In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

Should Student-Athletes Be Able to Major in Sports?

Professor David Pargman at Florida State believes it’s silly to make college athletes in big-time sports (e.g., Division I football) programs pretend they’re in college to study English, business, or other “traditional” subjects when they’re really there to play.

His opinion? Sports are worthy of serious study, and college athletes should be able to major in them. Giving them this option might raise their overall graduation rate.

Click here to hear more about Professor Pargman’s views on NPR.

Hangout with Elite Colleges

Have a burning question about the college admissions process? We’re partnering with Google+ and seven highly selective colleges to answer your questions in a special Hangout on Air (live video chat).

To find out what admissions officers from Dartmouth, Duke, Penn State, SUNY Binghamton, Temple, USC, and Washington University in St. Louis have to say, go to The Princeton Review’s Google+ page on Monday, Dec. 17 at 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST.

Discussion topics on the agenda include standardized test preparation, applications, financial aid, and scholarships.

This Hangout on Air is part of College #AdmissionsWeek, a program hosted exclusively on Google+ to provide insight into admissions, academics, and student life. For more information, check out The Princeton Review's Google+ page.

Where Study Abroad Is Popular

There are many compelling reasons to study abroad, yet the Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that the number of U.S. college students heading overseas has been stagnant in recent years.

On the flip side, U.S. News recently reported that the number of international students in the U.S. has been growing at a healthy rate. According to The Choice, Chinese students are leading this charge—194,029 studied at U.S. colleges last year, a 23 percent increase from the previous year.

While it’d be good for more U.S. students to head overseas, it’s important to know that study abroad is still a highly popular option at many excellent colleges in the U.S.

If you have an international mindset, you should make a strong study-abroad program a priority in your college search. To find out which school tops our “Most Popular Study Abroad Program” ranking list, click here.

The Different Faces of Bullying in College

Many high school students are unaware that bullying still happens—and is prevalent—in college.

How prevalent? A recent study from researchers at Indiana State University found that about one in five college undergrads has been the victim of bullying.

While bullying in college often takes different forms (e.g., cyberbullying, hazing) than it does in high school, it is no less damaging.

StateUniversity.com recently posted information on what constitutes bullying and actions to take if you or someone who know is bullied—click here to check it out.

Use “Best Colleges” to Learn About a School’s Professors (and More)

Which colleges have professors that are good teachers? And which colleges have professors that are accessible outside of the classroom?

A recent post on the College Solution blog uses The Princeton Review’s Best 377 Colleges guidebook to answer both of these questions.

The post focuses on two ratings—“profs interesting” and “profs accessible”—found in each of the book’s 377 college profiles. Based on surveys of students at each college, these ratings provide an unvarnished assessment of a school’s professors.

Also of interest: the “Students Say” section of each college’s profile, which utilizes direct quotes from students to describe a given school’s professors and other facets of its campus life.

Click here to check out the College Solution post and here to read more about Best 377 Colleges.

Worried About College? You’re Not Alone

For most students, college isn’t just an exciting proposition—it’s a scary one as well.

StateUniversity.com recently provided sage advice for 10 of the most common student concerns about college. Click here to check it out.

Researching Colleges: Freshman Retention Rates

Among high-profile stats such as enrollment, student-faculty ratio, and tuition, a college’s freshman retention rate often gets overlooked.

The retention rate is the percentage of last year’s freshmen who have come back for their sophomore year. It’s a good indicator of how well the college helps its students to succeed academically as well as the extent to which its students enjoy being there.

Retention rates tend to increase along with selectivity, so this stat is best used as a point of comparison between two schools of roughly equal stature; it allows you to infer which one serves its students better.

U.S. News recently identified the 10 colleges with the best freshmen retention rates in the U.S. Click here to check them out.

The Weird Word of College: Disposable Bed-Sheets

If you’ve ever been tempted to throw away dirty laundry instead of wash it, you might like bedsox.

Invented specifically for busy/preoccupied/lazy college students, bedsox are sheets that you discard after one month of use. They’re compostable, so they’re not as bad for the environment as you might think.

Click here to read more on StateUniversity.com.

Managing Your Money at College

Many students get their first taste of financial independence during their freshman year of college.

As such, the Huffington Post recently provided some money management tips for new college students. These include tips on how to choose a bank account and balance a checkbook as well as tips on how to manage expenses (e.g., monthly bills) and revenue streams (e.g., loan disbursements). Click here to check them out.

Should You Avoid Colleges with Hazing Issues?

Over the last year, scary stories of student hazing have come out of Binghamton and Dartmouth, and there have been hazing-related deaths at Florida A&M and Cornell.

Which raises the question: should you think twice about applying to a college that’s been in the news for the hazing?

A recent post on The Choice weighs in on this topic. Its basic gist: reports of hazing are serious things to consider, but you shouldn’t automatically discount a college because of them.

Click here to read more.