Ivy schools more affordable

Thursday, March 29, 2012

BY GERALD M. BRADSHAW

gerald_bradshaw@post.harvard.edu

Bradshaw College Consulting

(219) 663-3041


Dear Mr. Bradshaw:--

I plan to apply to Harvard and several other Ivy League schools this fall. Is it true that they offer generous financial-aid packages? If I have to borrow thousands of dollars to attend, I will opt for a state school where I am sure to be admitted. —

Ivy schools more affordable

Dear Student: —

After the Ivy League got stung with bad publicity because many of their graduates ended up with more than $150,000 in debt, Harvard took the lead and revamped its financial-aid packages to replace student loans with grants.

Other colleges quickly followed suit.

Today, 70 percent of Harvard undergraduates receive some financial aid. This is typical at most of Ivy League schools.

Students from families with annual incomes below $65,000 are not required to contribute to their educations. And families with incomes up to $150,000 pay no more than 10 percent of their income.

At Harvard, the average financial-aid recipient’s family pays only $11,500 annually.

This new policy has resulted in greater economic diversity in the Ivy League. No longer the exclusive bastion of upper-class privilege, the financial-aid program has made the Ivy League more affordable to attend than many state colleges and universities.

As might be expected, the number of students applying to the Ivy League has increased because of the new policies. However, at Harvard, the number of applications this year started to level off. A total of 34,285 applications were received, down from last year’s record of 34,950.

Two years ago, 30,489 applied and, 10 years ago, there were 18,932 applications. One change worth noting is the modest (5 percent) increase in international applicants this year, compared to a 20 percent increase last year.

According to Harvard’s admissions office, outreach to international students by American colleges and universities normally has produced large annual gains, as relatively few international students had considered coming to the United States for college.

Today, an American college education is considered an option by more international students than in the past.

Along with the new generous financial-aid offerings, expect the admissions competition to show an increasing number of international students who have stellar academic credentials.

Although you can afford to attend if admitted, the competition will be tougher because international applicants are not considered separately for admission.

Schools now pick the best applicant, regardless of nationality.

AP classes not for everyone

Saturday, March 17, 2012

BY GERALD M. BRADSHAW
 gerald_bradshaw@post.harvard.edu
Bradshaw College Consulting
 (219) 663-3041

Dear Mr. Bradshaw:--

I enjoyed speaking with you recently. Your comments echoed those of my biology teacher, who said I should consider a career in medical research, rather than as a surgeon.

I hope to be accepted at Stanford University because of its diverse student body and the research, internship and job opportunities that abound in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Stanford boasts brilliant professors, a world-renowned academic structure and study-abroad opportunities.

Although I want to study medicine in graduate school, I also am interested in pursuing another Ph.D. I have applied for biology, chemistry, biochemistry and biomedical engineering majors at the universities to which I have applied. I’m doing an International Baccalaureate in high school and take four higher-level subjects, so I am working hard to get top grades so I can get advanced standing and avoid at least a year of undergrad studies. I hope this will lead to a double major in three years or triple major in four.

My question is, based upon what you know about me and your knowledge of economic trends, which double major or major combinations would you suggest? —A student

AP classes not for everyone

AP classes for some, just too much to handle .

Dear Student:


Your question really has two distinct questions that must be answered — pursuing multiple majors and, the sleeper question, whether to take advantage of advanced standing and skip most of your freshman year.

Based on my experience, any of the majors on your list should bode well for the future, whether you go to grad or medical school. All are tough programs and will impress admissions committees if you do extremely well in them.

I have a tutor for the SAT who is taking triple majors in physics, chemistry and math. Another one of my tutors is taking a double in philosophy and economics.

You might cluster majors close together, which has the added advantage of cross fertilization; the skills learned in one major often can be used in the other.

The other question I want to address is the sleeper: whether to take advantage of Advanced Placement classes. Most college freshmen do not have a good strategy in mind for evaluating the advantages or disadvantages of taking AP classes. Certainly, by taking advanced classes, it is possible to skip a year of college.

But this might not be the best decision for all students. Loading up on AP classes — in practice, becoming a sophomore in your freshman year — often leads to lower grades and a lower grade-point average that is impossible from which to recover.

I advise students that the freshman year is all about earning top grades. Not to be cynical about it (you do learn while you earn), but in the final analysis, you will need top grades in order to apply to medical or grad school.

The grades you earn in the first year, as a freshman or sophomore, are critical in establishing your overall GPA. If you have a bad semester or even dip to a B in a single class, it will have a negative effect on your GPA and, statistically, it is impossible to average it out in the second and third year.

Remember, if you take AP classes, you eventually will compete with second-year students, many of whom will have taken the introductory class that you skipped. And, in most cases, they will be better prepared for the second year.

In other words if you opt for AP, you forgo the chance to earn a relatively easier A.

Course guide could be problematic

Dear Mr. Bradshaw:--

I am a junior in high school and want to participate in an extracurricular activity that will benefit students as well as help me develop my leadership skills.

I came up with the idea of publishing a course evaluation guide created by students. I would like to see an evaluation at the end of each semester so that the information is available for students and teachers when it comes time to select classes.

Many students have had bad experiences picking classes and I feel their voice needs to be heard. Any suggestions?

Course guide could be problematic

Dear Student:

While an evaluation guide developed by students might prove valuable in selecting a class I find it hard to suggest a way that you could gather the information necessary to publish it. It would take cooperation from your school administration and teachers and the process would invite evaluators to critique classes and ultimately the teachers who teach them.

Because teacher evaluations have been the subject of debate for many years I am not sure that you want to get in the middle of what is a really sticky situation. I am familiar with the public school system and teacher contracts.

Administrators believe that teacher evaluations are in their purview and teachers believe that their contracts and tenure are sacrosanct. There is already a ton of controversy without students becoming involved in the evaluation process. Even if you decided to take your project off-campus it could be controversial.

This is not to say there is not a need for a student led course evaluation. The problem will be in coming up with an instrument that is useful to the student, fair to the teachers and meets the guidelines of the administration.

Students would tend to give high ratings to classes that are enjoyable and not particularity difficult. Classes that require a lot of homework and testing would get lower scores.

As a result, far from acting as a resource for teachers, the evaluation process you are proposing is more a guide for students, helping them to select the courses that are fun and manageable at the same time.

If you intend to go forward with your project you might think about working with a select group of teachers to develop an evaluation system. Perhaps you can help them develop a survey, which can be adapted specifically to the parameters of a particular class with questions chosen by the teacher.

If a teacher agrees to allow an evaluation of his or her class at least their input will have a role in the development of the survey.

To be successful, the evaluation should avoid adopting an overly professional and impersonal tone. The more informal the tone the greater the number of students respondents. Instead of asking whether a class has turned a student into a better citizen, the questionnaire should ask questions that speak directly to student feelings about the atmosphere in the classroom and the level of difficulty.

The best way to make the evaluation tool effective would be to make it mandatory for all students and teachers. By making it mandatory you will eliminate the bias that is inherent in any voluntary response system.

Students with particularly strong opinions about a class, as opposed to those students who are more or less satisfied with their experience, are inevitably more likely to respond and therefore skew the evaluations.

In the end, putting all of this together and getting students, teachers and administrators to sign-up for your idea will take a lot of creativity and perseverance. Be prepared for criticism and there could be backlash. But if you do succeed it could be a useful guide for all concerned, both in the process and the outcome.

Course guide could be problematic