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This weekly email searches main media outlets finding stories that may be of interest to high school counselors, college admission officers and related organizations, with links to the original stories. It is published by de facto, inc., publishers of other e-newsletters.
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College Big Picture

Discontent Over the State of College Admissions
New York Times - The Choice  - Oct 27, 2011
“We should be ashamed,” Lloyd Thacker, executive director of the Education Conservancy, told a roomful of college counselors and admissions staff on Wednesday....
Chart of the day: College tuition is out of control
Washington Post  - Oct 27, 2011
Earlier this week, the College Board released its data on the rising cost of college. The numbers were striking....
College Majors Matter
New York Times - Economix Blog  - Nov 2, 2011
We write a lot on Economix about whether college is worth it. In a piece in Investor’s Business Daily, Alex Tabarrok, an economics professor at George Mason University, suggests that Americans are focusing on the wrong question. ...
Report Shows More Students Apply to and Attend College
US News University  - Oct 27, 2011
“The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that there are many benefits that can come with earning a college degree. For example, bachelor's degree holders earn about $53,976 annually on average...
Early Deadlines Extended at Many Colleges
About.com  - Nov 1, 2011
If you're scrambling to meet the November 1st deadline many colleges have for early action and early decision applications, many colleges have just given you an extension. The October snowstorm...
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Student Debt

College Students' Borrowing Hits An All-Time High
NPR - Morning Edition  - Nov 3, 2011
Students are borrowing more money to pay for college than ever before. New data shows that students who graduated in 2010 carried 5 percent more debt than in the previous year. ....
Obama's Student Loan Relief Plan: How Helpful Would it Be?
PBS - News Hour  - Oct 26, 2011
President Obama outlined a plan to speed up help for millions of Americans struggling with the cost of higher education....
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College Admissions Process/Strategies

15 key factors in admissions decisions
DC College Admissions Examiner - Nov 2, 2011
The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) annually surveys member colleges and universities to see what admissions factors figure most prominently into admissions decisions....
10 Things Colleges Want From Applicants
Huffington Post - Nov 3, 2011
College admissions are essentially mysterious. Of course there are vague ideas about what to do to get into college, but what is really the most important in the process?....
The college application process: then and now
CentralJersey.com - Oct 31, 2011
Whether in the classroom, job market or presidential race, the pressure to lead the pack has escalated exponentially in recent years. The college application process is no exception. H...
The ideal high school graduate: One who's ready for the transition
NJ.com - Oct 31, 2011
So, the College Board held its annual conference in New York recently and gathered a bunch of admissions officers (Harvard, Yale, University of Rochester, Brandeis) to speak on "The Ideal High School Graduate."...
What you need to know about electronic college applications
MSNBC - Nov 1, 2011
When I applied to college in the mid-1980s, I filled out my application on a typewriter, put in in an envelope and mailed it to my prospective colleges. My guidance counselor gathered my letters of recommendations..
Get recommendations that will help set you apart
Charlotte Observer  - Nov 1, 2011
One of the most important parts of your college application isn't written by you - it's the Letter of Recommendation...
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Geography

Home States of College Freshmen: Why They Matter
CBS News Money Watch - Nov 1, 2011
College applicants from distant zip codes can enjoy an advantage over students who live near the schools on their college list. In some cases, students from far-away states have a better chance of gaining admission to colleges....
Insight into Admissions at the University of California
New York Times - Oct 27, 2011
The University of California may be blind to race, ethnicity and gender in its admissions, but geographic origin is fair game, and, according to Christine Van Gieson, director of admissions at the University of California, ..
More Students Migrate Away From Home
Chronicle of Higher Ed  - Oct 30, 2011
A few weeks ago, 30 high-school students and their parents gathered here in a Hilton conference room to listen to an Arizona State University recruiter, who promoted his campus in terms his California audience could understand....
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Fairs and Visting Colleges

6 Campus Tour To-Do's for Students and Parents
US News & World Report - Nov 1, 2011
Campus tours can be one of the most exciting parts of the college search process. But while you're taking in the sights, you also want the experience to help you with the decision process once you get back home...
Take granddad, NOT dad, on college tour
Washington Post - Oct 30, 2011
Peter Jennings, a veteran college counselor at the Concord Academy in Massachusetts, sent me a thoughtful proposal for more involvement by grandparents in the college admissions process...
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Essays

What Are Some Do's and Don'ts for College Admissions Essays?
US News & World Report - UNIGO  - Nov 2, 2011
The college essay is a student's chance to really jump off the page and make admissions officers think, "Wow! We need that student at our school."...
College Application Essay as Haiku? For Some, 500 Words Aren’t Enough
New York Times - The Choice  - Oct 28, 2011
Penn Weinberger had grown attached to his college admissions essay. The topic — coping with a brother’s attention deficit disorder...
Advice on Whittling Your Admissions Essay
New York Times - The Choice  - Nov 1, 2011
Matt Flegenheimer’s interesting piece in The Times on Saturday on the legitimacy of exceeding 500 words on the college admissions essay got me thinking about how often such excess is actually warranted....
College Admissions Counselors Tired Of Reading Long, Boring Essays From High Schoolers
Gothamist - Oct 28, 2011
College admissions officers at some of the country's most elite schools are sick and tired of slogging through long-winded personal essays from applicants, so they're capping them at 500 words. Because, really, no one wants to read four pages about your meaningful time volunteering ...
Getting Personal: Expressing Yourself in Your College Admissions Essay
Scarsdale Patch  - Oct 28, 2011
Having read well nearly a thousand college application essays, I have a pretty good sense of what makes one essay stronger than another. Learn what works and what doesn't before compiling your personal statemen...

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Counselors

HSCW Counselors' Corners
Post - Nov 2, 2011
Your Essay Limit Just Got Lowered. OK.
College applicants received a cold blast from the East this weekend, and I’m not talking about the snowstorm that created power outages across New England. ... More

Counselors help students navigate messy parts of life
Daily Journal  - Nov 1, 2011
High school students used to ask their guidance counselors what colleges they could afford and whether their grades were good enough to get them in....
Experts: Half of foster kids quit high school
Boston Globe - Oct 31, 2011
When Carey Sommer entered foster care in California, he left his mom, his high school and his friends. Bounced from home to home, he changed high schools nine times until the disheartened teen finally dropped out...
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Net Price “Calculators”

Some Universities Could Be Hurt By Net Price Calculators
US News & World Report  - Nov 1, 2011
It's been a long time coming, but the Congressional mandate that colleges and universities make their pricing transparent finally arrived. All schools had to install their net price calculators on their websites by October 29.....
Uncover the Real Costs of Public and Private Colleges
US News & World Report  - Oct 27, 2011
When it comes to paying for college, many people make the assumption that private schools are more expensive than public ones—but that's not always the case.....
Tips to make the most of online calculator of college costs
USA Today  - Oct 24, 2011
The same situation exists at many colleges and universities, particularly private institutions. At most campuses, only a handful of students pay the published, or "sticker" price. The....
College-tuition calculators have their drawbacks
The Olympian  - Oct 31, 2011
Parents of future college students have a new planning tool in their arsenal: Colleges are now required to have a "net price calculator" on their websites. ...
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Halloween

College Admissions: 5 Most Haunted College Campuses
GoLocalProv College Admissions  - Oct 31, 2011
Isn't it hard enough to study without a ghost interrupting your concentration? In honor of Halloween, consider these truly haunted college campuses....
A few local campus ghost stories to liven up the season
DC College Admissions Examiner - Oct 31, 2011
Ghost stories seem to come out of the woodwork this time of year, and colleges within driving distance of DC have more than their fair share...
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Parents

Parents, teens navigate college crunchtime
Miami Herald - Oct 15, 2011
As college admissions and scholarships become hyper-competitive, parents are bending work schedules to help their kids. Some companies offer assistance as a benefit....
Boosting Your Financial Aid
Wall Street Journal - Nov 1, 2011
The latest Weekend Investor cover story detailed tax-saving strategies for college and graduate students. When it comes to financial aid,...
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Midwest

Illinois Juniors' Test Score Drop Blamed On New Policy That Tests More Students
Huffington Post - Nov 1, 2011
After the most recent return of 11th grade Prairie State Achievement Exam scores found nearly half of Illinois public school students failing to meet state standards, instructors and education advocates are blaming a recent policy change....
College aid bill called 'racist'
Post Crecent - Nov 1, 2011
MADISON — The state Assembly gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a surprise proposal introduced by a Democrat, and backed by Republicans, to eliminate race as a factor in college grant applications...
Indiana colleges noticing a drop in education majors
Courier Press - Oct 30, 2011
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Colleges across Indiana are reporting drops in the number of education majors this fall as a bleak job situation and changes in how teacher performance is judged dampen enthusiasm for what once was viewed as a noble profession....
College remains unaffordable in Illinois
Chicago Tribune - Oct 27, 2011
Today's article "Rising college tuition, fees take bigger bite of family incomes," (Oct. 26) raised some great points. ....
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Teen Violence

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Campaign
WSAV - Nov 2, 2011
(Savannah, GA) On the outside teen dating relationships may look good, but many are filled with drama.....
Is Soda A Smoking Gun For Teen Violence - Or Just Statistical Illiteracy?
Orlando Sentinel - Nov 2, 2011
Last week, hundreds of news stories reported an irresistibly alarming study in the journal Injury Prevention which claimed that drinking non-diet soda was associated with increased violence....
 
 

Contents

Big Pic
Debt
Proces/Strat
Geography
Visits
Essays
Consul
Net Price
Halloween
Parents
Midwest
Violence

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