In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

Why Study Time Has Declined

Survey data shows that, over the last 50 years, the average undergrad's out-of-class study time has dropped from about 24 to 15 hours per week.

A recent Washington Post article explores several possible reasons for this decline. These include the increased prevalence of off-campus jobs and the advent of technologies (e.g., the Internet) that make study time more efficient. Additionally, it addresses the possibility that college has simply become easier over the years.

Click here to check out the full article.

How Facebook Has Changed the College Experience

A recent post from onlinecollegecourses.com describes the ways in which Facebook has changed the entire college experience, from admissions to academics to student life. Its major effects include the following:

• Admissions officers are getting to know applicants more personally.
• Facebook is often a part of courses.
• Students can arrive on campus already knowing scores of people.
• Students can stay in touch easily.

Click here to check out the full post.

(Thanks to MyCollegeCalendar for the great find.)

Purdue to Offer Free Online Courses

Earlier today, Purdue University launched PurdueHUB-U, a platform that will provide free access to the university’s online courses. According to the Wired Campus blog, the new platform features “video lectures, interactive visualizations, and tools for students to interact with their peers and professors.”

PurdueHUB-U is one of several online education platforms to be launched by a major university in recent months. Others include Coursera and edX.

Click here to read more on the Wired Campus blog.

Harvard and MIT to Offer Free Online Courses

Earlier today, Harvard and MIT announced a new venture—edX—that will deliver free online courses from both institutions.

Anyone with a computer and Internet access may sign up for courses on edX. Those who complete a course will most likely receive a certificate instead of credits from Harvard or MIT.

edX replaces MIT’s previous foray into online course offerings, MITx. Other platforms that deliver free online courses from elite institutions include Coursera and Udacity.

Click here to read more on the Wired Campus blog.

MIT Building Becomes Giant Tetris Game

Computer scientists at MIT recently turned the school’s Green Building into an 18-story Tetris board. Check out the video below. For more details, visit PCWorld’s Geek Tech blog.

Free College Courses? They’re Plentiful Online

As the cost of college rises, the number of free online courses grows.

New ventures such as Udacity and MITx provide open access to courses taught by professors at highly selective colleges. Earlier today, Coursera became the latest such venture; it announced that it would provide online versions of select courses at Michigan, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, and UC—Berkeley. It currently has about 40 courses on its site.

Click here to read more on the New York Times.

A “Green” College Experience

For most students, the ideal college isn’t simply educational and fun; it’s environmentally conscious, too.

Nearly 7 out of 10 respondents in our most recent survey of college-bound kids said knowledge of a school’s environmental commitment would be a factor in their ultimate decision.

For such students, we’re happy to introduce The Princeton Review's Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition. Available via free download, it profiles over 300 schools that are committed to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities, and career preparation.

Each school profile includes the following:

• Application, admission, financial aid, and student-enrollment information.
• "Green Highlights" detailing the school's most impressive environmental and sustainability initiatives.
• "Green Facts" on everything from the school's use of renewable energy sources, recycling, and conservation programs to the availability of environmental studies programs and green-jobs career guidance.

Click here to download the guide for free.

Colleges Stalk Their Athletes Online

To prevent scandals like the recent one at UNC, many colleges with big-time sports programs are now monitoring the private social-media accounts of their student-athletes.

Several schools now require student-athletes to "friend" their coach on Facebook. Other schools, according to the New York Times, have hired outside companies to track their students’ online activities. (Students are required to provide usernames and passwords for all of their social-media accounts to such companies.)

The thinking is: if student-athletes know their social-media accounts are being watched, they’ll be less likely to say something offensive or mention NCAA rules violations. What is unclear is whether it is legal to force students to comply with such programs.

What do you think? Is it okay to require students to provide access to their social-media accounts if they want to be on the team? Or is it an invasion of privacy? Speak your mind in the comments section below!

The Colleges and Universities with the Best Internet Buzz

Earlier this week, The Global Language Monitor released its list of the most popular colleges and universities on the web.

Institutions were judged on both the quantity and quality of the references they received on the Internet.

The top “college” was the University of Richmond and the top “university” was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“college” and “university” designations were based on Carnegie Foundation classifications).

Click here to learn more.

SAT Math Videos

Khan Academy is known for its wide selection of video lessons on topics from algebra to the French Revolution.

Students might not know, however, that its video library also includes over 100 tutorials for SAT Math problems.

Click here to check them out. (Thanks to College Admission Partners for the great find.)