Graduate Admissions

Seven years ago, I wrote a blog post by the same title that offered a framework for selecting a graduate school admissions consultant.  As a former Admissions and Financial Aid Officer at Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, I want to help busy students and working professionals vet their options. I have also been on the other side of the process, having earned two graduate school degrees myself (Masters and PhD). The graduate school admissions landscape has not gotten any easier since then —the pandemic has led students to apply to medical school, law school, MBA and other graduate school programs in droves. The most crowded graduate school fields? Business, biological/agricultural sciences, and health sciences, of course (the COVID fixer fields). As U.S....

In a research study done by the "Journal of Medical Education", it was found that when applying to medical school, it is most important to get your letters of recommendation from people who know you and have actually supervised you throughout all or part of your clinical training. The results show that 36.6% of students received an interview offer when those letters were deemed effective, and only 8.7% received interviews with letters seen as ineffective. This shows us how important these three little pieces are in getting into a residency program for medicine after college or graduating from college without a degree in medicine because they can help get you into one of the top schools for medical education (medicine). There is also another way to make stand out to the medical schools,...

First Amendment News 301: The ACLU free speech controversy flares up yet again“At a time when liberals and conservatives are locked in a bitter debate over where the real danger to free speech lies, is it still possible to have an organization that fights for the full spectrum of civil liberties — for all Americans?”— Marin Cogan, The New Republic (July 16, 2018) “We need to consider whether some of our timeworn maxims — the antidote to bad speech is more speech, the marketplace of ideas will result in the best arguments winning out — still ring true in an era when white supremacists have a friend in the White House.” — Susan Herman, former ACLU president (Sept. 21, 2020) “If the Brandeisian view of speech is fatally flawed, what is a better, or at least a more realistic, view?” — Ellis Co...

The rapid creation of possibly the coolest new high school in AmericaIt started a few months ago, when a friend asked Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, if he wanted to open a new public high school. He wasn’t asking for himself but, rather, on behalf of Andre Young, better known as Dr. Dre, and Jimmy Iovine. Published at Mon, 14 Jun 2021 12:00:35 +0000 Article source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/14/the-creation-of-possibly-the-coolest-new-highschool-in-america/

3 Questions for Ted Cross, Associate Dean and Academic Program Director at Western Governors UniversityDr. Ted Cross is the Associate Dean and Academic Program Director at Western Governors University. Ted reached out to me after I wrote about my daughter’s boyfriend’s $84K master’s loan offer, letting me know that WGU is doing things a bit differently. Intrigued, I asked Ted if he’d be willing to answer some of my questions - and he graciously agreed. Q1: What does it cost to get a master’s from WGU? Why is the cost so much lower than almost everyone else?  The average WGU College of Business graduate student finishes in about 18-months at a cost of around $13,000. There are several reasons WGU can offer quality master’s degrees at an affordable price. WGU is 100% online and doesn’t have ...

A Promise to Students: Improving How We Award Federal Student AidAs the father of twins who recently graduated from college, I can appreciate what you or your parents go through each year as you fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA® form. As you know, completing this form can open the door to your higher education dreams by providing federal student grants, work-study funds, and loans. The FAFSA form can also unlock other opportunities for grants and scholarships from states, schools, and private organizations. Over the years, Federal Student Aid (FSA) has taken steps to make it easier for you to fill out the FAFSA form. For example, we’ve simplified the process so you only see questions that pertain to you, and we continue to partner with the Internal ...

What Are The Best Colleges In The Country Looking For Today? “You are more than your marks”- The best colleges in the world today. There’s a strong reason why the best colleges around the world are restructuring their admission processes around this very thought. In the early 2000s, scoring an 80+ in your boards would make you a celebrity around the local household. And with a score of 90+ news channels came to your house asking you about your preparation methods.  And not to forget a spot on the front page of the local newspapers reading, “Middle-Class Student Makes the State Proud”. Gradually, the status quo built around just a 90+ score in the boards lost its shine when students started averaging around 95 marks. So much so that now the only score that could make the ears flinch was ...

Tom Hanks: Deben saber la verdad sobre la masacre racial de TulsaLo mismo le ha ocurrido a mucha gente: en su mayoría, la historia la escribían personas blancas que se basaban en personas blancas, como yo, mientras que la historia de las personas de color —incluidos los horrendos disturbios de Tulsa— se excluía muy a menudo. Hasta hace relativamente poco tiempo, la industria del entretenimiento, que ayuda a determinar qué forma parte de la historia y qué queda en el olvido, hacía lo mismo. Eso incluye proyectos en los que yo participé. Yo sabía sobre el ataque al Fuerte Sumter, la batalla de Little Bighorn y el ataque a Pearl Harbor, pero no supe nada sobre la masacre de Tulsa sino hasta el año pasado, gracias a un artículo de The New York Times. En vez de enterarme de eso, en mis clases d...

The kind of teaching kids need right nowWhen teaching ELLs, teachers are challenged to make grade level content accessible in English, while at the same time helping students to gain English language proficiency. Many ELLs come from countries where the education system is limited, or have had to miss years of education because of economic challenges, gang violence or military conflict. There just isn’t time for ELLs, especially those who enter the United States on the secondary level, to review everything they might have missed. Published at Wed, 02 Jun 2021 19:20:53 +0000 Article source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/06/02/the-kind-of-teaching-kids-need-right-now/

Just Admit It: What Do Students and Families Need to Know About the Financial Aid Process?Get the 411 on the Financial Aid Process with Our College Admissions Counselors In addition to navigating the college admissions cycle, students and families need to prepare for the costs of college and understand the financial aid process. Much like admissions, there are a few steps that go into applying for financial aid, and it’s important that students understand every component of the process. Since going to college is one of the most significant financial decisions people will make in their lifetimes, there’s no such thing as learning too much about college financial aid. Keep reading for some crucial insights from our admissions counselors – and don’t forget to tune in to our Just Admit It! po...

Dance With An Admissions Officer: Eight Steps to Get You Admitted to CollegeOne of the great myths about college admission is that the process is merely a matter of doing your best in high school, getting good scores on some tests, writing a decent essay, and then simply submitting your application to the admissions office.  Then you just sit back and pray that a college admissions officer will love you enough to give you the keys to the gate. Not true. If you want a college admissions officer to love you, you have to love them back. Admissions officers are people, too.  They want to be appreciated.  They want to know that you find them attractive.So you have to dance with them.  Tango, foxtrot, waltz:  it doesn’t matter.  The steps are always the same.What are the steps? First, let them ...

Top Five Tips For College FairsCollege fairs are in full swing around the country. To make sure you have the best strategy for the college fairs you might want to follow these five tips. 1. Research which schools will be attend the college fair. For most college fairs you can find a list of schools that will be attending. It is worth getting a copy of this list. Then going through it to see if there are any colleges that you are considering on the list. Go through and highlight them and consider going to their tables first. You might also find other schools that you weren’t aware of that you want to talk to. No matter what, it is nice to at least know who will be in attendance to make sure you don’t miss visiting with any schools. 2. Register in advance for college fairs. Many colleges the...

As Harvard Case Looms at Supreme Court, Study Tests Value of Diversity“If diverse groups of student editors perform better than non-diverse groups, it lends credibility to the idea that diverse student bodies, diverse student organizations, diverse faculties, diverse teams of attorneys and diverse teams of employees generally could perform better than non-diverse teams,” the study concluded. The law reviews’ diversity policies were not uniform, but they tended to take account of race, as the Harvard College admissions policy does, as one factor among many for some or all of the available spots. The Harvard Law Review, for instance, selects 30 of its 48 editors based on some combination of a writing competition and grades. Another 18 editors, a statement on its website says, are “selected t...

Yield Rates for the Class of 2025Learn What Yield Rates Look Like for the Class of 2025 After many colleges reported all-time low acceptance rates, some students might be curious about their yield rates, or just how many of these admitted applicants have chosen to enroll. Yield is a priority for every college because it impacts their place on rankings lists and it can also influence their bond ratings. As a result, many universities have aimed to improve their yield rates over recent years by utilizing strategies and techniques, like demonstrated interest, to ensure students are serious about applying to their school. Keep reading to learn more about the yield rates at various colleges for the class of 2025, during what was an unprecedented admissions cycle. When reviewing yield rates, it...