During your first two weeks of school, you didn’t think you would survive the semester. You’d decided to attend one of the largest universities in the country because it offered a strong alumni network, and incredible undergraduate research opportunities. Also, it didn’t hurt that palm trees lined the footpaths between the dorms and classrooms. While the warm breeze, endless sun, and campus dining options had surpassed your expectations, you felt insignificant and nameless among the student masses that filled your lecture halls. Moreover, though you met people at parties, you hadn’t made any real friends who shared your interests. Then, in freshman English Composition, you were assigned to a work group with G, the smiley girl who lived down the […]

College As Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?  Apparently, this is a catchy title for a white paper. The report, released January 2013 by the National Bureau of Economic Research, set off a firestorm of responses in the higher education media sphere: Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Huff Post Teen, have all composed responses to the claims of the study. Well, what’s the shocking news? We find that most students do appear to value college consumption amenities, including spending on student activities, sports, and dormitories. While this taste for amenities is broad-based, the taste for academic quality is confined to high-achieving students.1 The NBER paper goes on to explain the 16%-20% […]

Tell me about yourself. When you’re filling out college applications, schools pepper you with different permutations of this question. Can you briefly recount your most meaningful experience? Who or what matters most to you? How do you handle adversity? Why does diversity matter in your life? Is it any surprise that a new study shows, “First-year students indicating that they frequently felt “overwhelmed by all I had to do” during their senior year of high school increased from 28.5% in 2011 to 30.4% in 2012.” While colleges have plenty questions, far less frequently, if at all, do they ask what you expect them to deliver. If they did ask, would you be in a position to answer? Maybe not until […]

Forget about ACT and SAT scores, should non-cognitive assessments play a greater role in college admissions decisions?  This is a livewire question, at least in certain academic circles. Most recently, experts debated the issue a week ago at a conference hosted by the University of Southern California’s Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice.  You may ask, what exactly is a non-cognitive assessment? Unlike the ACT and SAT, non-cognitive assessments aim to directly measure qualities like a student’s work ethic, teamwork skills, acceptance of criticism, leadership abilities, conscientiousness, creativity, organizational skills, and many other traits that match up with academic and workplace success. These tests have long been used in HR hiring processes.  In a way, college admissions officers already […]