UT Austin will graduate more students in 4 years

UT Austin

Applause! Applause to The University of Texas at Austin for taking bold moves to graduate more students in four years. Recent reports show that UT Austin graduates over half its students in 4 years and its six-year graduation rate is 77.8%. Graduating in four years saves money for families and enhances the university offerings for its underclassmen.

President Bill Powers has set a goal of graduating 70 percent of our students within four years and appointed the Task Force on Undergraduate Graduation Rates to develop strategies to achieve this goal.

 

The task force believes that by 2016 the university can reach this ambitious goal by enhancing the first-year and freshman orientation experience and by improving advising and student tracking. The task force has made more than 60 specific recommendations to get this accomplished.

via UT Grad Rates.

The UT Austin campus can be intimidating – the freshman dorm houses thousands of students and has the feel of a major urban mall. Imagine if students are attending UT Austin without a prior campus visit. . . . overwhelming! Enhancements in the freshman orientation program may improve the overall freshman year experience, as well as lead to an even stronger freshman-sophomore retention at UT Austin. (Freshman-sophomore retention: 92.4%)

UT Austin

Where are the Occupy Colleges Campuses?

Over the last 15 days, I have visited 12 college campuses from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to Texas and only saw one group of protesters. I expected to see more activity given all the media attention on the Occupy movement spreading the country.

Today’s event may increase the momentum on college campuses:

On November 17, Occupy Colleges will coordinate a national day of action and student strike on campuses across the United States. Unlike past student actions in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street,these college demonstrations specifically target issues surrounding tuition increases, financial aid and the diminishing quality of education and student services. This strike was called on by the schools that comprise the State University of New York SUNYnetwork. It is supported by the ASL-CIO labor movement and the California Faculty Association. Occupy Colleges and Occupy Wall Street have joined SUNY in order to make this strike a nationwide event.

On November 17th, students, faculty and administrators concerned with these issues will gather at a central campus location or a nearby Occupy Wall Street camp at 3:00 pm EST in strike. Over 80 colleges signed up for the last call to action on November 3-4. Occupy Colleges expects a similar turn-out for this event. Colleges already signed up to participate in the Occupy Campus StudentStrike include, NYU, Rutgers and most CUNY and California State University CSU campuses.

via Press Release : Occupy Colleges : PRICES TOO HIGH, STUDENTS STRIKE : Occupy Colleges.

I will continue to watch for colleges that are added to this list of protesters. I am curious about which campuses view themselves as aligned with these issues of tuition, financial aid, academics, and student services. An interesting report on NPR this morning about the Occupy Harvard protests quoted this senior:

There’s a perception among people that if you’re at Harvard you should be trying to be in the 1 percent and if that’s not what you’re aiming for, you’re kind of doing it wrong.

via Occupy Protests Spread Across College Campuses : NPR.

Perhaps that explains the lone two students I saw manning the Occupy Dartmouth station in the photo.

 

SMU reaches beyond ‘Southern’ and beyond ‘Methodist’

Southern Methodist University is a college campus located in the heart of Dallas. I don’t refer to it as an urban campus because the city surrounds an academic culture, spirited athletics, and a thriving social life. Likewise, Dallas is more a business and residential town, than a college town. Beyond having ‘Southern” in its name, SMU boasts a student body from around the US and world. (SMU’s student body is less Texan than other Christian colleges in the state.)

The academic core of SMU focuses on liberal arts and sciences. Students can also major in programs across SMU’s five colleges:

  • Arts
  • Business
  • Education and Human Development
  • Engineering
  • Humanities

Two additional colleges offer post-graduate courses only – Law School and School of Theology. However, undergraduates can study in the law library…nice perk for pre-law students!

Student Life features Greek and Athletics

An active Greek life with over third participation and numerous student clubs keep students busy. SMU has a strong sports culture as does the surrounding Dallas metropolitan area. The sports museum at the stadium features the Heisman Trophy won by SMU graduate, Doak Walker in 1948. Students provided input to the fitness center and it’s quite an impressive facility with a rock climbing wall, billiards, basketball courts, and even a tanning pool! The tour guide stated that “the girls are happy about the tanning pool and the guys are glad that they’re happy.” 🙂

Although the university was founded by Methodists, there are no required religion courses, no required chapel attendance. With the exception of an on-campus chapel (where the most weddings in Dallas are held), there is no semblance of religious affiliation. Just as Federal Express became FedEx, perhaps Southern Methodist University may consider SMU as its official name!

SMU also has a satellite campus in Taos, New Mexico. I look forward to visiting there in the upcoming years.

Anonymity not allowed at Austin College

austin-college

“We admit more students than we deny!” rang like music to the ears of high school seniors visiting Austin College. As one of the 40 colleges featured in Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College likely gets a lot of visitors throughout the year who decide to apply. When students self-select into the Austin College application process, it’s likely that they may have read about the special features of this liberal arts college in north Texas.

There are 3 features that bring a unique flavor to Austin College:

  1. Faculty mentors – Each student is matched with a faculty mentor that remains with them for their four years. The faculty mentor supports the student through all aspects of navigating the academic and social life of college. In order to register each term, the student must meet with faculty. This ensures that you speak with your mentor each term, but many students are meeting with their mentors much more frequently than that.These strong faculty-student relationships then support the high rates of graduate school admissions for Austin undergraduates. Despite its small student body of 1,300, each year Austin ranks highly for its number of Fulbright scholars.
  2. International experiences – A majority of Austin students study abroad for at least one term during college. Austin makes these opportunities available to its students through an office dedicated to international study and the January Term. During the month of January, students devote their studies to 1 course which can be offered anywhere in the world. The faculty designs this intensive course which is only taught during January Term.Recent January term courses have included a “Kilts and Castles” tour of Scotland, environmental research in Brazil, plus volunteerism and non-profits in South Africa. What exciting opportunities for Austin students!
  3. Career services – The career service offerings begin in freshman year for Austin College students. You may be surprised that many colleges do not start this process until Junior or Senior year. The admissions officer noted that “Starting early is key to figuring out what you want to do!”Starting early with internships also positions Austin College students to get engaged with its community and strong alumni network during this exploratory phase.

The Austin College community has a lot to offer for the right student. In fact, here are the students who would NOT fit well here:

  • Students who want to be anonymous – the strong faculty-student-peer-administrator relationships will out you! There are no auditorium classrooms, either.
  • Students who want do class only – you’re limited to 4 classes per semester and there are numerous activities for expanded involvement
  • Students who want a 24/7 “big city” life  – the Sherman community is approximately 40K and about 118K with surrounding community. Dallas is about an hour away so you’re not far!

As another sign of the campus community, my information session and tour actually started a few minutes later so that we could wait on another family to arrive. That’s never happened during any visit I’ve joined. Cheers to Austin College hospitality!

 

What if you change your mind about attending/applying to Penn State

If you’re like me, you’re deeply disturbed by the recent arrest at Penn State. The media reports have been alarming and unsettling. Although I’ve heard about the 23-page indictment report, I can’t bring myself to read it. Some things are just better left to the imagination, without all the sordid details. In other words, I don’t want it in my spirit.

A few weeks ago, when I was visiting schools, a young man mentioned that he would be attending Penn State next year. When the news broke days later, my heart sank for this young man and his family. Is he really going to attend? The campus vibrancy and its culture is forever altered. The only good news is that the news broke in early November and there are still many colleges that this young man could still consider.

Given the horrendous nature of these accusations and the fact that the president of the university is out, this family should strongly question whether Penn State is a place where their son should attend college for the next 4-6 years. (Graduation rate: 84.6%) If families are having second thoughts about Penn State, they should contact the university immediately if the student is a committed athlete. You should know whether you are obligated to still attend. Although, it’s hard to imagine that you would still be bound to matriculate.

Once the university’s admissions team learns of your decision, they can offer a spot to another student who may be still eager to attend. About a year ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the hiring and placement records of Penn State. There may be a large number of students who may want to attend Penn State for this reason alone.

As for me and my firm . . . it will be a long time before I can include Penn State on any of my students’ college lists.

Are you a fit for Southwestern University, near Austin TX?

Southwestern University

As one of two colleges in Texas included in the book, “Colleges That Change Lives,” Southwestern University

thrives on small classes sizes and offering a rich, diverse learning experience for its 1,350 undergraduates. There are no master’s or doctoral programs at Southwestern, so all attention is on the undergraduate experience. With this undergraduate emphasis, there are numerous research opportunities for students.

The most popular majors at southwestern include business, psychology, and communications. Another impressive offering of the campus is the multitude of fine arts and music programs. Students can even minor in architecture.

Southwestern is primarily a residential campus with 80% of students living on-campus. Although 90% of students have cars, there are plenty of activities to keep students on campus. The campus is located about 30 minutes from Austin, which gives students endless activities to explore nearby.

If you are interested in this campus, consider whether you are a good match with this profile of students who thrive at Southwestern:

  • Intellectually curious
  • Socially conscious – Southwestern will soon have a social justice requirement
  • Active learner
  • Believes in a 24/7 experience of college

What Applicants to Brown University Must Know

Brown University Graduation Rate: 94.3%

For students applying to Brown University, it’s worth taking note that the current president, Ruth Simmons, is retiring at the end of this academic year, after being in that role for 10 years. It’s worth taking note because the president shapes the campus culture in numerous ways. Although, as a student, I rarely saw Stanford’s then-president, Donald Kennedy, his leadership left an indelible mark on the research agenda, faculty focus, and even student life.

Ruth Simmons had a successful tenure at Brown. In this excerpt from NPR’s Talk of the Nation, she discusses her proud legacy:

 

CONAN: We’re talking with Ruth Simmons, the president at Brown, at least until the end of this academic year. You’re listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. And let’s get Payton on the line. Payton with us from Fayetteville in Arkansas.

PAYTON: Yes. Hi. My question was about – actually, I heard on NPR today a report about the rising cost of tuition. And my question that I want to pose is just how the cost has change since you started as president at Brown and what you see is the future for making college more affordable across the board for everyone.

SIMMONS: Well, this is a huge national issue, as you know, and one that we obviously are struggling to address. The fact is the internal rate of inflation within the higher education is very costly because of all the things that we’re trying to do, the laboratories that we have to build, the resources that students need for highly technical fields today. All of these things create costs that must be met.

At Brown, we are very fortunate to be in a position to be need-blind. This is a change that I implemented after I came to Brown, and it’s probably the thing that I’m proudest of in my time at Brown. That is to say, to make sure that no student, no matter their economic circumstances is prevented from coming to Brown because of their family circumstances. We guarantee enough financial aid for them to come to Brown. They are admitted without our knowing their actual financial need, so that’s why it’s called need-blind. And once we admit the student, we discover what need – the financial need they have, and then we meet that need.

So we are obviously proponents of raising funds to support financial aid so that no student will be denied matriculating because they happen to be poor. That’s not a solution for all institutions, and so obviously we need to moderate the rate of increase of tuition, to reduce the costs internally to make sure that college education will be affordable in the future.

CONAN: Ruth Simmons, thanks so much for your time, and, again, congratulations on highly successful term as the president of Brown University.

via Brown University President Simmons Steps Down : NPR.

Applicants take heed

The new class of students who attend Brown in the Fall of 2012 will have new experiences that may not necessarily match with their interests. As students are visiting the campus, they should be sure to ask about how students will be involved in selecting the next president of Brown University and what measures of student participation will figure into the new president’s transition. If a student is admitted, I highly urge them to visit Brown again in the spring, either for an Admit weekend or alternative period in April to learn more about the next President. Prospective students should learn as much as they can about the leadership before hand to inform their decision. Keep in mind that the next president will have an enormous influence of the campus culture.

Can’t forget Admissions

The other campus administrative role that plays a huge role in campus culture is the admissions director. In my own undergraduate experience, Dean Fred Hargeddon admitted a class of students that was markedly different from the subsequent classes admitted by Dean Jean Fetter. Quite frankly, I’m not so sure that the students who were admitted under Dean Fred would have been admitted under the admissions leadership of Dean Jean. The cohorts of students admitted by Dean Jean’s leadership brought a new level of intensity, deepened specialties.

If you attended college during an administrative leadership change, please let us know what differences you noticed.

University of Michigan: Big campus, small feel

University of Michigan

Given all the big numbers for the University of Michigan, such as

  • 26,000 undergraduates
  • 3,300 courses
  • 19 schools and colleges
  • 4 campuses

reviewing Michigan online may be intimidating. Everything about my campus visit actually felt much more intimate and personalized. The admissions director stated it well in saying that Michigan is both a small liberal arts college and a major research university.

In describing the features that make Michigan a special place, the information session presenter highlighted these not-so-obvious factors:

  • Classroom support – Did you know that 80% of classes have 50 or fewer students?
  • Academic support – There are countless ways that students can get extra academic help outside of class, through writing labs, math labs, advising and more.
  • Undergraduate research – I could hardly believe my ears when the presenter mentioned that Michigan offers opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research (even with all the graduate students there!) During the 2009-10 academic year, Michigan spent $1B in research. An undergraduate research office makes it possible to get involved as early as freshman year
  • 1,300+ student organizations – Wow! A Quidditch Club was recently formed and there’s even a “Squirrel Feeding Club.” Our tour guide demonstrated just how close a squirrel will come towards humans for food.

For the college-bound student who is seriously considering a particular college, it makes such a difference to visit the campus and feel the energy. In all of my visits to Michigan, I did know that it’s a highly spirited campus with unbounded opportunities. I learned through this most recent visit, however, that it is a smaller place than the big numbers suggest. GO BLUE! Here are some more quick facts.

Acceptance: 28%

Freshmen from out of state: 49.7%

Most popular majors: economics, biology, psychology

Housing: Guaranteed housing freshman year

4-year Graduation rate: 76%

University of Michigan

 

 

BU knows Community, even on a major urban campus

Kudos to Boston University for recognizing that college is about community! I loved this article which highlighted that BU is in its second year of reaching out personally to all of its freshman and transfer students.

With new students wrapping up their first month on campus, school staff and administrators, including the provost and dean of students, spent the week calling all 4,300 first-year and transfer students, an ambitious gesture designed to make them feel at home.“It’s about community,’’ said Kenneth Elmore, the university’s dean of students. “We want students to know we’re here to help.’’

via At BU, a checkup call from the top – Boston.com.

Imagine getting a phone call or email from the dean’s office in your first week of college, just to ask “How are you doing?” Given that this feeling of connectedness can improve retention, my hope is that more colleges will take the initiative to make such a strong impression in the first year.

Boston University Graduation Rate: 80%

Selecting a College based on Rankings

Just as the selective colleges take a holistic approach in their review of applicants, students should also weigh their college choices in a holistic way. Many families start with the U S News and World Report rankings. They’ve been around for years. Although the rankings have perennial critics, they remain a source for information gathering as students consider their options.

 

Rankings, however, should never be the end-all-be-all decision criteria for which colleges a student should include on their list. In fact there are some strong programs that may be a solid fit for a student although the ranking metric places that college lower. Reliance on rankings moves students away from the most important factor in the college selection process – – the student!

 

The best fit colleges and the most well-written essays that gain admission start with self-reflection. Students must be able to answer these 2 key questions:

Who am I?

Why do I want to go to college?

Starting with these questions, then selecting the colleges that best match with the response steers away from a myopic, rankings-only focus.

 

Case study: One of our firm’s clients had an interest in entrepreneurship. There are hundreds of colleges with entrepreneurship programs. All of her test scores were in the 90+ percentile. She had meaningful community service, along with rich summer experiences. This student is a hands-on learner. Thus, colleges that offered experiential learning were high on her list. She did apply to a range of colleges, by selectivity. One of the ranked programs had a heavy math emphasis that didn’t match as well with her strengths. Another lesser-ranked program offered numerous internships and was located in an urban center that offered the campus life vibrancy she desired. In the spring, the student had a range of college acceptances from ranked and unranked. All were a best fit. The decision came down to the re-visit during Admit weekend – not the ranking!