In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

Rich and Famous College Entrepreneurs

You’ve probably heard that Facebook was started by a college student. (If not, check out the trailer for the movie.)

However, you might not know that a lot of very successful companies were originally founded by college kids. While they don’t all have their own movies, you’ve probably heard of them.

Bill Gates, for example, took a leave of absence from college to hone his computer programming skills; instead of returning to school, he went on to found Microsoft. And both Yahoo! and Google were founded by students who are technically still on leaves of absence from Stanford.

To read about these and other famous college entrepreneurs, check out this article on the Huffington Post.

Keeping the DREAM Alive

If you’re unfamiliar with the DREAM Act, it’s a political measure that would grant conditional permanent residency to undocumented immigrants who wish to attend college or serve in the military.

The DREAM had some momentum late last year, but it wasn’t able to break through a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate. It’s pretty much been in limbo ever since Republicans gained control of the House of Representative this year.

Despite the unfavorable political climate, however, the bill is still alive. To keep it at the forefront of the public consciousness, the U.S. Senate held its first official hearing on the DREAM Act this morning. The bill is being backed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who believes that passing it is "something we desperately need to do," according to the Huffington Post.

"We just need the human potential, the tremendous capacity, to contribute to society, to contribute to our economy," Duncan said. "As a country, we have to do the right thing for our young people and for the nation."

If you’re interested in showing support for the DREAM, click here to contact your congressperson.

For First-Generation College Students: University of California—San Diego, School of the Week

Do you expect to be the first person in your family to get a college degree? If so, you’re a first-generation college student.

In this series, I'm profiling schools that go the extra mile for their first-generation students. If you know of a school that fits this description, email me at INblog@review.com!

You can check out previous school profiles here:

• University of Texas at Austin
• Bates College
• Syracuse University
• Lafayette College
• University of Texas at El Paso

This week’s school is University of California—San Diego.

UC—San Diego offers a unique program. It pairs first-gen students with retired professors who can offer advice on topics that would most likely be unfamiliar to their folks back home. For example:

• How do I know if I’ve chosen the right major?
• What do college professors expect from students?
• What is an a cappella group and why do people play squash instead of eat it here?

While a freshman student and a retired professor might make an unlikely pair, the program has been very popular and it may be expanded to other schools in the UC system.

A recent article on the Chronicle of Higher Education has more details on the program. Check it out here.

Packing for College

If you’re headed to college this fall, it’s not too early to start your back-to-school shopping. In addition to the usual school supplies, you’ll need essentials such as forks, towels, toothpaste, etc.

As you shop, you’ll want keep in mind the size of your future dorm room (your school will probably send you its exact dimensions). Most are pretty small, so you don’t want to bring too much stuff. You’ll also want to contact to your future roommate (once you get his or her info) to coordinate any items that you can; you don’t want to end up with two floor lamps or two mini-fridges in the same tiny room.

For additional advice on packing for your freshman year, check out this helpful article on the NACAC website.

Nerds Rule, O.K.?

At least they do in their post-high school lives. In a new book, The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, writer Alexandra Robbins argues that the same traits that make students “outsiders” in high school let them thrive in their adult lives. These traits include originality, self-awareness, integrity, and passion.

Click here to read the New York Times review of Geeks.

U.S. Needs 20 Million New College-Educated Workers

Journalists in search of a sensational story occasionally fall back on the “college isn’t worth it anymore” piece. The story’s ingredients are easy enough to find: a friend’s son or daughter hasn’t been able to find a job since college; tuition costs are higher than they’ve ever been.

Such a story will draw readers because it challenges the widely held belief that college will help a person to achieve success. And this is substantially more exciting than writing the truth: specifically, college is as important as ever. This is true for individuals as well as the nation’s economy.

According to a new report, the U.S. has been under-producing college-educated workers since the ’80s. At this juncture, the country’s economy will require an additional 20 million college-educated workers over the next 15 years.

The full report, by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, can be read here.

Schools for Students with Learning Disabilities or ADHD: University of Denver

This spring I’ve put up a series of posts about the transition from high school to college for students with a learning disability or ADHD.

If you’re one of these students but you haven’t yet applied to college, you may be wondering which schools might make this transition a little bit easier for you.

To let you know which schools really go the extra mile for LD and ADHD students, I’ve profiled a handful of the best over the last several weeks. Each of these schools is featured in the current edition of The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Disorder.

All feature highly structured services and all employ staff certified in learning disabilities and ADHD. At many, the LD/ADHD staff director is directly involved in admissions decisions; as a result, admissions requirements at these institutions may be more flexible.

If you’ve received one or more significant accommodations in high school, any one of these schools would be an excellent option for your undergraduate education.

The final school in this feature is the University of Denver in Denver, CO. (Check out last week’s school—the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ—here.)

School: University of Denver

Program name(s): Learning Effectiveness Program (LEP)

Goal of services: To provide students with individualized support, to develop cognitive strategies, and to reduce anxiety about learning in a college environment.

Offerings: LEP counselors work one-on-one with students to determine their learning strengths and develop skills that will make them successful university students. Three crucial areas of skill development are encouraged: self-advocacy, articulation of strengths and weaknesses, and independent learning strategies. Students are also taught nontraditional study skills designed to increase reading, writing, and memory.

Duration of offerings: Until graduation.

Additional application for LD/ADHD students: Yes.

Total undergraduate enrollment: 5,314

Total number of students receiving LD/ADHD services: NA

To read what undergraduates at the University of Denver have to say about their school, check out the following comments, taken from The Princeton Review’s Best 373 Colleges guidebook:

New Reader Response: College Softball Player Loses Scholarship After Posting Song Lyrics on Facebook

Early this week I wrote about a college student who allegedly lost her scholarship for posting Big Sean lyrics on her Facebook page. I asked IN readers: should scholarship students be held to a higher standard than other students? Or should scholarships be no-strings-attached gifts?

On Wednesday, I received a response from Kristin M. who was against using scholarship withdrawal as a form of student punishment.

Just this morning, I received a different sort of response from Dan T. Check it out . . .

There’s a lot of competition for scholarships. If you get a gift like that then you should probably do what you can to make sure the school feels good about its decision. The school probably had to pass over several other kids to give you that scholarship. And some of those kids may have been willing to act in a certain way to keep it. On the flip side, schools should try to make the conditions of all scholarships very clear before students accept them.

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

Tuition Rising, but Aid Rising Faster at Private Colleges

While private colleges and universities just got a little bit more expensive, there is a silver lining here: they’re offering more financial aid than ever before.

According to a report released this week by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, private non-profit schools will increase tuition and fees by an average of 4.6 percent this fall. At the same time, they will increase their financial aid spending by an average of 7 percent.

Both increases are indicative of ongoing trends to charge higher tuition and spend more on aid.

But how do these two trends even out? Believe it or not, they've recently worked out in your favor. Inside Higher Ed reports that the average amount that students and families pay has dropped by 11.2 percent over the last 5 years.

Dorm-Room Workouts: Avoid the “Freshman 15”

College students typically spend most of the day hitting the books. Combine that with centralized, convenient locations for just about everything on college campuses, and, well, you get students who spend a lot of time with their rear in a chair.

This lack of activity is one of the causes of the dreaded “freshman 15,” or the new weight gained by many students after they first get to campus.

Fortunately, if you’re prepared for the college lifestyle, you can plan ways to stay active once there. Check out the video below for a demonstration of exercises you can do right in your dorm room.