Category: News

  • Colorado bans legacy admissions and makes testing optional for public colleges

    Colorado bans legacy admissions and makes testing optional for public colleges

    In May 2021 Colorado became the first state in the nation to ban legacy admissions for public colleges. Gov. Jared Polis believes this action will increase meritocracy in higher education. The bill says that “state-supported institutions of higher education shall not consider a legacy preference… as eligible criteria for admission standards.”  The change will affect…

  • SAT and ACT No Longer Required by University of California System

    SAT and ACT No Longer Required by University of California System

    Based on a 2021 legal settlement, the University of California system will no longer require SAT and ACT scores for admission. UC first announced the new policy on April 1, 2020, for incoming freshmen in the fall of 2021, and in May of 2020, the regents board extended the policy for 2022 and 2023. However,…

  • Georgia Tech Admits 18 Percent of Applicants to the Class of 2025

    Georgia Tech Admits 18 Percent of Applicants to the Class of 2025

    Georgia Tech admitted  18 percent of freshman applicants to the Class of 2025. A total of 45,350 applications were received, up 11 percent year over last year. Students admitted to the class of 2025 were academically talented and more diverse than the prior year, including 28% more Black students, 20% more first-generation students, and 12%…

  • The College Board Eliminates SAT Subject Tests and Optional SAT Essay

    The College Board Eliminates SAT Subject Tests and Optional SAT Essay

    The College Board announced on January 19, 2021, that it will discontinue administering the SAT Subject Tests and the optional essay section on the SAT, changing the standardized testing calculus for many college-bound students. The SAT Subject Tests offered students the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge in certain subjects on a standardized scale. While Subject Tests…

  • Common Application Update & Reminders

    Common Application Update & Reminders

    The Common Application released these statistics (as of December 15, 2011) along with 2010* comparisons: Individuals Applicants  411,799 (+19%) Submissions  Applications  1,372,017 (+20%) School Reports   976,745 (+58%) Teacher Evaluations   1,640,864 (+57%) *compared to 12.15.10 REMINDERS: School Forms Delivery If you intend to submit school forms online this year, remember that a college will not be…

  • Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer

    The Choice, a New York Times blog, reviewed two recently published college admissions books  —  Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer: How to Survive the College Admissions Process without Losing Your Mind, for students, and I’m Going to College—Not You!: Surviving the College Search with Your Child for parents. “Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer”  by Risa…

  • Legacies Have Leg Up in College Admissions

    Ever wonder about legacy preferences in college admissions?  Richard D. Kahlenberg’s book “Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions” examines legacy admission practices at a number of institutions including Brown, Princeton, Harvard, Penn and Dartmouth. The Choice blog, a feature of The New York Times, explores the issue and cites Mr. Kahlenberg’s…

  • Great Values in Public Education

    Edward Fiske, a former education writer and editor at The New York Times, is the author of numerous “Fiske Guide” books including the extremely popular Fiske Guide to Colleges 2011, 27E His most recent book, Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College, 4E features a “Budget Ivy ” list.   The author believes that…

  • Big State Universities Favored by Corporate Recruiters

    Companies prefer to recruit new hires at big state universities – not at the prestigious Ivy League, according to a new survey by the Wall Street Journal.  As reported in the WSJ, “State universities have become the favorite of companies recruiting new hires because their big student populations and focus on teaching practical skills gives…

  • New College Rankings from U.S. News and Forbes

    U.S. News Best Colleges 2011 and Forbes America’s Best Colleges 2010 have dominated the college admissions headlines recently. Not surprisingly, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale grabbed the U.S. New top three spots in the national university rankings followed by Columbia, Stanford, Penn, Caltech and MIT.  Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Middlebury and Wellesley took top honors for liberal…