Posts filed under 'Schools'
It’s the second half of our special Super Bowl blog looking at colleges and universities in the spots where fans abound.
MetLife Stadium, where the NFC Champions New York Giants play, is actually in East Rutherford, N.J., but since New York is in the team name, our lineup spotlights schools in the Big Apple. See why you may make want to make a play for one of these colleges as an applicant.
Berkeley College
Number of students: 8,900 (at eight locations in New York and New Jersey)
Founded: 1931
Majors: Most popular majors are criminal justice, fashion marketing and management, management, and accounting.
Cool fact: Online students have access to online tutoring, career services, and student organizations, and also can able to participate in all on-campus activities.
New York University
Number of students: 50,917
Founded: 1831
Majors: The visual and performing arts is the most popular major, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Cool fact: The University holds a “Welcome Week” along with other festivities such as the Strawberry Festival (featuring NYC’s longest Strawberry Shortcake), the Violet Ball, and others.
City University of New York
Number of students: 480,000 (at 24 colleges and institutions in New York)
Founded: 1961
Majors: The CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies allows motivated students to design a field of study and earn their degree by working on an individual basis with faculty.
Cool fact: The University has hosted its own film festival, CUFF, since 2009.
Columbia University
Number of students: 28,221
Founded: 1754
Majors: Economics, political science, and history are most popular majors.
Cool fact: One of Columbia’s many traditions is Orgo Night. At 11:59 p.m. the night before the Organic Chemistry final exam, the marching band occupies Butler Library to distract students from studying before proceeding to other campus spots.
Are you headed to New York City for school? If so, let us know in the comments section below where you are attending.
-Lori Johnston (additional reporting by Delaney Young)
January 31st, 2012
In college, finals time often is a caffeine-fueled, candy-hyped week, where students will wear anything, stay up all night, and study anywhere to get prepared for the end-of-the-semester exams.
We snapped shots of students attending the University of Georgia in Athens, from the start of finals week to the last night of tests this semester.
Studying at Starbucks
Athens has no shortage of coffeehouses, from chains like Starbucks to local ones, and they are packed during finals week because of the constant caffeine and cozy seats. It’s not surprising to see students coming in with PJs on, as they spread out with their laptops, textbooks, and other study materials, staying until the doors close.
In the Dorms
OK, so sometimes it’s easy for students to get lured from studying, even by making up games with a bag of party-sized M&Ms.
The mass of materials for just one class can be so much that some students need to spread it all out over their beds (but notice how they’re keeping organized, with red pens and green tabs so that crucial information is easy to access).
Study Rooms on Campus
During the height of finals week, on-campus study spaces are so crammed that classrooms are open to students
Sometimes working together with other students can help reduce the stress of tests. Prime places to study are glassed-in study rooms featuring huge wipeboards, Internet access, and doors to close off all the noise. Students can reserve them in some schools or get them on a first-come, first-serve basis, hunkering down in study rooms for hours.
Cramming on Floors and Hallways
It may seem uncomfortable, but for some students, the best spots are not cozy couches or seats, but the floors and wooden chairs where nothing else can distract them or make them think of sleep.
Goodbye to Finals Week
Look closely at this sign and you’ll see that the hangman phrase is written by students giddy that finals week is over. It says: No more studying!
–Lori Johnston
December 15th, 2011
College students can’t wait for Thanksgiving break, a time to reunite with family and friends and take a break from school. Sleeping, watching movies, eating home-cooked meals … it’s all part of the plan.
You’ll likely be experiencing those same things next year, as a freshman in college heading home for the holidays. But if you see what’s been happening at colleges and universities all month – before students left for their break – there’s a big focus on giving back. From traditional volunteer activities, such as making meals for the homeless, to more unique efforts, here’s a look at some schools where the students took time to give back.
Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
During “Turkeypalooza,” Wake Forest students, faculty, and staff volunteer to cook Thanksgiving meals on campus and deliver them to area non-profit groups.
Wake Forest students at last year's Turkeypalooza.
Adelphi University, Garden City, NY
Students whip up some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to donate to a local soup kitchen. The school’s community service organization, C.A.L.I.B.E.R., make 231 PB&Js alone during the month of November. Students belonging to Greek organizations on campus participate in the soup kitchen’s adopt-a-family program, whose goal is to create Thanksgiving meals for 11 families.
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
Members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity recently picked up bags of groceries left on doorsteps by giving families, collecting 6,000 pounds of food for a food pantry that assists poor seniors who live alone.
Creighton University, Omaha, NB
An annual Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the school’s Freshman Leadership Program raises money to benefit Precious Memories, a non-profit focused on children. Each year, the dinner raises about $2,000.
McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
During National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness week (Nov. 12-21), the school’s Social Work Action Team (SWAT) participates in a variety of activities that include collecting donations during a healthy food drive at a football game.
Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA
CHC is one of the colleges that participates in the Philly community’s Empty Bowl Dinner, which raises money for the Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network to provide food and shelter to homeless families. Students help during the dinner in a variety of ways, such as serving soup and clearing tables.
Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Students’ annual Give Some Warmth drive collects new or gently used mittens, hats, and scarves.
Western New England University, Springfield, MA
The school’s United & Mutually Equal Club (U&ME), a multicultural group, holds an annual Children’s Holiday Party for more than 200 preschoolers, who each get a free gift from Santa and participate in activities such as face painting, music, and storytelling.
Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA
For Homelessness and Hunger Week, students volunteer for the Fall Food Share at a local grocery store, asking shoppers to collect specific items to be donated to the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. They’re also participating in “Bean Bags to Bag Hunger,” a corn toss competition to benefit a local food bank.
Purchase College, SUNY, Purchase, NY
Students in two residence halls have organized two events: a winter clothing drive to collect hats, gloves, scarves, and sweaters, and a food drive for a local food bank.
Wow! That’s a lot of good work being done on college campus, and it’s just a small snapshot of how students are giving back around the country. If you’re already involved in activities like this in high school, it’s great to see that there’s the opportunity to continue to help others when you head off to college.
–Lori Johnston
November 23rd, 2011
By now, you probably already know if you thrive on stress in school, and if so, going to a college known for being a stressful environment is perfectly OK with you.
If your personality doesn’t handle stress well (with results ranging from stomach aches to depression), considering the stress level at a college could be really important in your college search. A school’s competitive environment is something to look into as you weigh other factors, like tuition, before sending in an application. Your choice may be a prestigious school, but a pressure-filled one, too.
Not surprisingly, costly private schools top a 2011 list of most stressful colleges. At the top is Columbia University in New York City, followed by Stanford University in California, and Massachusetts’ Harvard University (first in The Daily Beast’s competitiveness rank and acceptance rate rank).
The 50 schools on the list got the highest rankings in categories that the American College Health Association finds contributes to stressful college campuses: tuition, acceptance rate, overall academic competitiveness, crime, and the difficulty of its academic programs.
From the moment you send in that college application, stress can rise. But it could be even greater for students applying to schools on the list, since so many high school seniors want to get into those universities.
Is a college’s stress-inducing environment something you’ve considered during your college search or should consider? Let us know in the comments section below!
–Lori Johnston
November 15th, 2011
What’s scarier than the Saw series? More frightening than Freddy Krueger? For colleges and universities, it’s…DISGRUNTLED ALUMNI!!!
(Cue the Psycho music.)
College rankings, like those issued by U.S. News & World Report, have always held a controversial spot in the higher ed world, usually because no one but the staff of USN&WR truly understands the basis of those rankings. That’s why entrepreneur Tom Benghauser has decided to go rogue with College Straight Talk, his unprecedented system of university rankings that involves input from college alumni. And as a result, college administrators across the country find themselves foolishly running back into their houses as the crazed killer is on the loose.
Why are colleges running scared? Well, for one, it makes SENSE to ask the opinion of recent graduates. Most will probably have at least something good to say about their home campuses, but unfortunately for colleges, there will always be alumni who will hold grudges about something during their college years–not to mention that unemployed graduates may hold their alma mater in contempt for their lack of jobs, rather than the depressed economy.
Benghauser himself is a graduate of Princeton University and The University of Pennsylvania, so he got started by using his own alumni databases. UPenn noticed the inordinate amount of searching he was doing, found out why, and so the alumni office shut him down. (Boo, UPenn.) Benghauser labels himself a consumer advocate, but so far, colleges and universities aren’t buying it and are refusing to work with him.
Provided that Benhauser can access alumni to get their feedback, College Straight Talk will plan to calculate the results of its extensive surveys and put the data on one website for college-bound students and their parents to access.
Just like car shoppers can look up ratings on Consumer Reports, it seems as though college-bound students will soon be able to look up ratings from alumni on College Straight Talk. Good idea or ghastly idea? Leave a comment below.
–Barbara Bellesi
October 31st, 2011
Today, U.S. News & World Report released the 2012 edition of its always-anticipated, much-criticized college and university rankings. (I forgot to write it on my calendar, otherwise I would have baked a cake to celebrate.) But before you break out into your school’s fight song in honor of its being on the “it” list, or lament the fact that one of your choices didn’t make the cut at all, consider a few things:
Yawn. The Ivies always make the list. Do we really need a magazine to tell us that Harvard and Princeton are great schools? No. And I’m fairly certain that the admissions office at Yale isn’t exactly breathing a collective sigh of relief to know that the Bulldogs once again made the cut and that students will be applying this year, all because they are on the list as one of the best national universities. Tell us something we don’t know, for crying out loud…
The rankings are really just a bunch of lists that add up to….? It would be truly an accomplishment if there were one school that came out on the very top of a long, long list of colleges and universities across the country. It would then definitely earn the right to streak naked across its own campus screaming, “I’m the king of the world!” or something. But that’s not how USN&WR works, unfortunately. They divide colleges and universities into lists according to whether they are public or private, national or regional, big or small. Does this make for more manageable reading? Definitely, But depending on to which types of schools you’ll be applying, you won’t even pay attention to some of the lists. And there’s never enough room for all of the “good” schools that are on the list, which means…well, just keep reading.
Do NOT panic if your choice isn’t on the list. Again, there’s a formula at work here, and schools can slip up and down the list–as well as on and off–from year to year. Keep in mind that a good school will give you the proper education you need to succeed in life, but the other definition of “good school”–and a mighty important one at that–is that it is a good match for you.
So what exactly is the formula for these rankings? Don’t get me wrong: I love that both my undergraduate and graduate alma maters–Wagner College and Emerson College–made the list for top regional universities, but I don’t exactly know how they did it. And I don’t get much clarity from the explanation in the FAQs section of how USN&WR compiles their data. Hmm. Just what are the “16 areas related to academic excellence” anyway?
What do you think? Did you even know the rankings came out today, or did you stay up all night waiting for them to arrive like Santa Claus? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section below.
–Barbara Bellesi
September 13th, 2011
Even if you’ve already taken the general campus tour at one of your college choices, consider using part of your spring break to check out what it’s like to actually be a student there.
Since most colleges have already had their spring break, your visit will likely be timed when school is in session, but double check the college or university calendar to make sure your trip doesn’t conflict with another holiday or special days off.
More and more schools are customizing spring visits, and this is a great option for you to consider, especially if you’re facing a May 1 deadline to reply to a school that has accepted you.
At Washington University in St. Louis, you can attend a student organization meeting, exercise with college students in the athletic complex, listen to a concert, or sit it on classes during a spring university visit.
Dickinson College’s day visit option is available each winter and spring (through April 26), allowing students to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at campus life by eating lunch with a student and attending a class at the Pennsylvania college. The cool thing is that your campus visit is designed just for you.
Minnesota’s Hamline University also offers options for a spring visit, such as staying overnight with a student, eating with them, and going to classes with them; students also get to sit down with professors and coaches.
Don Fraser Jr. of the National Association for College Admission Counseling tells Education Week that it’s important to set up meetings with people in certain departments you’re interested in to get the most out of your visit. Another great tip from Fraser is to look at aspects of student life, even negative aspects such as crime, by checking out the police blotter in the student newspaper that you pick up during a campus visit.
Zola Dincin Schneider, author of Campus Visits & College Interviews, offers some good info about visits on the CollegeBoard’s web site. Among the tips: Spring break of junior year is a good time for a visit for athletes who are too swamped during the fall to visit or students considering applying for early decision.
So cure your spring fever by using your spring break to visit the campus that may be your home next fall!
–Lori Johnston
March 22nd, 2011
I’m staring at my incomplete NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket, trying to figure out which teams I’m going to select, leading up all the way to the national championship game. I don’t have much time, as I need to fill out my bracket today or tomorrow to compete with my friends and even strangers (even President Obama filled one out last year!) who are hoping to be the one with the best bracket by the end of March Madness and the national championship game on April 4.
Choosing a college can be a lot like filling out an March Madness bracket. You’re pitting schools against each other, too, in making your decision. Call it your own college choice bracket. Sure, you probably don’t have 68 colleges to choose from, like those competing in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tourney (it is March Madness, after all), and maybe you’re down to your sweet 16 or the elite eight or the final four. Maybe you’re at the point where there’s just two schools vying to get your enrollment, just like the basketball tournament. Only one can win–but which one?
Here’s what you need for a winning bracket, which also can relate to your school choice:
1. Knowledge of the schools. Just as with the basketball tournament, those filling out brackets this week need to research which teams can make the cut. You’re also looking at which colleges are the best fit for you and how they compare to others you’re considering. For the tournament, we’re looking at the quality of players, experience they have had this season and strengths and weaknesses as a team. In making your college decision, you need to look at the reputation of the school and its accreditation, what programs it offers that of are interest to you, and what makes it stand out in its student life–dorms, activities, and yes, athletics.
2. Location of the games. If a team has to travel all the way across the country, like Washington is having to do when it plays in Charlotte on Friday, the long travel time can be a factor in the team’s performance. It’s the same for you – you have to consider whether attending a school far away from your family will hinder your ability to thrive despite homesickness–or whether it’s just what you need to gain independence.
3. Underdog status. You don’t want to immediately discount the smaller, less-well-known schools in the bracket or your college choice. Teams such as Morehead State University, Wofford College, and Oakland University, described by The New York Times as a mostly commuter university in suburban Detroit, may not have the big-name recognition as others, but they could still give their opponents trouble in the tournament. Those underdogs that continue to perform well are referred to as the Cinderella team–a group whose talent is underrated, but just might result in a happy-ever-after ending. So if you are weighing a larger versus smaller school, look past the size and focus on what else besides an enormous campus.
4. Gut feeling. When it comes to two teams where they both have the same amount of strengths and weaknesses, I have to go with my gut. That’s what makes filling out the NCAA tournament bracket so much fun – and so nerve-wracking! But with your college choice, you should feel confident in knowing that there are many schools that will give you a wonderful education and college experience. Where your gut comes in is in knowing which school feels like a better fit for you at this time.
So fill out your college choice bracket and recognize that you’re a winner just in making the decision to attend college!
–Lori Johnston
March 16th, 2011
In some families, generations after generation attend the same school, creating a family history at one institution. Some U.S. colleges and universities date back to the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s – centuries of students and graduates who add to its history and prestige.
But new schools are continuing to open in the U.S., and they’re probably among the ones you’re considering attending. When these schools graduate their first classes, they get publicity. First Lady Michelle Obama spoke in 2009 at the commencement at University of California Merced – the latest California public university and the first research university to be built in the 21st century – to the school’s first 450 graduates.
When new colleges and universities open their doors or new facilities, such as their first dorms, it draws attention. When Ave Maria University opened in Southwest Florida in 2007, it was the first Roman Catholic university to open in the U.S. in 40 years. There’s been a trend with new medical schools – nearly two dozen, including The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, PA, that have recently opened or are planning to open, according to the New York Times.
So does age matter when making your college choice?
“There are probably a lot more differences across all different kinds of colleges than there are across old versus new colleges,” says Debra Humphreys, spokeswoman for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. “In some ways, the newness of a college probably matters less than the kind of college [that it is]. There’s so much variety in American higher education for a prospective student, the variety is a real advantage.”
She suggests a few aspects to consider when making this choice:
The mission: Why was the school established? Is it a for-profit school offering distance learning? It is in response to a state’s population growth and the need for more colleges or a growing field, like health care?
The curriculum: Don’t assume that a newer college is offering a more narrow curriculum or a vocational focus. But you do want to look closely at the mission of the institution and how it is fulfilling its mission through the curriculum. For example, UC Merced, which has a research and interactive focus, enables students to conduct research with top-notch faculty, even during their freshman year.
The faculty: Older institutions have an advantage in terms of building up their faculty over the years. But a new school doesn’t have a long history of traditions that are standing in the way of educational reform. “A lot of campuses are resistant to make changes, and they therefore sort of fall back on what they’re always known, and that’s not always the best thing in the 21st century,” she says. A new institution gets to start from scratch and pull from faculty all over the country.
The activities and facilities: Go to a college during its very first year and you’re probably won’t have on-campus living – or at least not a ton of choices for dorms. For example, Georgia Gwinnett College – which opened in 2006 as the state’s first public four-year college in more than a century – opened its first dorm in 2010. The sports program is just getting started, and student groups are just forming. That does give you an opportunity to be involved more, as the student population grows (at the Georgia school, it jumped from 100 students in 2006 to more than 3,000 now). The UC Merced’s website, for example, says its students can “help build up clubs and organizations that will define life on the 10th University of California campus for generations to come.”
Have you noticed a difference between visiting schools that have been around for hundreds of years verses newer colleges and universities? Is this a factor in your decision?
–Lori Johnston
February 21st, 2011
Part of your college decision is based on emotion. Yes, you consider the cost and programs a school has to offer, but it’s often that feeling you have when you’re on campus that confirms it’s the right place for you.
The week of Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, so we asked students and graduates how they fell in love with their school.
“When my foot hit the ground at Young Harris College, I knew there was no need to look anywhere else. The beautiful mountains, small campus, great academics, and the wonderful Admissions Director, “Uncle Bud,” who showed me around, all combined to love at first sight for Young Harris and me!” –Anna Grant Jones
“I knew I wanted to come to Georgia since I visited the campus three years ago. I distinctly remember it was the weekend of Valentine’s Day, and I was walking around in capri pants and a light sweater. At home in Pennsylvania, it was still in the 30s. I was instantly dazzled by the sights and sounds of Athens, a picturesque college community. Everyone was so nice and helpful as my mother and I tried to find our way around—on bus and on foot—an intimidating large campus. I can honestly say it is true that Southerners are immensely nicer than Northerners. All of this combined, and I knew I would love going to school in Georgia.” –Katelyn Schiavone
“I came to the University of Kentucky in fall of 2007 and I’m now in my last semester. I immediately fell in love with the place. The dorms were so much fun. I never thought living in such close corridors with hundreds of other people could be considered fun! I became so close with the girls on my hall and the boys in my dorms. Most everyone got along really well, and so few of us had known each other before we got there. The campus is really pretty. Even though I rarely go to the library, it is truly a gorgeous building. I now feel like the campus is a home.” –Jenna Newsome
“When I first visited, it was in the heart of spring and everything looked lush and full of Iife. Everyone seemed happy, too.” –Sophie Cox
“Gosh, I fell in love with UGA after seeing a packed Sanford Stadium with my dad. He was so proud that I decided to become a ‘bulldawg’ that he couldn’t contain himself as we looked out on that sea of red and black.”–Tracie Powell
Have you already fallen in love with a school? Feel free to gush about it below.
–Lori Johnston
February 14th, 2011
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