UU'S 2008 ACCEPTANCES
Uniquely U.
NEWS
Hot Trends in College Admissions
= Stories about new trends for 2008.
Is There a 'Growing Backlash' Against the SAT?
Wake Forest University and Smith College announced recently that they would no longer require applicants to submit standardized-test scores. Those announcements are “part of a backlash against the use — and misuse — of the SAT,” according to an online editorial published on Tuesday by The New York Times.
http://chronicle.com/news/...
The Growing Backlash Against the SAT
Wake Forest University and Smith College have gotten a lot of attention since their announcements that they will no longer require prospective students to submit SAT and ACT scores with their applications.
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/...
ACT and College Board Unveil 'Concordance Tables'
ACT Inc. and the College Board have released updated concordance tables — estimates of how students of comparable abilities would score on the ACT and SAT examinations.
http://chronicle.com/news/article/4777/...
Most Americans Satisfied With College Prep Offered by Local Public Schools, Poll Finds
Americans are more likely to give their local public schools high marks for college preparation than for work-force training or for giving children basic skills to survive as adults, according to the results of an Associated Press poll released today.
http://chronicle.com/news/...
The Evolving SAT Debates
The College Board is changing a longstanding policy and, starting for the high school class 2010, will allow students who take the SAT multiple times to decide how many and which scores will be visible to colleges.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/23/sat
In a Year Off the Beaten Path, a New Direction for Life
AT the end of my junior year in high school in Maryland, I realized I wasn’t ready to apply to college or take the SAT. I wanted to postpone the whole application process and focus on my studies during senior year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/jobs/15pre.html
Teens launch site to help trade inside info on college applications
Want to get into a fancy college?
Try writing a college essay about being a first-generation high school graduate and the first member of your family to go to college.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...
2 Colleges End Entrance Exam Requirement
Smith College, a women’s college in Northampton, Mass., and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., will no longer require prospective students to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their applications.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/education/27sat.html
The Fate of The Sentence: Is the Writing On the Wall?
The demise of orderly writing: signs everywhere.
One recent report, young Americans don't write well.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
New SAT Is as Predictive as Old SAT, College Board Finds
Recent changes in the SAT did not substantially alter how accurately the test predicts first-year grades, according to new research released today by the College Board.
http://chronicle.com/news/article/4690/...
Yale to Expand Undergraduate Enrollment by 15 Percent
The president of Yale University announced on Saturday that Yale will increase its undergraduate enrollment by 15 percent, to about 6,000, by building two new residential colleges that are expected to open in 2013.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/education/08yale.html
Top Colleges Dig Deeper in Wait Lists for Students
In what may be a happy surprise for thousands of high school seniors, Harvard plans to offer admission to 150 to 175 students on its waiting list, and Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania each expect to take 90, creating ripples that will send other highly selective colleges deeper into their waiting lists as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/education/09admissions.html
College grads face tougher job market
Entry-level pay rises, but offers are less plentiful.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0505/p16s01-wmgn.html
Admissions Officials Shrug at SAT Writing Test
In a new survey, college admissions officials share their views of the SAT writing test, college affordability, and student recruiting.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2008/...
Elite Colleges Reporting Record Lows in Admission
The already crazed competition for admission to the nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges became even more intense this year, with many logging record low acceptance rates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/education/01admission.html
The Other Side of Admissions Angst
For students, getting into their first-choice college isn't so hard after all
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i27/27a02001.htm
College applications can be too good
Admissions officers wary of slick essays
Sometimes it is the choice 10-cent word or two, a spot-on sublime or consummate, that is the giveaway. Maybe it is a series of suspiciously skilled turns of phrase, syntax the envy of Strunk and White, or some pitch-perfect metaphors that raise the red flags.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/12/...
MySpace in College Admission
Whether it’s through MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, LiveJournal, or Friendster, students are online—online sharing details with friends, online for everyone to see. Now, how would you feel if a college admissions officer saw your site?
http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/News/...
Wrangling Over Applications: Elite Business Schools Seek to Curb Consultants' Influence
The nation's elite business schools are struggling to thwart a small industry that has sprung up to coach applicants in crafting essays and acing interviews to win coveted spots on campus.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/...
Students Want to Take the SAT Over 2 or 3 Days Instead of All at Once, Survey Finds
The survey found that nearly two-thirds of the students preferred to take the three separate sections of the test on different days.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/01/2006011804n.htm
(registration @ site required)
Writing Wrongs
It was supposed to be 'Inspiration.' Turns out, they turned in my work.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/...
College Competition, Made Easier to Size Up
Naviance - a database and management system that tracks college applications - has become a must-have accessory at some Westchester County high schools.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/education/15weadmi.html
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The Two Faces of A.P.
How Advanced Placement feeds the admissions frenzy and hijacks the curriculum - or levels the playing field and enriches the curriculum.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/education/edlife/apee.html
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Admission Essays Go Onstage at U. of Virginia
The beginning of January marks the deadline for most college admissions applications. The Unversity of Virginia's first-year students may not be anxious to revisit this period, but they can anyway: A play called Voices of the Class, 2009 offers dramatizations of their application essays.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5058594
Detecting Tutor's Hand in Applicant's Essay
It is the bane of college admissions officers: the highly polished, professionally edited personal essay that barely reflects the thinking or writing, let alone the personality, of a 17-year-old high school student. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/nyregion/02essay.html
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Is AP Too Good To Be True?
AP classes are the highest-level honors curriculum at many high schools: They usually require more reading, more writing, and more problem sets -- and they carry high prestige. But just as AP hits its frenzied peak some experts wonder whether the program's wild proliferation has begun to dilute its quality.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/050919/19advanced.htm
Athlete's Edge: A Gateway to College
Recruiting for athletes has become competitive even among smaller colleges. This article examines how coaches decide whom to support in the admissions process, how the athletics and admissions offices interact, and how potential recruits view the system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/sports/11recruit.html
(free registration @ site required)
Latest National Commission on Writing Report,
"Writing: a Powerful Message from State Government,"
Puts High Premium on Writing Skills
Providing writing training costs taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars annually, according to the report, which also includes Commission recommendations.
http://www.writingcommission.org/pr/message-from-state.html
Prof Says Revised SAT Won't Make the Grade:
Essay, math section may increase disparities
Yale psychology professor Robert Sternberg, who has been developing his own test to supplement the SAT, said even with the changes, the SAT is inadequate in measuring skills important for success and life.
http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=28835
Formal Grammar is “Ineffective”
Researchers at the University of York claim to have the answer to the debate between whether or not formal grammar drills improve student writing. The researchers base their claim on the study of research from the beginning of the last century to the present time.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/
They Aren’t Going to Take It Anymore
Mia Kang stared at the test sheet on here desk. But instead of filling in the bubbles and making her teacher happy, Mia, a freshman at MacArthur HS (San Antonio, TX) used her answer sheet to write an essay that challenged standardized testing and using test scores to judge children and rank schools. Mia is the latest in a growing number of students nationwide who are showing their opposition to high-stakes testing by putting down their pencils.http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories
/MYSA021905.1A.taks.bfe41eaf.html
Ongoing Effective Writing Instruction
is the Best Test Prep
The NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing offer sound principles for effective writing instruction. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/write/
118876.htm
Teens Ready to Prove Text-Messaging
Skills Can Score SAT Points
Though plenty of adults grumble about-email and instant messaging and the text messages that send adolescent thumbs dancing across cell phone keypads, many experts insist that teenage composition is as strong as ever—and that the proliferation of writing, in all its harried, hasty forms, has actually created a generation more adept with the written word.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0311/p01s02-ussc.html
