Archive: Admissions 101
Admissions 101: What's the Best College Guide?
Over at Admissions 101, Jay Mathews has opened the debate on the best college guide. Here's a quick sampling of the discussion so far: ANetliner says: Daniel Golden's "The Price of Admission" is a terrific book on this subject. Golden...
By Washington Post Editors | September 9, 2009; 02:59 PM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: To Take or Not to Take AP and IB
Over at Admissions 101, Jay Mathews is discussing the answer to a prickly question: The Question: Is it better for college admissions to take an IB or AP class and receive a C or D or take a standard class...
By Washington Post Editors | August 25, 2009; 03:37 PM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: College Pitfalls for Poor Students
It's conventional wisdom that talented, but underpriveleged, students are often turned away from college for lack of funds. Jay Mathews tried to dispell that idea in a column this week. He asked for readers to throw out examples of such...
By Washington Post Editors | August 11, 2009; 01:55 PM ET | Comments (11)
Admissions 101: Boot the SAT?
Jay Mathews is looking for feedback over at Admissions 101: My latest online column addresses the growing trend of colleges telling many of their applicants they do not have to submit SAT or ACT scores. This is one of the...
By Washington Post Editors | August 4, 2009; 01:09 PM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: Can Acerbic Students Make Good Teachers?
In his Friday column, Jay Mathews wrote about Michele Kerr, username Cal_Lanier on the boards, a California teacher who was nearly thrown out of Standford University's Teacher Education Program (STEP) for blogging about her anti-progressive (thus anti-Stanford) ideals during her...
By Sarah Mimms | July 28, 2009; 02:30 PM ET | Comments (5)
Admissions 101: Do We Have the Guts to Tell Our Kids We Can't Afford Their Dream Schools?
Cathy W. has posed a thorny scenario over in Admissions 101: "Your child has been accepted at the school of their dreams (or perhaps yours), but the price tag is shocking. Should you have allowed you child apply to the...
By Washington Post Editors | July 21, 2009; 02:48 PM ET | Comments (4)
Admissions 101: Are Low Grades in AP/IB Classes Better than High Grades in Regular Classes?
A few weeks ago, Jay Mathews asked readers a tough question in his Admissions 101 - which is better: an A or B in a regular course or a C in a more challenging course like an AP or IB class? Jay sided with AP, saying that all students interested in tier 1 or tier 2 schools should take at least 2 AP or IB courses. Even if that means a C on a high school transcript, Jay argued, colleges will appreciate a student who is willing to take on a challenge. Reader reactions have been pouring in ever since:
By Sarah Mimms | July 7, 2009; 11:12 AM ET | Comments (2)
Admissions 101: A Class Quandry
Jay posted a true quandry in Admissions 101: Is it better for students to get good grades in easy classes, or mediocre grades in tough ones? Jay is specifically talking about AP and IB classes and how top tier schools...
By Washington Post Editors | June 23, 2009; 03:02 PM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: Could AP Replace the SAT?
Earlier this month in Admissions 101, Jay Mathews discussed a new policy at Bryn Mawr College which will allow students to submit a combination of AP scores in diverse subjects instead of SAT II scores. Jay wanted to know...
By Sarah Mimms | June 16, 2009; 02:14 PM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: Recommend a College for Students With Special Needs
Two years ago, Jay Mathews asked for recommendations on the best schools for students with special needs. No, not just learning disabilities. Jay was looking for everything from the best intramural sports programs to schools that were good at motivating...
By Washington Post Editors | June 2, 2009; 12:12 PM ET | Comments (0)
Scholarship Contests: Easy Money or Scam?
A little while back Jay received a press release for a contest from a group called Upromise that offered a chance for students to win a $10,000 scholarship by submitting a 30-second web video. It turns out these scholarship contests...
By Washington Post Editors | May 26, 2009; 12:57 PM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: Are Too Many Smart Kids Ditching the SAT?
Back in March, Jay asked in Admissions 101 whether smart kids were moving away from taking the SATs. The conversation has been bubbling ever since. Patrickmattimore1 writes educators should not rethink which tests students are taking, but the tests in...
By Washington Post Editors | May 19, 2009; 11:42 AM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: How qualified are AP teachers?
In Admissions 101, a conversation has been bubbling over the last week about the qualifications of most AP teachers. Patrickmattimore1 thinks teachers are well prepared: The College Board works hard to ensure that high-school teachers are qualified to teach AP...
By Washington Post Editors | May 12, 2009; 11:39 AM ET | Comments (3)
Admissions 101: Why Aren't More Students Taking AP Classes?
In Admissions 101, Jay Mathews is pondering an interesting question about Advanced Placement tests -- why high schools aren't pushing more students to take them. As Jay writes: "The annual Newsweek Challenge Index is the largest existing data base of...
By Washington Post Editors | May 5, 2009; 11:18 AM ET | Comments (7)
Admissions 101: Shortening College Waitlists?
Test prep veteran Ned Johnson of prepmatters.com, always in close touch with high school seniors, tells me that Washington University in St. Louis, one of our highest-rated undergraduate institutions, began admitting students off its waiting list yesterday, April 28. This...
By washingtonpost.com editors | April 29, 2009; 04:56 PM ET | Comments (3)
Admissions 101: You Can't Always Judge a School By Its Size
In Admissions 101, Jay and readers are discussing the merits of small colleges vs. large colleges. Aflagel1 points out you can't always judge a school's attributes by its size: I have worked and consulted for small and large schools,...
By Washington Post Editors | April 28, 2009; 10:57 AM ET | Comments (2)
Admissions 101: The Unusual Stress of Applying to Art School
In Admissions 101 Jay is discussing art school and school stress: A smart parent wrote to challenge my brush off of high school stress in Monday's Post column. I said high school parents "like to blame schools for the stress...
By Washington Post Editors | April 15, 2009; 10:49 AM ET | Comments (3)
Admissions 101: What's the right college for the 'no-schooled'?
In Admissions 101, Jay is discussing "no schoolers": Fairfax County, Va., parent Laurel Summerfield recently told me the story of her four children, aged 18, 17, 16 and 14, who, for the last nine years, have been unschooled -- that...
By Washington Post Editors | April 7, 2009; 11:11 AM ET | Comments (6)
Admissions 101: Attention, Top U.S. High Schools
In his Admissions 101 discussion group, Jay asks: This year I have resumed my role -- previously ceded to researchers half my age -- as principal data collector for Newsweek's annual Top High Schools list. I said on the forms...
By Washington Post Editors | April 2, 2009; 09:31 AM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: Professors Reviewing Professors
In his Admissions 101 discussion group, Jay asks readers: Many of our brightest students, once they have been admitted to a top-flight college, consider a life of research and teaching. Most of their role models for those four years are...
By Washington Post Editors | March 24, 2009; 09:01 AM ET | Comments (2)
How Hard Should We Try to Get Low-Income Students Into College?
In his Admissions 101 discussion group, Jay asks readers: One of my recent columns in the Post is about efforts by some colleges to admit low-income students in groups of friends and high school classmates, so they can support each...
By Washington Post Editors | March 17, 2009; 09:17 AM ET | Comments (0)
Should Student Life Trump Academics?
In his Admissions 101 discussion group, Jay asks readers: A very interesting e-mail arrived a few minutes ago from a Washington area parent. I will disguise the details, but it is a pretty common situation all around the country. She...
By Washington Post Editors | March 12, 2009; 11:02 AM ET | Comments (3)
Are College Choices Too Career-Driven?
In his Admissions 101 discussion group, Jay asks readers: A former college counselor expressed concern to me about a recent query on the National Association for College Admissions Counseling listserv. A counselor was asking if anyone knew of a college...
By Washington Post Editors | March 10, 2009; 09:15 AM ET | Comments (0)
Talk: Are Legacy Admits Happy?
I am reading an interesting new book from Princeton University Press: "Taming the River: Negotiating the Academic, Financial, and Social Currents in Selective Colleges and Universities" by four careful scholars. It is about the barriers to selective college admission for...
By Washington Post Editors | March 3, 2009; 10:19 AM ET | Comments (12)
Talk: Do Students Regret Early Decisions?
There is a study out, mostly based on interviews as far as I can tell, suggesting that many students who lock themselves into early decision applications, later regret their decision. They wish they had more choices. I am wondering if...
By Washington Post Editors | February 24, 2009; 10:27 AM ET | Comments (0)
Admissions 101: Dealing With the College Drinking Culture
I think the weekend binge culture is one of the worst things about American higher education. I have no clue what to do about it, but would love some ideas. Has anyone found a college that has made strides in...
By Washington Post Editors | February 18, 2009; 09:19 AM ET | Comments (0)
Talk: How Would You React as a UDC Student?
The University of the District of Columbia is considering several changes, including ending its open-door policy for four-year students and raising tuition sharply. Some students will not let the changes come without a fight and there are plans to pitch...
By Washington Post Editors | February 10, 2009; 10:50 AM ET | Comments (1)
Admissions 101: The More Apps You File, the More They Charge
I was fuming about the practice of some law schools of charging no application fee to students with very high LSAT scores. How about another kind of incentive, or rather, disincentive, to try to damp down the over application craze...
By Washington Post Editors | January 30, 2009; 01:45 PM ET | Comments (0)
Universalize the Med School Admission Model
In our recent discussion about Score Choice, many posters and e-mailers told me they thought life would be better if colleges all adopted a computerized student admission system similar to what is used for Med Schools. As I understand it,...
By Washington Post Editors | January 29, 2009; 01:54 PM ET | Comments (0)
What is Admissions 101?
Trade tips with Jay Mathews on winning at the college roulette table in this open forum. Visit washingtonpost.com/admissions101 to discuss the application process, financial aid and more....
By Washington Post Editors | November 30, 2008; 02:01 PM ET | Comments (0)
