anything tangible. If the investment goes south (i.e., if a child’s debt burden ends up being larger than what her future salary can bear), parents and kids will have nothing to show for it than a pile of student loans that cannot be discharged even in bankruptcy. At least if NYU’s or Columbia’s investments turn out not to be so great, they can sell off the buildings they are constructing and at least recoup something. What assets will you sell when your debts come due?
Food for thought.
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant

The post Are College and Universities Bankrupting Themselves? first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

More Opinions on Advanced Placement

Jared Hobson — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:19:38 +0000

One of our most commented on posts is “Which is Better: AP or IB?” In the post, Mark Montgomery highlights the differences between the two academic programs. Recently, the NY Times published a piece where five different professionals offered opinions on the expanding Advanced Placement program. The article states that the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses has risen nearly 50% from 2004 to 2009. For some, this vast increase is cause for concern. For others, there is a need to expand AP courses, especially to low-income and minority groups.
As mentioned in our previous post above, whether or not a student should enroll in AP (or IB for that matter) courses depends on the student’s ability and preparation. Of course colleges want to see students enrolled in the most challenging curriculum available, however it is also about the grades that the student receives. Students, parents and guidance counselors should work together to determine the best curriculum match for the students abilities. That is the best way to ensure the student has a strong academic performance.

Educational Consultant

The post More Opinions on Advanced Placement first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

College Admissions and Multiples

Jared Hobson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:44:08 +0000

Last week, the NY Times published an article on quadruplets who were all recently accepted to Yale. The article describes the scene of Ray, Kenny, Carol, and Martina Crouch all logging into the Yale website to see if they were admitted. I can only imagine how agonizing it must have been for all four siblings and their parents.
As a former admission officer, I know it can difficult to review applications of multiples. Sometimes the siblings have similar credentials and the decision is easy. Other times the applicants that are siblings may present two entirely different applications and the decision is not so cut and dry. While I don’t think any school would grant admission to a student who is not qualified to enroll just because their brother or sister was also admitted in the same class, I do think that most admissions officers reflect on how the decision will affect family dynamics.
It appears that this story of the admission process and multiples has a happy ending, but it is not over yet. Each Crouch sibling has other schools besides Yale that they are considering and while they say they are “reluctant to part” one them comments on how “fun” it might be to go somewhere where he is not “one of the quads.”
Katherine Price

The post College Admissions and Multiples first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

The New California Public Higher Education System

Jared Hobson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:44:42 +0000

It all began last month with news that the University of California’s Board of Regents voted to raise tuition by 32% next fall. An article in the NY Times illustrated how hundreds of student protesters voiced concerns regarding the tuition increase. Students commented on how the increase will affect the diversity on campus, especially since illegal immigrants do not qualify for financial aid. Students also criticized how recent budget cuts have already impacted the quality of their education due to cut library hours, fewer teaching assistants and less time with other staff members due to furlough days.
However, a commentary (also in the NY Times) by Ian Ayres points out that the tuition increase in the California system “might be a good thing.” Mr. Ayres outlines how there is a huge gap between the cost of private and public education. He says that U.C. Berkeley offers more courses taught by Nobel laureates than Yale, but Yale charges $28,400 per year in tuition and fees and Berkeley is only $5,858. However, another NY Times article points out that Berkeley may lose some of their “star” faculty members to other institutions, based on the “pervasive sense” among students and faculty that “deep budget cuts are pushing the university into decline”.
And now there are concerns that the California State University system is “shifting from being a de facto a non-competitive admissions university to a competitive one.” An article on InsideHigherEd.com outlined the changes:

Applications are up 19% from this time last year.
Last year only 6 schools were “impacted” in admissions- meaning they needed to take competitive measures because they had so many applicants. This year that number has doubled, up to 12 and it may continue to rise.
Last year only 6 campuses stopped accepting applications by November 30th. This year the number is up to 14.

All of these factors are adding to the pressure cooker that is the California educational system. Here are few other concerns that are stirring the pot:

Maintaining diversity: In addition to concerns that a tuition hike will influence the diversity on California’s public higher education campuses, there is also concern that higher admission standards may decrease the number of students of color as well. While applications for students of color are up in the Cal State system, James Blackburn, director of enrollment management, admits that he still does not know how changes in admissions requires will affect the make up of the campus population.
Options for low-income students: The Cal State and UC systems have always been known for their affordability, but if students are not admitted, what are their other options?
Less counseling: Understaffed guidance counselor offices are trying to keep up with the shifting admissions trends, but are having issues finding time to reach students who need to know this new information.
Pressure on the admissions side: Due to state budget cuts and furlough days, admissions offices are understaffed too. Add that to a sharp increase in the number of applications that have to be read and the number of rejected students they have to answer to.

Being a California native, I know how much students rely on the California higher education system to pursue their dreams of obtaining a college degree. I doubt there were many students at my high school who did not apply to at least one Cal State or one UC. I know things have changed a lot since I applied to colleges; students are learning to think more “outside of the box” and more are venturing out-of-state, but I also think California students need more guidance now than ever before. Also, the public higher education system in California serves an ethnically and socio-economically diverse population and the changes being made could deeply influence the face of higher education in the state. I don’t know that we will see the true affects these changes will have for years to come, but by then it may take even more money for the system to “recover” and return to where it is today.

Educational Consultant

The post The New California Public Higher Education System first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

College Admission, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, and a Lesson in Marketing

Jared Hobson — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:22:22 +0000

An editorial in today’s New York Times is written by a prospective college student, Lauren Edelson, who laments that every college in America is now comparing itself to Hogwarts.
And she’s right: they do. For two reasons. First, today’s college students grew up with J. K. Rowling, just as I grew up with Dr. Seuss. Students today quote lines from the books and movies, just as students my age regaled in singing the song from “Brady Bunch” or “Gilligan’s Island.” Times have changed, icons have changed, but kids have not.
Second, and because Harry Potter and Hogwarts are so iconic, colleges craft marketing messages around J. K. Rowling’s settings and characters. If Hogwarts is every kid’s idea of school, then it’s only natural for university offices of communications to use Rowling’s language to entice potential applicants.
I don’t disagree with the editorial one whit. And I applaud the author’s desire to focus her college search on what really matters in a school: academics.
But the writer is both unusual in her focus and naive in her understanding of how colleges and universities operate. The comparisons to Hogwarts are lost on this young woman, but they resonate with the vast majority of prospective students today.
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant in Colorado

The post College Admission, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, and a Lesson in Marketing first appeared on College Admission Counseling.