In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

Job Market for 2011 Grads Even Better than Previously Thought

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers are expected to hire 21 percent more new college grads than they did in 2010.

This figure beats the 13.5 percent increase NACE predicted last year, about which I previously reported.

Is Your College Education a PC or a Mac?

A recent article on the Huffington Post examines the education philosophies of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Written by Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, the article argues that one’s college education shouldn’t be compared to a particular application or program. Instead, it might be compared to the platform on which you will run the software—i.e., the jobs, relationships, and experiences—of your post-college life.

The Truth About Procrastination

Do some people really “work best under pressure”? How can delaying benefit the procrastinator?

Learn the answers in today’s “Academic Minute” on the Inside Higher Ed website.

This Year’s Ultra-Low Acceptance Rates

The early returns for the 2011 college application season are in.

The New York Times has compiled a list of admissions data, including the number of applicants to and the percent accepted at various schools.

While the list is still a work in progress, the Times has already included data on the schools that historically have been the most selective in the U.S.

Here are the five schools with the lowest 2011 admissions rates:

1. Harvard University: 6.17%
2. Columbia University: 6.93%
3. Stanford University: 7.07%
4. Yale University: 7.35%
5. Princeton University: 8.39%

Tuition Hikes at Public Universities

Yesterday I posted that U.S. states have been cutting spending on their public universities. A side effect of this is that some schools are raising tuition to try to maintain a high-quality education.

A Huffington Post story identifies some states whose public universities will cost significantly more next year. Check it out here.

Beware of Facebook Roommate Scams

If you’re a senior and you’ve recently chosen a college, congratulations! You may be a bit overwhelmed by all of the well wishes you’re getting from friends and family. Chances are this dazed feeling will continue through the spring and summer as your college sends you form after form to facilitate your arrival on campus.

Also, during this time, you may come across a Facebook group (or two) for the incoming freshmen at your future school. On the surface, joining such a group might seem like good idea: you’ll make friends ahead of time and maybe even find your first-year roommates.

You should be aware, however, that no matter how official a group looks it is not associated with your school. The New York Times has reported on such groups that exist primarily to convince you to pay for a roommate-matching service. These groups have no official power over roommate pairings and there’s no guarantee that the other individuals using the service are actually future students like you. If you have any doubt regarding the legitimacy of a site or service, you should contact your college.

College Students: Still Fighting the Hangover

A Huffington Post story this week examines some sobering findings about the state of drinking on campus. Among these findings are the following:

• Despite alcohol education programs, heavy drinking at colleges has not decreased over the last 30 years.
• Since 1994, alcohol has been involved in a greater percentage of acquaintance rape and violent crimes on campus.
• Alcohol use is more strongly linked to poor grades than Facebook use, holding a job, or even skipping class.

The Post article writes that schools are now implementing more restrictive alcohol policies in place of their previous “alcohol awareness” efforts.

Admission and Rejection Stories

High school seniors should receive all of their admissions decisions by this Friday. Along the way, today will be another momentous day: the Ivy League schools will send their decisions this evening at 5 p.m. EST.

In the middle of this stressful time, you may be looking for others with whom to share your story and commiserate. (Your regular crew might not be the best audience if you’re the only one who is not going to State U.)

If so, you’re in luck. The New York Times blog The Choice is now accepting admissions stories from students like you. You can post about your unique situation and identify with other students’ posts. Whether you’re on the waitlist at the school of your dreams, sick and tired of waiting for decisions, or just glad the whole process will be over soon, you’ll find an outlet here.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Playing College Sports

Do you plan to be a student-athlete in college?

If you’re even considering it, you should check out this blog post on the Montgomery Educational Consulting website. It discusses some important benefits and drawbacks of an athletic commitment.

Also, from Inside Higher Ed: Division III student-athletes currently have a slightly higher graduation rate than their non-athlete peers do.

Google’s World Domination Hits a Speed Bump

It seemed like another one of Google’s nifty ideas. They scan books and put them up on the web so that anyone—anywhere—can read them for free.

Copyright holders didn’t think it was so nifty. In 2005, the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild sued Google over its Google Books service.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, a federal judge recently rejected a potential settlement of the lawsuit, which would have freed Google from legal liability over Google Books.

Somewhat surprisingly, colleges and universities are rooting for Google in this case, writes the Chronicle. Free access to texts would cut down on costs for both schools and their students. It would also increase access to information, particularly with hard-to-find books.