Why A Duck?

Because to become a University of Oregon Duck, any high school applicant may receive automatic undergraduate admission by simply achieving a 3.4 GPA—regardless of grade scale or weighting policy or whatever. If your transcript contains both weighted and unweighted GPA’s, UO will take the higher to qualify for automatic admission—they want to accept great students. Go Ducks!

Not even the Marx Brothers in their famous Cocoanuts routine could complain about this opportunity for solid B students to gain admission to a wonderful school in a beautiful part of the country. And evidently, so many have discovered this secret that University of Oregon officials had to lift the automatic-admit GPA from 3.25 to 3.4 for the 2009-2010 admissions cycle. Since about 70% of this year’s freshman class was admitted under this policy (including lots of Californians shut out of their system), little room was left for the UO admissions committee to make selections from among the rest of the applicants. This potentially created problems filling specialized positions in the Marching Duck Band or the mighty Duck football team. And, these aren’t just Oregonians. About one-third to 40% comes from out of state to enjoy the college town atmosphere offered in Eugene OR and the 295-acre UO campus lined with 2000 varieties of trees.

There are other guaranteed admission policies in effect across the country, but most have restrictions that make them less universally applicable. A more controversial policy in Texas requires the University of Texas to take the top 10% of graduating seniors in any Texas high school. The University of North Dakota posts a chart indicating requirements for automatic admission, and the University of Houston guarantees admission to anyone in the top 20% of their high school class. Other less choosy schools post automatic admissions standards for prospective students to meet. But few are as successful as the University of Oregon in actually improving admissions statistics through this relatively painless admissions policy. In fact, the average GPA for the class of 2013 is 3.68, and that’s with using the lower standard for guaranteed admission.

There are a few strings that come with the Duck offer. Students must graduate from a regionally accredited high school and have 16 college preparatory units with grades of C- or better. They must also submit a completed application by January 15, 2010 (this application will be used to consider applicants for the Clark Honors College). Earlier applications get first choice on housing. BTW, to reach Oregon admissions, you dial 1-800-BE A DUCK. Gotta love it!

Why a duck? No, viaduct. Why a chicken? No, that’s the University of Delaware.

AU Launches Pilot Test Optional Program

Launching a pilot program targeted to Early Decision candidates, American University (AU) will no longer require submission of either SAT or ACT scores for Early Decision applications. Joining other colleges experimenting with creative ways to diminish the importance of standardized testing in the college admissions process, the AU program underscores the importance of academic performance in a “holistic” review of a candidate that emphasizes qualitative factors such as essay, letters of recommendation, and extracurricular involvement. Students should be aware that under the terms of Early Decision (ED), they agree to attend if accepted. It’s a weighty decision to have to make so early in the senior year (applications are due by November 15th), and not advisable if there is even the smallest hesitation. But, if you are absolutely certain that AU is where you want to spend the next four years, then the “test optional” plan is available along with a few extra perks involving housing and registration.

While the AU policy does not extend to regular admission candidates (except for those ED candidates deferred and moved into the regular decision pool), it does represent a solid nod toward the 836 other colleges and universities across the US currently admitting a substantial number of students without regard to SAT’s or ACT’s. Short of completely dropping standardized tests, schools like NYU, Hamilton, Bryn Mawr, and Furman devised “test flexible” programs allowing students to substitute AP (and other) scores for specific admissions tests. Although well meaning, the choices are beginning to get a little confusing and can add to the general chaos surrounding college admissions. Students are advised to tread carefully and read the fine print. Test optional often comes with a few strings attached.

Some area schools with test optional or test flexible policies include:

• Christopher Newport University*
• George Mason University*
• Goucher College
• Loyola University of Maryland
• Roanoke College*
• St. Johns of Annapolis

* SAT/ACT considered only when minimum GPA or class rank is not met

A complete list of all colleges and universities with these programs is contained on the FairTest website.

Melt Down

It’s no secret that colleges are getting a little nervous about the start of school this year. As reported by The Washington Post, otherwise self-confident institutions such as Virginia Tech or the University of Maryland hedged bets against students suddenly coming down with a serious case of buyer’s regret by admitting a few extra students to their incoming freshman classes. In fact, according to a survey (subscription required) conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education, 3.1% of public institutions and 8.7% of private schools admitted more students this year than last. And, as many as one-third accepted late applications or extended their recruiting cycles to lure a few more applicants.

Evidently colleges have cause to be worried about this year’s summer melt, or the slow erosion of class numbers by students deciding to go for other (possibly cheaper) alternatives or those who have decided to postpone or possibly forego college altogether. Because the economy stinks, college applicants and their families are becoming better consumers. They’re looking closer at the fine print and analyzing the impact of total cost of attendance on family budgets or long-term retirement options.

Until recently, colleges have been fairly cavalier about annual tuition increases, seeing opportunities to build newer and better facilities or expand campuses by buying up neighborhood property. The new student centers, dorms, libraries, and gyms are stunning. Christopher Newport’s new library and student center are fabulously appointed with marble and mahogany—worthy of a tour whether or not you have an interest in attending the school. Washington State University has an amazing pool designed in the shape of the state of Washington, and Virginia Commonwealth University has beautiful new dorms some of which offer private baths to undergraduates!

But times have changed and many projected building plans are on hold. Cost-cutting is now more in vogue with colleges trying to find creative ways to save money while retaining educational standards and not infringing on the overall college experience. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)

• 53.5 percent froze salaries

• 46.8 percent froze new hiring

• 43.7 percent restricted staff travel

• 37.7 percent slowed down current construction/renovation projects

• 30.6 percent delayed maintenance

• 28.5 percent gave smaller than usual salary increases

• 27.5 percent increased tuition less than anticipated

• 19.0 percent laid off staff (non-faculty)

• 16.9 percent cut salaries/benefits

• 15.5 percent canceled planned construction/renovation projects

• 7.0 percent laid off faculty

• 4.6 percent froze tuition levels

• 4.2 percent cut student services

• 3.9 percent cut academic programs

A more recent survey conducted by Yaffe & Co. suggests that two-thirds of private colleges plan to freeze salaries and 53% are cutting benefits. About 9% plan to reduce pay.

It’s a balancing act for colleges. Summer melt could become more of a flood if prospective undergraduates perceive budget cuts as diminishing the total value of their experience. Turning off the fountains might save money but it makes a lousy impression on anyone getting ready to invest thousands of dollars in a college education.

Stanford's Pilot Alumni Interview Program--Continued

Earlier in the summer, I wrote a post concerning Stanford’s pilot Alumni Interview Program. Admittedly, I was hoping to grab a little attention by yanking a few chains, as I questioned why the DC area was left off the short list of cities slated for students to receive interviews. I was also a bit glib about the manner in which the program was being offered to a select group of high school students without regard to how this might ratchet up anxiety among students in different or unnamed zip codes. And, I couldn’t resist a poke at what might be evidence of a little western chauvinism on the part of Stanford by pointing out that there are two major U.S. cities that go by the name of Portland—one in Oregon and one in Maine. Of course, little did I suspect that anyone from the Stanford Office of Undergraduate Admission might read the College Explorations Blog.

The following is a clarifying comment I received from Shawn L. Abbott, Director of Admission:

Our pilot program is just that - experimental and exploratory, nothing more, which is why we rolled it out to just 6 regions (and to just 3 more this year). All regions were chosen based on lengthy research and discussion about our yield, diversity and alumni volunteer resources in each location. Of course we would love to pilot the program globally and immediately but training more than 1,000 interviewers was necessary in order to offer interviews to the first 9. We will need thousands of additional volunteers to expand more. More than 400 students apply from the city of New York alone, making this an incredibly tough program to roll out to 30,000 applicants. DC was up for consideration as a pilot city but we determined that the geographic complexity of the District, Maryland, and Virginia would be tough to manage during these first two years. Certain regions were simply easier for us to define, explain and manage (e.g. students are only offered an interview in NYC if they live in one of the 5 boroughs). The jury is still out on whether or not this program is worth our efforts, but at the very least, surveys to alumni suggest they love this opportunity to be involved with Stanford and to meet our applicants. Likewise, admission officers reading the applications from the first 6 cities suggest that they appreciated the additional information about each interviewed candidate - though admit that rarely did their own evaluations change as a result. Thus far, there has been a negligible affect [sic] on our yield of those interviewed and admitted. As a result, we'll expand to 3 more cities and evaluate the program's continued operation.

Mr. Abbott’s previous comment slammed me for indulging in “reckless speculation” about the pilot program and suggested I should have contacted him before posting to the blog. But what fun would that be?

Currently, references to interviews may be found on the Stanford site within the Alumni/Volunteer pages and in one of the admissions FAQ’s. I assume some corrections are being made and we will soon see which Portland wins the interview contest. Sorry guys. I live 14 miles from the White House. Let’s have a beer the next time you’re in town.

Sink or Swim

On a recent tour of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, I was revisited by a recurring nightmare. As we approached the gym that houses the W&L pool, our tour guide proudly announced that Washington and Lee was one of only 8 universities in the country with a mandatory swim test. And, if you don’t pass you don’t graduate.

Visions of Weightman Hall immediately flashed before me as I recalled the utter humiliation of failing my first university exam—the dreaded swim test. Lucky for future generations of Penn women, the university did away with the requirement not long after I sank midway across the pool in front of a large audience of freshman. In fact, the W&L tour guide was almost correct. Only 11* schools (not including the service academies) still require demonstrated aquatic proficiency to graduate:

• Berea College*
• Bryn Mawr College
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth University
• Davidson College*
• Hamilton College
• MIT
• Notre Dame University (the test is no longer administered in the nude)
• Swarthmore College
• Washington and Lee University

As recently as 1977, 42% of all post-secondary institutions had some sort of swimming requirement. Many legends come attached to these tests, the most frequently cited of which involve a wealthy donor and a relative who tragically died as a result of not knowing how to swim. In fact, most requirements came about as a result of an American Red Cross campaign to improve water safety after WWI. At Columbia, tour guides recall that the university began its 75-yard test to ensure that undergraduates could swim across the Hudson River to New Jersey in case of attack--engineering students are exempt presumably because they can rely on raft-building skills to stay afloat. Engineering is looking better and better.

Although each school puts a different spin on the requirement, the Bryn Mawr test seems fairly typical: 10 minutes continuous swim demonstrating 2 strokes; 1 minute treading water; and 1 minute motionless float. Those failing to pass are required to take a swim class which may count toward the mandatory PE requirement if taken before senior year. Note that Dartmouth is not nearly so generous, as swim class does not count toward the school's 3-credit physical education requirement.

* Edited from original post.

Small Campuses

It turns out that the competition for the nation’s smallest colleges and universities is a little complicated and probably not really worth pursuing except as a counterbalance to the previous post. According to the US Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there are 424 colleges offering 4-year bachelor’s degrees with total undergraduate enrollment under 300 students. This count includes for profit as well as not-for-profit schools. It also includes an impressive assortment of religious institutions and very specific professional schools.

Perhaps the most famous of the ridiculously-small colleges is Deep Springs, with only 26 male students. Established in 1917 as an educational experiment, Deep Springs is located on a remote ranch in California and enrolls some very very smart young men many of whom eventually move on to the most elite colleges and universities in the nation after spending two years milking cows and discussing Heidegger. Readers of the latest entry in the “admit lit” market, Acceptance by David Marcus, will recognize Deep Springs as the destination school for one of the seven kids counseled by Gwyeth Smith, recently retired from Oyster Bay High School in New York. It’s clearly not an easy school to get into.

With no particular intent beyond simple curiosity, I offer the following list of micro colleges:

College	Location	Size
Deep Springs	Deep Springs CA	26
American Indian College of the Assemblies of God	Phoenix AZ	50
Webb Institute	Glen Cove NY	90
Shimer College	Chicago IL	91
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts	Merrimack NH	98
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science	Cincinnati OH	100
Beacon College	Leesburg FL	117
The Curtis Institute of Music	Philadelphia PA	132
Art Academy of Cincinnati	Cincinnati OH	141
VanderCook College of Music	Chicago IL	174
College of Visual Arts	St. Paul MN	178
Burlington College	Burlington VT	179
San Francisco Conservatory of Music	San Francisco, CA	200
Cleveland Institute of Music	Cleveland OH	223
Virginia Intermont College	Bristol VA	224
Chester College of New England	Chester NH	227
Cogswell Polytechnical College	Sunnyvale CA	230
Goddard College	Plainfield VT	247
College of St. Joseph	Rutland VT	261
Montserrat College of Art	Beverly MA	285
Memphis College of Art	Memphis TN	286
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	Needham MA	299
Judson College	Marion AL	312
College of the Atlantic	Bar Harbor ME	312

Large Campuses

I recently discovered Cool Colleges by Donald Asher, an extremely well researched handbook on schools for “the hyper-intelligent, self-directed, late blooming and just plain different." A long-time career consultant, Mr. Asher makes no apologies for having very well defined and specific opinions on colleges and the college-going experience. For example, one of Asher’s firmly-held beliefs is that large universities are not good places for students as undergraduates:

“…in large universities students are more likely to report being lonely and isolated, more likely to drop out, more likely to be taught by a graduate assistant than a professor, more likely to cheat, more likely to be unable to name even one friend from college ten years after graduation, less likely to go to graduate school, more likely to be unable to get needed classes, more likely to work more than ten hours a week, and more likely to go through all four or five years of their education without really being changed….”(p. 7)

OK, I’ll buy some of that. But to be fair, there are kids who really thrive in the large school atmosphere, and it’s important to go the extra mile to see if those kinds of matches will work for the individual student. As a service to his readers, Asher includes a list of the largest colleges/universities, but it’s a little out of date. Thanks to the eager research arm of Wikipedia and the US Department of Education, however, I am able to provide more current information:

Largest Public University Campuses as of Fall 2008*
Ranking	University	Location	Enrollment
1	The Ohio State University	Columbus, Ohio	53,715
2	Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	52,734
3	University of Florida	Gainesville, Florida	51,413
4	University of Minnesota	Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN	51,141
5	University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	50,254
6	University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas	50,006
7	Texas A&M University	College Station, TX	48,029
8	Michigan State University	East Lansing, MI	46,648
9	University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	46,174
10	Pennsylvania State University	University Park, PA	44,406
11	University of Washington	Seattle, Washington	42,113
12	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison, Wisconsin	42,041
13	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Urbana-Champaign, IL	42,025
14	University of Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	41,028
15	Purdue University	West Lafayette, IN	40,485

Largest Private University Campuses as of Fall 2008*
Ranking	University	Location	Enrollment
1	New York University	New York, NY	38,391
2	Brigham Young University	Provo, Utah	34,126
3	University of Southern California	Los Angeles, California	33,500
4	Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	32,735
5	Liberty University	Lynchburg, Virginia	32,222
6	Nova Southeastern University	Fort Lauderdale, FL	28,796
7	Columbia University	New York, NY	25,495
8	Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	24,752
9	DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois	24,352
10	Long Island University	Brooklyn, NY	24,170
11	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA	24,107
12	George Washington University	Washington, DC	22,710
13	Harvard University	Cambridge, MA	22,558
14	Cornell University	Ithaca, NY	20,883
15	Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY	19,366

*Note these lists include single 4-year university campuses with a single physical location. Thus the University of Phoenix and other multiple campus post-secondary schools are not counted.