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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

Make Colleges Tell Us More About Graduates’ Fate
Bloomberg - Oct 11, 2012
...They expose the glaring gap of reliable information about the colleges’ success rates. Parents can’t shop around and schools can’t be held accountable if there is no data available...
Why College May Be Totally Free Within 10 Years
TIME - Oct 13, 2012
Higher education is in transition and with a coming proliferation in online courses could be totally free for many within a decade. The status quo won't yield easily. But this is looking like a real answer to runaway student debt.....
Choice of college degree can cost you millions
CNN Money - Oct 16, 2012
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Want to make $3.5 million? Major in engineering. That's how much those who graduate with an engineering degree can expect to earn over a 40-year career, according to new Census Bureau data......
AP Classes Are a Scam
The Atlantic - Oct 13, 2012
Fraudulent schemes come in all shapes and sizes. To work, they typically wear a patina of respectability. That's the case with Advanced Placement courses, one of the great frauds currently perpetrated on American high-school students....
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College Admissions Process/Strategies

A few more tips for getting the most from a college fair
DC College Admissions Examiner - Oct 17, 2012
Lose your friends and don’t consider a college fair a social event. Do a little advance planning and strategize about schools you’re going to visit and what you’re going to say....
Pursuing activities with a passion
San Jose Mercury News - Oct 15, 2012
People often ask me which activities their children should get involved in to ensure acceptance into specific colleges. And try as I may to dissuade the notion that colleges are looking for specific involvement or that admissions officers have a list of suitable activities....
5 Tips for Students Applying to College Alone
US News & World Report - Oct 15, 2012
For prospective college students, going through the admissions process without a parent or guardian can be intimidating. Students who have to juggle college applications and financial aid materials may feel alone...
Get Schools to Waive Fees
Wall Street Journal - Oct 13, 2012
Forget about the cost of attending college. Just applying can slam your wallet. The average student applies to about eight schools. At an average of $40 per application, the bill can add up, g....
Advice on Recommendation Letters from UVa’s Admissions Office
VOA Blog - Oct 11, 2012
Over on the University of Virginia’s admissions blog, Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Jeannine Lalonde got fed up with the misinformation she was seeing on forums and message boards about how many recommendation letters to submit to a college....
8 Reasons to Attend Canadian Universities
The College Solution - Oct 17, 2012
Ever thought about attending a Canadian university? A growing number of Americans are considering earning a college degree from up North. Actually, it’s not as far north as you might think because most Canadian universities are near the US border....
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College Admissions - Inside the Admissions Office

What Do Admission Officers Really Know?
The College Solution Blog - Oct 12, 2012
Is your university need blind? I once saw a couple of enthusiastic young admission reps from a pair of Catholic universities back East try to answer that question at a college conference. . ..
ADMISSIONS OFFICER: Here's What They Don't Tell You About Getting Into An Ivy League School
Business Insider - Oct 13, 2012
College admissions is a mysterious process, and admissions offices do their best to keep it that way. To get the real story, we talked to a former admissions officer at Dartmouth College...
Think Outside 'The Box'
Inside Higher Ed - Oct 12, 2012
DENVER – Don’t check the box. It’s the advice that’s given to Asian-American students by friends, family members, guidance counselors, even teachers, in the college application process. “The box” in question (actually more of a circle these days) refers to the selection of “Asian” when college applications ask students how they identify themselves. ...
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College Admissions Essays

Don’t get carried away with cliches
Charlotte Observer - Oct 15, 2012
Need a good writing tip? Avoid cliches like the plague. Well, that’s a pretty obvious one, but even less conspicuous cliches should be skipped in college essays.....
Writing Your Common App Essays And What To Avoid
LA College Admissions Examiner - Oct 12, 2012
The Common Application (www.commonapp.org) application essay prompts (on writing page) are available and have not changed since last year. Remember to follow all instructions and stick to the required word counts....
Oh, those onerous college essays
Philadelphia Inquirer - Oct 14, 2012
Working in admissions at Bryn Mawr College for a decade doesn't exempt me from anxiety as my firstborn applies to colleges. It does give me some perspective on the process - and makes me unusually popular with my Radnor neighbors who also have children in the Class of 2013....
Sample College Admissions Essays on a Fictional Character
About.com - Oct 13, 2012
Essay option #4 on the Common Application states, "Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence." An unusual approach to this prompt can be seen in Felicity's essay "Porkopolis" ....
HSCW Contributors Blog
Post - Oct 18, 2012
Make Your Stories Pop: 10 College Application Essay Guiding Questions
Working on the drafts of your personal statements for your college applications? .... More


On College Essay, Write About Something That Made You ‘Feel Deeply’
New York Times - The Choice - Oct 16, 2012
The essay rules may be changing on the Common Application, but that doesn’t change some basic rules about creative writing.....

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Facebook

What College Admission Officers Don't Like Seeing On Facebook: Vulgarity, Drinking Photos & 'Illegal Activities'
Forbes - Oct 12, 2012
Last Friday, I was playing in the ocean in Laguna Beach, California. Next to me was a group of high school boys gleefully body-surfing in the rather large waves ..
In College Admissions, Facebook Now a Factor'
The Hoya - Oct 16, 2012
Admissions officers are checking Facebook pages and Google search results of potential applicants with higher frequency than ever previously reported...
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SATs & ACTs

Top tips for SAT writing multiple choice test
NY Test Prep Examiner - Oct 7, 2012
Mastering the SAT writing multiple choice section of grammar and usage questions is easier than it might seem. Students classically make the mistake of perceiving the questions as an undistinguishable mass of convoluted, wrong-sounding sentences. .....
HSCW Counselors' Corners
Post - Oct 17, 2012
Replace the SAT with AP Scores? Uh…
Jay Mathews was almost onto something in his recent column, Time to Retire the SAT , .... More


Ask SAT and ACT Officials About Standardized Tests
New York Times - The Choice - Oct 18, 2012
Before juniors and seniors sharpen their No. 2 pencils and take a shot — or perhaps another shot — at the SAT and ACT this fall, we’d like to take a moment to turn the tables......
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Scholarships/FinAid

Financial-Aid Letters Still Confusing for Students
Ed Week  - Oct 17, 2012
The goal of standardizing and streamlining student financial-aid letters is far from being realized, according to an investigation by the nonprofit journalism outlet ProPublica...
College Financial Aid Letters Often Leave Students Confused and Misinformed
Huffington Post  - Oct 17, 2012
The financial aid award letters that colleges send to prospective students can be confusing: Many mix grants, scholarships and loans all under the heading of "Award," "Financial Assistance," or "Offered Financial Aid."...

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Parents

College Financial-Aid Issues for Older Parents
New York Times - Booming Blog  - Oct 17, 2012
Q. Should one disclose an imminent retirement (within two years of the start of a child’s college education) when applying for financial aid? — Debbie Smyth, Alameda, Calif......
The Parent Loan Trap
Chronicle of Higer Ed  - Oct 4, 2012
More than a decade after Aurora Almendral first set foot on her dream college campus, she and her mother still shoulder the cost of that choice.....
How to Avoid Family Disagreements When Choosing a College
US News & World Report  - Oct 16, 2012
When it comes to choosing a college, parents and students are sometimes on totally different pages. Perhaps one favors a college close to home and another a college far away. Or maybe one puts finances over dream schools and the other weighs them equally....
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Vocational Education

We Need More Skilled Workers (Because We Won’t Train Them)
Washington Monthly - Oct 15, 2012
Part of the reason politicians cite for more college education has to do with a common gripe by American business owners: we don’t have enough skilled workers. An article in The Economist earlier this year explained that “America’s problem with training was laid bare in a report published...
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Northeast

College tuition keeps rising in N.J., outpacing rate of inflation
The Star-Ledger  - Oct 14, 2012
Students at New Jersey's four-year colleges and universities will have to dig a little deeper to pay their bills this fall as tuition and fees continue to climb faster than the rate of inflation on most campuses, according to a Star-Ledger survey of this year's hikes......
Maine bureau issues free college financing guide
Boston.com  - Oct 14, 2012
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection is offering a new publication covering all aspects of financing a college education.....
Pennsylvania university faculty union takes 1st step toward strike
Delaware County Daily Times  - Oct 18, 2012
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The union representing faculty at Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities - including West Chester and Cheyney - is taking the first step toward a possible strike......
Education Debates in New Jersey Around For-Profits Miss Big Picture
Forbes  - Oct 11, 2012
The debate over digital-learning opportunities continues to heat up in New Jersey. It has now moved beyond just wondering whether full-time virtual learning opportunities have a place in the state to also discussing the role of blended learning,......
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Bullying

Parents May Be Teaching Teens to Be Bullies
US News & World Report  - Oct 10, 2012
When Wisconsin news anchor Jennifer Livingston was called fat by a viewer, she got a firsthand taste of the kind of bullying many high school students confront on a daily basis.....
Canada weighs anti-bullying strategy after teen suicide
USA Today  - Oct 16, 2012
The suicide last week of a 15-year-old Canadian girl who had posted a video saying she was tormented by bullies has prompted a national outpouring of grief and prompted politicians to consider a national anti-bullying strategy, The Vancouver Sun reports.....

 
 

Contents

Big Pic
Proces/Strat
Inside
Essays
Facebook
SATs & ACTs
FinAid
Parents
Voc Ed
Northeast
Bullying

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