November 2008
10 posts
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Airwaves - how colleges are responding to the...
The president of Vassar College, Cappy Hill, will be interviewed live, Thursday morning at 11:05 a.m. (Eastern) on WNYC public radio’s Brian Lehrer Show (93.9 FM and 820 AM). She will be talking about how colleges are responding to the economic decline, including schools’ commitments to financial aid and their budget strategies. WNYC also streams their programs live on the Internet at...
Do-Gooders Learning to Run Non-Profits
The NY Times had a good article recently about the increase in college courses teaching students how to lead non-profits. It is always nice to see colleges respond to their student bodies. The Youngs want to help people either through non-profits or socially conscious for-profit businesses. When looking at colleges, ask the admissions officers, students, and professors what the college is doing...
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Don’t Become a Victim of College Search Site Spam
If you are planning to attend college, you may have already noticed that your mailbox, inbox and voicemail are quickly filling up with college, credit card and student loan offers. If this hasn’t hit you yet, it will eventually, and you’ll probably ask yourself: How did all of these companies get my name? Unfortunately, companies can find you through many avenues —marketing lists, social...
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Biology of Women
Colby wants to get down to details in this intro course. While most colleges are talking about biomes, Colby tackles the complex innerworkings of the female. An intersting way to learn about anatomy, development, the endocrine system, and the way science is used and abused.
[115] Biology of Women An introduction to the biology of the female throughout her life span. Topics include...
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WatchAre you an athlete and want to get recruited? CNN is featuring an interview with http://www.berecruited.com/ a website that connects high school athletes with college recruiters - specifically those athletes from smaller programs that might not get noticed otherwise.
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Conservatives at Brown take to the interwebs
Being that day of days that cumulates many months of non-communication between college students and their grandparents, I figure why not feature something political. I stumbled upon a blog run by a ‘09er at Brown University. The blog, BrownIvy, launched September 16th and has only been around for a short while. It features a heavily conservative voice in what is otherwise the more liberal...
Awesome Art Class
Here is a guideline for finding a cool class: If a class seems like it is out of place being taught in a certain department, take the class. It’ll be interesting.
240b. Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics
Classical and modern theories of the nature of art, the experience of art, the creative process, and critical argument. Ms. Borradori
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50 Most Expensive Colleges
Business Week has put together a great slideshow of the 50 most expensive colleges based on a College Board report released last week.
The average cost of tuition and fees at private colleges is up to $25k, a nearly 6% increase from last year, and $33k when you tack on room and board. Pretty cheap, if you ask me since some of us were lucky enough to be in the top 10 of that list for all four...
It Is Really Hard To Change The Mind Of Anyone... →
Recent studies show that liberal professors, or their right wing counterparts, for that matter, have no affect on their students’ political leanings. Big surprise. Isn’t it more likely that young adults start to question and refine their own political views once they are out from under their parents’ watchful eyes?
October 2008
17 posts
Armed By Facts and Peers, UVA Curbs Drinking
NPR has a great article out about University of Virginia and their efforts to curb under-aged drinking and alcohol abuse. UVA is using two methods that seem so obvious, it is hard to believe that more colleges don’t implement these policies.
First, UVA does a great job of understanding their students. They do this by polling their students to better grasp the true drinking habits of their...
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Communism, Atheism, Free Love - Reed College Visit
A few months ago, I went on a visit to Reed College in Portland, OR. Since this visit was to see a childhood friend for a few days at Reed and not so much to visit the school, I caught a different glimpse than your typical prospie on an overnighter. One of the first things that I realized was that the campus was georgous. The campus was fairly close together and littered with old buildings that...
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Drug use at Reed College →
interesting article about drug use at Reed college - “Reed College is exceptional for more than academics. It’s one of America’s most permissive colleges for experimenting with drugs.”
College Board Will Offer a New Test Next Fall -... →
This is a dumb idea. The college board claims that this test is “diagnostic” in nature, but it will inevitably become an excuse for overinvolved parents to strees about their kids. Plus we already have ways to figure out a student’s progress—they’re called teachers.
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taking popular majors to the bank
If you decide to base your major on pay, which we already cautioned you against, take a gander at this article from our buddies at CNN that details some of the most popular majors and how much bread they win. Oh, and keep in mind that a lot of those buisness majors are now making zero dollars.
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“For every college that raises its SAT or ACT profile for rankings purposes,...”
– David Hawkins (Director of Public Policy and Research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling)
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Want money for taking the SAT?
I always wondered if college made me smarter. I know that summer right before college sure didn’t, but Baylor thinks otherwise. Does the SAT even measure how smart you are? Baylor University is paying students to retake the SAT. Great! You didn’t get into Baylor (probably for the best) so here’s your second chance and you get a prize at the same time! Sike. This offer only applies to...
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Thinking About Finance? Keep Your Options Open
The New York Times wrote an interesting article this weekend about finance students at top at “top universities”. If you are interested in mathematics or finance, you may be rethinking your possible major in college. While I think it is good to keep your options open and get a well-rounded education, if you like finance, stick with it.
The key words here are “like” and...
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social status
Academics are great. You go to college to get an education, but part of the education is learning how to interact with peers beyond textbooks and study groups. Here are three things to consider when choosing a college when it comes to social life:
Greek life - the presence of fraternaties and sororities on campus can have a big impact on how weekends are played out on a campus.
School spirit...
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Effort and College Admissions
The most successful people in gaining admission to the college of their choice do it because of effort.
We all hear about the football star who got into Yale because he runs a 4.4 40 yard dash and his dad donated a building. We hear about the slacker who had C’s in high school, but nailed the SAT and got into Princeton. We hear these stories of luck and lottery and it makes up mad,...
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“If you’re funny, be funny. If you’re not, don’t even try.”
– Amherst Admissions Officer talking about writing essays
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Totally Scary Class of the Day
I love literature classes that focus on one topic, like monsters:
Sarah Lawrence College: Ghosts, Monsters, and the Supernatural in Japanese Fiction
Sayuri I. Oyama
Semester: Spring
Literature
In this course, we will read translations of Japanese stories ranging from the ninth century to the present that feature ghosts, monsters, and other supernatural elements. We will explore various ways of...
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Do the Numbers Before You Accept →
When prospective students are looking for that perfect school, most wont consider the true cost of college. Remember, the purpose of college is to help you get an education, so that you can more easily pursue a path in life that you find meaningful. If you are drowning in debt, this can be a lot harder than you think.
“A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in...”
– John Ciardi (1916 - 1986)
The Unfortunately Timely Class of the Day
This Williams class analyzes the rise and fall of civilizations in early “Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Mesoamerica and South America”—looks like Williams might need to present day America.
ANTH 214(F) The Rise and Fall of Civilizations (Same as Environmental Studies 224) Over the centuries, philosophers and historians have asked how societies evolved from simple hunter-gatherer...
September 2008
15 posts
Library at Haverford
A beatiful library is absolutely necessary in order to get a good education, and Haverford passes the test. A beautiful study space can calm your nerves, awaken your mind, and inspire the very best part in all of us. This is all dependent on actually using the library, which no one really does.
Totally Bitchin' Class of the Day
For anyone wanting to liv out their detective fantasies, this class sounds awesome:
INTD 1055 CSI: Middlebury
Students will gain hands-on experience in forensic science and explore historical crimes from a modern perspective. Course topics and activities will include deductive reasoning, crime scene analysis, chemical and biochemical testing, and fingerprinting, among others. Students will meet...
Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart University is using an approach to pairing roommates that is so simple, it is almost laughable that every school doesn’t use some version of the service provided at roommateclick.com. Roommateclick is a service that helps people find roommates, which in the real world is probably just as dicey as finding a roommate on craigslist—it could work, it could not. But this...
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”
– Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
The College Sustainability Report Card
Green report card (http://greenreportcard.org/) just launched today and allows users to examine and compare the ecological sustainability of 300+ US and Canadian colleges. Schools are ranked report card style aspects such as administration, energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, endowment transparency, and investment priorities.
“The Report Card is the only...
Towns Graduates Can't Seem to Leave, We Have No... →
Apparently it is getting harder and harder for students to leave their college towns. These utopian bubbles are so comfortable that post-grads are hanging around, wandering around the main quad and “translating mexican novels”. Apparently, these slackers didn’t go to college in Poughkeepsie.
Olds Say SAT Doesn't Mean A Thing, Obvi →
Daily podcast from Swarthmore’s War News...
Totally Bitchin' Class of the Day
Below is the course decription for a religion class at Vassar offered this Spring by Professor Jonathon Kahn:
210b. Does the Secular Exist? (1)
Is there a distinct realm called the secular, which is free of and from the religious? As sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, we’ve come to think that there is. What sort of philosophical and historical moments have led to the public insistence on a...
“And I submit that this is what the real, no bullshit value of your liberal arts...”
– David Foster Wallce, 2005 Commencement Speech at Kenyon College
