the College Grid

After helping numerous students with their college applications, we noticed a lack of useful tools to help manage the school selection process. We decided to build a website with a “top-down” approach to researching colleges. Within a week, the College Grid was born.

It is improvement over the Princeton Review and US News and World Report in that it actually lets you sort on any of the variables. But the choice of variables!

The default sort is on the admissions rate. Obviously the creators are believers in that selectivity means better. But such a system does have its limitations. For example, select just for Texas schools and see what school shows up second with the default rating. And it even has a 99% acceptance yield! What a find! The problem is that is has a six year graduation rate of less than 20%. I’m sure that’s why there’s a column of SAT scores to give a heads-up that you might want to check into the value of the selectivity but still, is this really valuable?

The top five Texas schools in terms of four year graduation rates are ranked 1, 25, 15, 31, and 44 on the College Grid. Which is more important, selectivity or graduation rates? (They are ranked 1, 6, 2, 4, and 9 by SAT scores.)

The problem is that somebody out there doesn’t want your average college student ranking schools by graduate rates. (I’m not saying that graduation rates should be the only consideration but when your shelling out $40,000 a year, I would put it at the top of the list.) Most lists are now listing graduation rates as part of the school profile but the only place where you can actually select on it is at www.Collegeresults.org. Even the College Navigator, the website run by the federal government that actually collects the graduate rate data, doesn’t allow you to search on it.

So do potential students really not care about graduation rates or have they just been convinced that acceptance rates are actually a reflection of graduation rates?

College graduation rates, college rankings

UT sued for considering race in admissions

“But for her race and ethnicity, it is our belief she would have been admitted to the University of Texas,” said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal-defense group that fights the use of race and ethnicity in public policy.

What exactly is this “belief” based on? Do Hispanics and African-Americans make up a larger percentage of the non-top ten percentage admits than Anglos (excepting athletes in money making sports, of course)? Are individuals from these groups being admitted with lower SAT scores than Anglos? How about those with a lower class rank? Is playing the cello supposed to be considered part of the admission process? If so, how does that compare to getting merely decent SAT scores at a poorly funded and poorly performing high school?

I have to admit that this is a change from the usual “my child scored 1400 on the SAT but can’t get into UT because she’s not in the top ten percent” complaint. Fisher’s SAT scores would put her in the bottom of the middle 50% for UT. It would be nice to know why they think she would be admitted under “race neutral” conditions.

Technorati Tags: UT Austin, admissions policy, racial preferences

• Four Year Graduation Rate: 52.2%
• Median SAT: 1095
• $18,433 expenditures per student
• 78.4% Admitted
• 86% Students living on campus

Over a third of the students participate in nationally based sororities and fraternities. The importance of Greek life comes across in the Princeton Review’s student comments. And while the campus hasn’t reported any liquor or drug violations, drinking appears to be a major recreational focus. Randolph-Macon makes the Princeton Review’s top twenty lists in “Lots of Beer Parties,” “Major Frat and Sorority Scene Parties,” and “Party Schools Parties.” This where it would be nice to know more about how other schools ranked on these lists other than the top twenty. For all we know, it may be little different than number 50 or dramatically different than number 21. Having attended a school that regularly made the party school rankings, I know that it’s possible for such a label to have very little effect on your individual experience. However, given it’s small size, it’s something I would want to check out very carefully.

While student’s comments don’t say anything specifically about the academic rigor of the classes, the college states that “since 1920, when statistics were first kept, a higher percentage of Randolph-Macon graduates have gone on to earn PhDs than that of any independent college in the state of Virginia.” I suspect this is a school worth looking into if you are interested in a liberal arts education but don’t have the scores to get into one of the more selective schools. I would just be wary of it’s drinking reputation.

R-MC :: What is the First-Year Experience?

As a new student, you’ll explore these kinds of connections through your First-Year Experience (FYE). You’ll join a small group of other students and two professors from different disciplines for a yearlong exploration of a topic in a challenging and interesting set of FYE classes. Outside the classroom, you’ll attend co-curricular events such as plays and public lectures designed to deepen your understanding of the topic. The work will culminate in an interdisciplinary analysis that might take the form of a written report, a video production, or a work of art. And through FYE you’ll make solid connections with those who share your exploration, including the faculty members, one of whom will serve as your academic advisor.

FYE Topics

The Drug Trade
Disciplines: Chemistry and Sociology

What is Life?
Disciplines: Biology and Computer Science

Biopolitics
Disciplines: Biology, Political Science

Wine, Science, and Society
Disciplines: Literature, Chemistry

In God’s Good Time
Disciplines: Religious Studies, Physics

Why R-MC: Undergraduate Research?

Randolph-Macon College views students as colleagues through their summer research opportunities that take them out of the classroom for a total summer immersion program.

Like professional scientists and scholars, Randolph-Macon students have to apply to the SURF program by writing a proposal and request for grant money to fund their research. If their project is accepted, they receive a stipend of $3,000 and free housing. In addition, funds are available for supplies and travel.

Technorati Tags: Randolph-Macon College, College Rankings, College Search, Liberal Arts Colleges

The New 2008 “Best 366 Colleges” Rankings on The Princeton Review

We’ve created 62 rankings lists across 8 categories, based on feedback from more than 120,000 students across the nation. Enjoy!

I don’t know how statistically valid these lists are or what actually separates the number one school from the number 20 school from the number 100 school. But if there is anything to these lists at all, you’ve got to wonder what’s the attraction of the super selective schools in the country. If a school makes the top twenty “Toughest to Get Into,” you would think they would make multiple appearances on the various education quality lists. Not necessarily so.

The other “education quality lists” I’m talking about are:

• Professors Get High Marks

• Their Students Never Stop Studying

• Professors Make Themselves Accessible

• Class Discussions Encouraged

• Students Happy with Financial Aid

• Schools Runs Like Butter

• Best Classroom Experience

• Happiest Students

• Best Quality of Life

Six of the toughest schools to get into don’t make it onto any of the lists: Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Dartmouth College, Cooper Union, and Georgetown. Harvard, MIT, Yale, and Brown only make it onto one additional list. The schools that appear the most on the other lists are Middlebury College, five categories, and Princeton, Stanford, and Pomona in four categories.

So which schools appeared in the most categories? Thomas Aquinas College and Wabash with seven appearances each. Not exactly household names. Hendrix and Ursinus College make the Best Classroom Experience. Simon’s Rock College of Bard, Centre College, and Sewanee-University of the South are in the “Professors Get High Marks” category. A total of 87 colleges appear on these nine lists. That’s a lot more than the 20 “Toughest to Get Into.” Of course, many of these colleges could be ranked in the top 30 or 40 on the “Toughest to Get Into” so it may not be that big of a deal. But without any way to judge the difference between those on the list and those that didn’t make it, it’s hard to reach a conclusion about the value of the top twenty.

I understand why the Princeton Review didn’t want to rank all 366 colleges on the list. Any college that appears at the bottom of the list would unfairly receive a “negative” rating even if there really isn’t that much difference between those at the top and those at the bottom. However, if you’re going to evaluate colleges based on their placement on these lists, it seems to me that you should seriously be considering factors other than just selectivity when looking for a quality college.

Technorati Tags: College Admissions, College Rankings, College Selectivity, Princeton Review

OpinionJournal – Leisure & Arts

Take this passage from Michele Hernández’s “Acing the College Application,” where she assesses the chances of a high-school student getting into a college of his choice. “Best case: Neither of your parents attended college at all, your father is a factory worker, and your mom is on disability. . . . Worst case: Your father went to Yale as an undergraduate and then Harvard Business School and is now an investment banker and your mom went to Brown, holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and works as a research chemist.”

We all understand that being a rich white kid puts one at a disadvantage in the college-admissions process.

This casually drawn conclusion on both the parts of the author, Michele Hernandez, and the reviewer rankles me. First of all, how can you have all the “passionate” enrichment activities unless your parents have money? I know some exceptional kids do but they are just that, exceptional.

Then there is the fact that while students from private schools make up only ten percent of the student population at the elementary and high school level, they seem to be disproportionately represented at the elite colleges.

Percentage of freshman from public school

Poor little, rich Johnny isn’t getting beat out by some poor Hispanic kid from the Rio Grande valley; he’s getting beat out by another poor, little rich kid.

Now at days, virtually everyone applying to selective schools has perfect or near perfect SAT scores and is in the top ten percent of their class. So which do you think is going to make more of a difference in the application process, a mother who is an alumnus or a father who is a truck driver? Which applicants are more likely to have the resources to follow their passions?

I’m sure that there are some minority students admitted that have lower scores than many of the white males who were rejected. I’m just as sure that there are athletes, artists, musicians, and students from Montana (other traits people are often born with) that have lower scores than those who were not admitted.

It sounds like these books are encouraging you to reap the benefits of your parent’s wealth without appearing as such to the admissions committees. Or maybe the authors are just trying to reap the benefit’s the parents wealth without appearing as such to the parents.

Technorati Tags: college admissions, private admission counseling, discrimination, Acing the College Application, What High Schools Don’t Tell You, Naomi Schaefer Riley

So why bother? Why not just let him reach the point on his own and start looking himself? One, the way the college application process works now at days means that waiting may also close off opportunities you waited too long to find out about.

Two, after spending a lot of time on a homeschool to college yahoo group and wondering why everyone elses kids seem to care and mine doesn’t, someone pointed out that it seems to be more boys in the “don’t care” category. The group consensus was that boys generally take longer to mature and this is one area in which it shows. (I hope anyway)

Three, if I go from the premise that he’s not really a self-starter, then I had better find a college where he won’t get lost in the crowd.

Four, we aren’t going to qualify for any need aid and while my son isn’t a self-starter, he’s smart enough to qualify for some merit aid somewhere. I just need to figure out somewhere.

So how do you start looking? I’ve read the Colleges that Change Lives and looked at the Princeton Review top 20 lists and it’s a start. But there are over 1500 schools out there and that only scratches the surface.

I’ll tell you my current, evolving method. I start out at www.collegeresults.org. I do an institutional search for the following:

Size: 750-2500 (I think he’s going to need to be in a small school where people care if he shows up to class)

Student Related Expenditures per FTE: greater than $15,000. The most spent per student at any state school in Texas is less than $12,000. There are only 25 public schools nationally that spend more than $15,000 per student. There are 290 private schools that do. I figure if I’m going to shell out tuition for a private school, I want to see some of the money spent on the students whether on student organizations, dorms, athletic facilities (the one thing he does care about) or classrooms.

Graduation Rate: Ideally, it should be over 70%. However, I’m currently working with a search between 50% and 70%. This generally lowers the requirements for qualifying for full tuition scholarships at the school. If he can get a scholarship and in their honors program with less than a 1200 SAT, I’ll take the chance.

After I generate my list, I then plug the school in the Princeton Review’s website for more info on it’s acceptance rate, percentage of students living on campus, percentage going to graduate school, and does it have baseball and football (because that’s important to my son, it may not be important to yours).

Then I hit the school’s website to look for information on it’s history department, (if ds can’t be general manager of a pro football team, he wants to be a history professor), scholarships, and honors program.

And that’s how I cam across Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. The fact that it doesn’t have a football team is made up by it’s Honor Scholarship program. 1150 is worth a look.

Wesson Honors and Presidential Scholarships

Wesson Honors Scholarship Students with a 3.5 GPA and 1150 SAT (combined critical reading and math sections)/25 ACT score are eligible for the Wesson Honors Scholarship. This $12,000 scholarship includes direct admission into the Wesson Honors Program. It is renewable annually for four years of study dependent upon good academic standing in the Wesson Honors Program.

I’m not sure about the history department since it’s history department is actually “History, Society and Culture” which they do a nice job of explaining. It doesn’t seem particularly strong in the Civil War but okay in modern European history. On the plus side, it has developed an “Apprentice Historian Project.”

Other notables about the school is it’s co-curricular transcript, Pathway program, and use of portfolios.

I’m not sure I want ds in New Hampshire; I’m not sure he would even want to go. But it’s saved to the Princeton Review profile and on my “watch” list. It seems a promising alternative for someone who is not going to make into UT under the top 10 percent rule.

Technorati Tags: Colby-Sawyer College, college search, top ten percent, Ivy alternatives, college admissions

MySA.com: Metro | State

AUSTIN — In a surprise move, the Texas House shot down a bill Sunday night that would have limited automatic admissions at the University of Texas at Austin for students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class.

A cheer went up in the chamber with the final vote, 75-64, against adopting a compromise bill that would have let public universities cap admissions of high-ranking students at 50 percent.

Now maybe people can start thinking about what Texas can do to improve the quality of all it’s universities.

As for the brain drain argument, drain away. Maybe all of these people who leave the state will choose to live outside of Texas. Then as more graduates of Texas’ top universities look more like Texas as a whole, these graduates will lead the way to improve higher education opportunities for everyone, not just the children of wealthy parents in north Dallas and the Houston suburbs.

House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on changes to a 10-year-old college-admission law.

Under Senate Bill 101, which still needs approval today from the full House and Senate, the University of Texas would no longer be required to accept all applicants who rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class. UT could limit such students to 60 percent of its freshmen from Texas. Such students made up 71 percent in fall 2006.

Agreement reached on top 10 percent law | Postcards from the Lege

UT President William Powers Jr. has spent considerable time testifying at legislative hearings and meeting with lawmakers this year in hopes of obtaining limits on the law. He’s argued that racial and ethnic diversity — a major purpose of the 1997 legislation — could be realized more effectively if UT has greater discretion in deciding whom to admit.

So now UT Austin will go out of it’s way to admit students like those below?

Elite Colleges Open New Door to Low-Income Youths – New York Times

Mr. Jack’s high grades and test scores — a respectable 1200 on the SAT — won him a full scholarship to the University of Florida. But the median score for his Amherst class was 1422, and he would have been excluded had the admissions office not considered his socioeconomic class, and the obstacles he had overcome.

“Tony Jack with his pure intelligence — had he been raised in Greenwich, he would have been a 1500 kid,” said Tom Parker, the dean of admission. “He would have been tutored by Kaplan or Princeton Review. He would have had The New Yorker magazine on the coffee table.”

Hardly likely. While Powers and the UT Alumni Association (I can’t believe they use my dues for this) were out bemoaning the lack of flexibility in selecting students under the top ten percent rule, Sen. Jane Nelson is promising her constituents that money will once again be a deciding factor in UT admissions.

Star-Telegram.com | 05/05/2007 | Senate approves limit on top 10% rule

Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, said the rule hurts students with sterling credentials who graduate from Texas’ mega-high schools, where many students take Advanced Placement classes and boast high SAT scores. At the same time, students from smaller schools with less-competitive curricula make it into UT, said Nelson, adding that voting for the top 10 percent rule in 1996 was one of the worst votes she’s ever cast.

Whatever could I mean by that? After all, she’s talking about credentials, AP courses and high SATs. Such credentials, as Amherst seems to recognize, are more likely when the parents have the money to pay for the prep classes and to buy a house in well-to-do area. So while Powers talks about admitting students like Tony Jack, Nelson and Shapiro and friends make it clear this bill is really about making sure that those who can afford it, get to go to UT.

So much for improving our higher education system for everyone.

MySA.com: Metro | State

Under UTSA’s proposal, guaranteed admission for top-ranked high school students would expand from the top 10 percent to the top 25 percent.

Below that threshold, students would have to score from 920-1020 on the SAT, up from the current range of 830-970; on the ACT, that range would rise from 17-20 to 19-21.Romo said higher standards are part of a strategy to slow enrollment and manage runaway growth, as well as raise graduation rates and push UTSA toward it goal of becoming a premier research university.

A draft of UTSA’s strategic plan calls for capping enrollment at 35,000 by 2016. Romo estimated that 400 students would be rejected under the new standards.

“You cannot be open admissions and say you have standards,” Romo said, adding that high schools must turn out better students because the university cannot afford remedial education.

“The message we send to high schools is that UTSA will take you, no matter what,” he said.

Of course, in some ways, this just shifts the issues of qualifications and enrollment to community colleges. And given the lack of predictability of transferring course work from community colleges to four year institutions, low graduation rates, and lower profiles, I can’t help but think it’s brushing the problem under the rug so the legislature doesn’t have to deal with it.

What problem? The problem that obviously a significant number of students graduate from Texas colleges believing that they are ready for college but the low graduation rate at many Texas universities suggest otherwise.

Then there is the problem of capping enrollments as a means to controlling growth. Even if our public school system never improves, the number of graduates capable of succeeding in college is going to grow simply from population growth. Where are these people supposed to go?

Our local school district has a bond issue on the ballot to build more more schools to accommodate the 4,000 plus students being added to the district each year. Where are the new universities being built?

This is basically why it’s so hard to get into the Ivy League schools. They probably have ten times the number of people applying than they had 30 years ago and all of them meet the minimum qualifications. However, they haven’t expanded to accommodate ten times the enrollment. Students are being turned away who would have been an automatic admission just 20 years ago.

UTSA will become more selective simply because it can’t keep growing, just like UT Austin and Texas A&M already have. So what happens next, the community colleges, our last door that opens the path to higher education to all, will start turning away students?