In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

A College that’s Off the Grid (Literally)

Butte College recently became the first U.S. school to generate more electricity than it needs. The school utilizes 25,000 solar panels to collect energy from the California sun.

To learn more, check out the story on ABC News 10.

Summer Campus Visits

The best time to visit a college is when its campus is full of students. That being said, it might not be possible to make it to every school on your list during the academic year.

Truthfully, you can get a lot out of a summer visit. While campuses are typically quiet at this of year, you may be able to meet with administrators and professors who are unavailable during the fall and spring.

For more information on summer visits, check out this post on MyCollegeCalendar.org.

Ten Trendy Colleges

In the past I’ve written about “dream colleges” and just plain “popular” colleges, but I haven’t yet treaded the rarefied turf of “trendy” colleges.

You may be wondering: what exactly is a “trendy” college? According to the Huffington Post, college trendiness is a conglomeration of several factors, including Collegeprowler.com’s “Top Colleges” list, Newsweek’s “New Ivies” list, and The Princeton Review’s own “Happiest Students” list. It also reflects increases in application numbers.

So, without further ado, check out the Huffington Post’s top 10 trendy colleges for 2011 below.

• Macalester College
• Bowdoin College
• Colby College
• Trinity College
• Yale University
• Columbia University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Case Western Reserve University
• Dickinson College
• Pepperdine University

For a slideshow and more information on each one, click here.

Without a Degree, Less Hope

According to a new report, young adults without a college degree are less likely than their degree-holding peers to be optimistic about the future.

The report, by the nonprofit organization Public Agenda, is based on a survey of 600 people ages 26 to 34.

According to the report, 40 percent of young adults without a college degree want to go or return to college, but most of them don’t know the basics of financial aid.

Additionally, young adults without a degree are less likely to be satisfied with their current job. If unemployed, they're less likely to be optimistic about their chances of finding a job.

Click here to read the full report.

The Best Frozen Treats Near Campus

To help celebrate the summer, the gals at Big Girls Small Kitchen recently shared their favorite college-town ice cream shops. Check them out here.

Reader Response: Strange College Courses

Last week I posted about some of the weirdest courses currently offered at U.S. colleges and universities. These include “The Joys of Garbage” at Santa Clara University, “Zombies in Popular Culture” at Columbia College, and “What If Harry Potter Is Real?” at Appalachian State University.

IN reader Brian M. recently had this to say about these “offbeat” courses:

I’m all for having interesting discussions in class, but these classes seem like a waste of time and money. I don’t know which is worse: private colleges charging students thousands of dollars for them or public colleges spending tax dollars on them. This is why higher ed. in the U.S. gets a bad rep.

Would you like to join the conversation? If so, email me at INblog@review.com!

College Students Biased when It Comes to Gay Professors

According to a new study, college students are more likely to assume that their professor has a political agenda if they believe he or she is homosexual.

The study, conducted at the University of Houston, presented student participants with a fake course syllabus. Participants were given a brief bio of the course’s professor, including his or her sexual orientation. They were then were then asked to evaluate the syllabus, including any political biases that it might contain.

Students who believed the course to be taught by a gay or lesbian professor were significantly more likely to see a political “agenda” within the syllabus.

"Even when there is no evidence of bias, students believe that minorities bring political baggage into the classroom, whereas whites, men, and heterosexuals bring with them the cool heads of objectivity," Kristin Anderson, one of the study's co-authors, told Inside Higher Ed.

How Much Will College Really Cost?

Most college students end up spending a fair amount more than their school’s estimated cost of attendance (COA). While the COA is supposed to be the full cost of “being a student” at College X, schools tend to make conservative estimates when compiling this number.

Unfortunately, your financial aid will be based on the COA, so you’ll probably have to pay out of pocket for quite a few expenses. These expenses might include late-night pizza, designer coffee, unexpectedly large phone bills, or that gear with your college’s name all over it that you just had to have. Needless to say, they add up quickly.

Unigo’s Expert Network of college counselors and admission officers recently provided a rundown of just about every possible cost that won’t be on your semester bill. Check it out here and resist the urge to sign up for a student credit card.

Schools Limit Parking, Pedal Bikes on Campus

Many colleges and universities are interested in making their campus a greener place. Others are simply tired of an ever-increasing demand for on-campus parking.

Regardless of the underlying motivation, many schools are actively changing from a “car culture” to a “bike culture.” Some are offering incentives such as discounted bikes, while others charging for parking spots for the first time.

To learn more about the growing bikes-on-campus trend, check out this article on Inside Higher Ed.

Are All Asians Good Students?

All stereotypes are oversimplifications of the truth, and this one is no exception.

As reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the findings of an upcoming study challenge the notion that all Asians fit the “model minority” stereotype when it comes to education.

According to the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education, many Asian ethnic groups in the U.S. have critically low high-school and college graduation rates. These groups need assistance to help them combat their high attrition rates.

For more on this story, click here.