Vol. 20 No. 8 April 2006

Sneak Previews
Inside Admissions Offices April 1
GENDER BALANCES BECOME A REALITY, athletics impact applications, diversity is up on some campuses. CB held the presses this month to take a quick first look at the acceptances for the class of 2010. Here is an early report. (More results next month.)

Duke Makes Decision About 19,358 Applicants. The admit rate was only 19 percent at Duke this spring, the lowest on record since the university began keeping track of data in the late 1950s. One in six applicants with a class rank was ranked first in his or her class. But Duke admitted only 42 percent of 1,548 valedictorians who applied. More than 1,300 had SAT scores of 1550 and Duke admitted 59 percent of these students. The Duke Selection Committee focused on applicants with a strong background in the arts, according to Christoph Guttentag, dean.

George Mason's NCAA Ride. Attention was focused on George Mason U. this spring as it made its way to the final four. Applications to the Virginia school were up and from a wider area on the east coast in particular, according to admissions officials. George Mason started as a branch of the U. of Virginia in 1957 and became a separate institution in 1972. Eighty percent of students are from Virginia, 5,000 live on the campus which is going through a construction "boom."

Gender Balance at Kenyon C. In an article that was widely reprinted throughout the country, Jennifer Delahunty Britz, dean, Kenyon C., wrote in The New York Times March 23 the heartache she felt when her daughter was rejected from a college this spring as she too weighed "the gender balance" of applicants at her college. More than 55 percent of Kenyon applicants are female, and Ms. Britz wrote, "To parents and students getting thin envelopes, I apologize for the demographic realities."

Harvard Increases its Diversity. The Class of 2010 has set new records for economic, gender and ethnic diversity, according to The Harvard Gazette. A total of 2,109 (9.3 percent) students were admitted from an applicant pool of 22,753. Nearly 52 percent of those admitted are women, compared to nearly 50 percent last year. Records were also set for Latinos (9.8 percent), Native Americans (1.4 percent), and African Americans (tying last year's record of 10.5 percent). Asian Americans increased their numbers slightly compared to last year, comprising 17.7 percent of the admitted students. Nearly 2,600 Harvard applicants scored a perfect 800 on their SAT verbal test, 2,700 scored 800 on the SAT math, and nearly 3,000 were valedictorians of their high school classes.

Macalester Women Outnumber Men. Macalester C. had 500 more applications than last year, according to The Mac Weekly, Macalester's Independent Student Newspaper, and "almost all were female," said Lorne Robinson, dean of admissions and financial aid. Macalaster is part of a nationwide trend with more women than men enrolling in college.

For fall 2005, males at Macalester accounted for a little over 42 percent of the full-time student body. This amounts to 300 more women than men on a campus of 1,800 students.

MIT Doubles Minority Representation. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology doubled the percentage of underrepresented minority students it accepted early this year to 27 percent. It accepted 12 percent of the 3,098 applicants early. MIT also announced that it will match Federal Pell Grants for all eligible students attending the Institute beginning this fall. MIT said approximately 16 percent of MIT undergraduates come from homes with incomes below $42,000.

Stanford Admits 2,430 Applicants. Stanford U. received a total of 22,332 applications, a 10 percent increase over last year. It admitted 852 students early and 1,578 students through the regular review process. Its admission rate was the lowest ever, slightly less than 11 percent. More than 90 percent of those for whom class rankings were reported ranked within the top 10 percent of their high school class, and nearly 80 percent have a grade-point average of 4.0 or higher. Stanford announced last month that families with annual incomes of less than $45,000 will not be expected to contribute to the cost of tuition.

U. Chicago International Apps Up. The U. of Chicago received a record 9,567 applications for fall 2006, up 6.9 percent over last year. Of those, about 3,500 will be admitted and roughly 1,200 will enter the class. The number of applicants from students of color increased, and international applications are up 33 percent. U. of C. said that this is in part the result of the school's increased recruiting efforts in East Asia, Europe and several African countries. (Yet with no U.S. federal assistance, U. of C. said that ultimately only about half of the international students find they can finance their educations at Chicago.) The U. of C. currently enrolls 339 international students from 53 countries.

Meanwhile, the U. of C.'s board of trustees approved a 5.3 percent increase for tuition, room and board, health fees and student activity costs for the next school year. Total costs will increase from $42,369 this year to $44,613 for the next school year. Financial aid will increase as well.

U. of Illinois Apps Up 14 percent. The U. of Illinois rejected more students this year because last year it ended up with a larger-than-expected freshman class. A record 22,300 students applied for 7,150 spots, up 14 percent over last year. A record 1,100 students were wait-listed until after May 1.

Harder than Ever to Become a Yalie. Yale's acceptance rate was 8.6 percent, as it accepted 1,823 students from a pool of 21,099, a pool 8.5 percent larger than last year. Slightly more men than women were admitted. Approximately 44 percent of admitted students are minorities or international students.

Other Admissions News. The U. of Pennsylvania announced last month it would cover tuition, room and board for students from families with incomes of up to $50,000. The U. of North Carolina announced it will offer travel stipends to admitted students from low-income families to visit the campus.The April 2 issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on a study it did of 13,800 members of last year's graduating classes at 95 high schools and found "that 69 percent of them chose schools just 100 miles from Downtown Pittsburgh."

P.S. NACAC's Space Availability Survey, NACAC's List of Colleges with Last-Minute Openings for Qualified Students, will be available at www.nacacnet.org on May 5.

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What's Happening in the States
Minnesota Pell Match. A new Founders Opportunity Award program at the U. of Minnesota will match the amount of Pell Grant money that in-state, low-income students receive from the federal government. At its Twin Cities flagship campus, tuition has soared by 70 percent in the past five years. Minnesota expects the new scholarships will cost about $21 million and will make its "commitment to preserving access as strong as that of any institution in the country."

Calling All New England Majors. The New England Board of Higher Education has issued its annual Regional Student Program Apple Book that enables residents of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to enroll in approved majors at public colleges and universities in other New England states and receive an out-of-state tuition break. Residents are eligible for the tuition break if a major is not offered in their state. For info, www.nebhe.org.

Too Few Californians Dream of College. California high school seniors are half as likely to go directly to a four-year college as students in states such as New York and Massachusetts, according to a University of California study released last month. The 2006 California Educational Opportunity Report states a whopping three out of four high school freshmen end their senior years unable to enroll in four-year colleges. The report cited too few counselors, too few trained teachers and too little state expenditures as a few of "the roadblocks to college."

Another report by California's Legislative Analysts Office said that California community college enrollment for fall 2005 at about 1.6 million students was a two percent decrease from the previous year and the third year in a row of declining enrollments.

More South Carolinians Stay Home. New state scholarships the last few years have kept more students in South Carolina home. "Many students are now deciding to stay in-state at a rate that is unprecedented," Karen Woodfaulk, at the South Carolina Commission of Higher Education, told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal March 27. To date, 1,685 students have been offered the Palmetto Fellows Scholarships of $6,700 a year.

Where Students Go. In 2004, Florida led the nation with the largest in-migration of students, according to a study from the National Center for Education Statistics, attracting 19,786 more students than left the state for college. Other states where more students moved in than out:

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Last Word on CB Survey Results
Last-minute entries for CB's annual survey include the following admissions stats for the fall 2006 class:

Colorado C. received 4,094 applications in 2005, more than in 2004; admitted 1,534, fewer than the previous year; for a first-year class of 476, smaller than 2004. It wait-listed 771 students, the same as the previous year, admitting 18; for a yield of 31 percent, the same as in 2004. According to Matt Bonser, senior assistant director of admission, Colorado's most popular programs are biology, economics and English.

Loyola University Chicago received 14,579 applications in 2005, more than in 2004; admitted 10,722, more than the previous year; for a first-year class of 2,080, larger than 2004. It wait listed and admitted more students than in the previous year; for a yield of 20 percent, higher than in 2004. According to April Hansen, director of admission, Loyola U. Chicago has new programs or majors in advertising and public relations, secondary education, forensic science, journalism, sports management and health systems management.

U. of Maine received 5,702 applications in 2005, more than in 2004; admitted 4,580, more than the previous year; for a first-year class of 1,800, larger than in 2004. It wait-listed 68 students, more than in the previous year, admitting 30 of them; for a yield of 39 percent, higher than in 2004. Janet Boucouvalas, information systems manager, notes that the most popular programs at Maine are: biology, business, education, engineering and psychology.

U. of Rhode Island received 13,388 applications in 2005, more than in 2004; admitted 10,327, more than the previous year; for a first-year class of 2,435, smaller than in 2004. It wait-listed 250 students, fewer than in the previous year, admitting 189 of them; for a yield of 24 percent, lower than in 2004. About 64 percent of its class was accepted ED/EA. Cynthia L. Bonn, assistant dean of admission, notes that URI has new programs or majors in international engineering and film media, and that its largest college is Arts & Sciences; other popular programs include business, engineering, marine studies, pharmacy.

Villanova U. received 10,394 applications in 2005, more than in 2004; admitted 5,338, more than the previous year; for a first-year class of 1,625, smaller than 2004. It wait listed 2,831 students, more than in the previous year, admitting 116; for a yield of 30.4 percent, lower than in 2004. According to Melissa Gerding, technical coordinator, Villanova's most popular programs are accountancy, biology, communications, finance, nursing and freshman residency halls joined to core humanities and co-curricular programs.

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THE COUNSELOR'S CORNER
Spring Reports
Editor's Note: Who actually graduates from college? Does class rank make a difference? Are AP classes a good predictor of success? This month, CB brings you some recent reports from a variety of experts who describe the factors influencing who gets in (and who gets out).

WHO GRADUATES?
THE RIGOR OF A STUDENT'S HIGH SCHOOL curriculum is the strongest indicator of whether he or she will graduate from college, according to a new report from the U.S. Dept. of Education, "The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School through College." "Academic intensity" of a student's courses is more important than grades or standardized test scores. Students who take math beyond Algebra 2 and three classes in laboratory science in high school had greater "academic momentum" than students who took three classes in foreign language and Advanced Placement courses.

But the report warned of a "serious disconnect" between K-12 curricula and the postsecondary system. And minority students are more often victimized by a weak curriculum. For example, Latino students were far less likely to go to high schools with courses in calculus or trigonometry.
The report was based on a longitudinal study of students nationwide from the high school class of 1992. By the year 2000, 66 percent of them had earned a college degree. However, over 60 percent ended up going to more than one institution and 35 percent more than two schools. About 37 percent of them crossed state lines in the process.

A full 90 percent of students who started college returned for a second year of study, although not necessarily at the same school. Among students who transfer from a community college to a four-year institution, 60 percent graduated. Also, 60 percent of the students enrolled in some kind of summer study. To obtain the report, go to: www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/toolboxrevisit/index.html.

CLASS RANK?
Many high schools are playing a cat and mouse game with colleges by eliminating information about a student's class rank on transcripts they send to colleges, according to a survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). About 40 percent of high schools no longer supply class rank, Dr. Jeanne Friedman, principal of Miami Beach High School told The New York Times, "When you don't rank, then they have to look at the total child."

According to a March 5 Times story, college admissions officers are dismayed by the new trend. "There is a movement these days to not let anyone know that a kid has done better than other kids," William M. Shain, dean of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt U. told the paper. An internal review at Vanderbilt showed that the admission rate was highest for students with a class rank and lowest for those from schools that provided neither a rank nor general data about grades.

When possible, colleges are making their own calculations of the student's class placement using school profile information. But admissions officers also told the Times that the strategy can backfire. When there is not enough school profile information for the colleges to make a calculation, they may give more weight to scores on the SAT and other standardized exams.

"If we're looking at a particular student's file and we can't find a proxy for class rank, then we move on and make a decision without it," Martha F. Pitts, assistance vice president for enrollment management at the University of Oregon explained to the Times. "The question is, how good is that decision? Have we made a decision that is not as well informed as it could have been?"

IS AP A PREDICTOR?
Are AP classes a good predictor for success in college? According to a four-year survey of 18,000 college students enrolled in introductory biology, chemistry and physics courses at 63 randomly selected colleges, the answer may be "no." The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard U. and the U. of Virginia, was the largest ever of its type.

"AP courses do not substantially contribute to student success in college," Philip M. Sadler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told the annual meeting of the American Association of Science. "Even a score of 5 on an AP test is no guarantee of a college grade of A in the same subject."

Among other findings:

• Mathematical fluency is the single best predictor of college performance in biology, chemistry and physics, giving a strong advantage to students whose high school science courses integrate mathematics.
• Students whose high school coursework emphasizes depth over breadth perform better in college courses.
• Laboratory experience as part of high school courses can be beneficial, but primarily when there is minimal preparation needed beforehand, the outcome of experiments is unknown in advance and lab reports are written afterwards.

"In general," Sadler told the Harvard Gazette, "it appears that the educational benefits of an AP science course as opposed to a regular high school honors course are smaller than students and teachers have been led to believe."

Sadler urges colleges and universities to tighten their awarding of AP credits, since many students use AP credit to avoid college science classes altogether.

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BOOKSHELF
The Backpocket College Planner and Organizer, Ricki de Wolff (Back Pocket Press), is designed to help students get organized starting in ninth grade. Includes forms, checklists and folders; first published in 2004 now includes web updates; see www.planforcollegetoday.com.

Essay Writing for High School Students, Alexander L. Terego (Thomson Peterson's, 2005); includes author's "Thinking Around the Box" methodology; ISBN: 0-7689-2063-9; $14.

High School Parent Guidebook, new booklet from Woodburn Press, a relatively new press based in Dayton, Ohio, with inexpensive publications on subjects such as "How to Get Good Grades," "An Instruction Booklet for College Bound Students" and "How to Get Money for College"; designed for handouts at parent meetings; prices start at 98 cents for 25; www.woodburnpress.com.

Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges is back with its 23rd edition out in January; new majors added: Interior Design and Voice; ISBN: 1-883062-63-2; $24.95; 760-728-4558.

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NEWS YOU CAN USE
Who Gives? Private donations to colleges and universities reached $25.6 billion in the 2005 fiscal year, up 4.9 percent over the previous year. According to the Council for Aid to Education's annual report, 28 percent of that came from alumni, 27 percent from foundations, 20 percent from non-alumni, 17 percent from corporations, 7 percent from other non-religious organizations and 1 percent from religious groups.

The top 10 fundraisers were: Stanford U., U. of Wisconsin at Madison, Harvard U., U. of Pennsylvania, Cornell U., Columbia U., U. of Southern California, Johns Hopkins U., Indiana U. and the U. of California at San Francisco.

College, Yes. Nearly 400 colleges and universities have joined together with the American Council on Education to launch an electronic and print media campaign to boost the image of higher education.

The U.S. ranks only ninth in the world for the percent of high school graduates who go on to college. At the same time, support for higher education is lagging. Between 2001 and 2004, state spending per higher ed student fell by 17 percent or about $1,000 per student. The ad campaign is aimed at reminding the general public of the importance of higher education in everyday life, like advancing health care and research that led to Internet search engines. The ads began airing March 16 on CBS and ESPN. The effort will cost about $4.5 million and will use millions more donated by various media. For more info see www.solutionsforourfuture.org.

Better Athletic Grad Rates? The National Collegiate Athletic Association is using a new formula, the Graduation Success Rate, to calculate how many athletes graduate in six years. The NCAA found that about 75 percent graduated in six years. That number differs from the U.S. Department of Education's conclusion that just 62 percent of Division I athletes earned their degrees in six years. But the DOE stats don't account for transfer students.

However, in the high profile sports, the picture is still disturbing. Just 58 percent of Division I men's basketball players graduated in six years under the new formula. And just 64 percent of Division I football players received their degrees after six years. The men's sports with the best grad rates? Lacrosse with 89 percent; water polo with 87 percent; gymnastics, fencing and skiing with 85 percent; swimming with 81 percent and ice hockey with 80 percent.

In March, the NCAA announced that 99 teams at 65 different Division I schools would be subject to scholarship reductions because of poor academic performance. Myles Brand, NCAA president, noted that the 99 programs represent two percent of the 6,112 teams in Division I.

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COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally Reed; Circulation: Irma Gonzalez-Hider; Illustration: Louis Coronel; Board of Advisors: David Breeden, Edina High School, Minnesota; Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford (N.Y.) Central School District; Howard Greene, author, The Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning Series; Frank C. Leana, Ph.D., educational counselor; M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University in St. Louis; Mary Ann Willis, Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.).

In This Issue

Feature Articles
Inside Admissions
Offices April 1

What's Happening in
the States

News Reports on the SAT Saga

Last Word on CB Survey Results

COUNSELOR'S CORNER
-Spring Reports

BOOKSHELF
-The Backpocket College Planner and Organizer
-Essay Writing for High
School Students
-High School Parent
Guidebook
-Rugg's Recommendations
on the Colleges

NEWS YOU CAN USE
-Who Gives?
-College, Yes
-Better Athletic Grad Rates

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