Middlebury's Standardized Testing Policy

When I come across Standardized Testing Policies that seem particularly student friendly, I like to post about them here. If you apply to Middlebury College you must submit ONE of the following options:

1. The SAT
2. The ACT
3. Three Subject Tests in different areas

And, Middlebury is one of a growing list of colleges that will "superscore" the ACT (in addition to the SAT). Very friendly indeed!

Published by: TSM

Dartmouth and AP's - The Discussion Continues

We tweeted last week about Dartmouth's new policy regarding AP credit, and shared a post from the New York Times blog about their decision:

Jay Mathews wrote a piece in the Washington Post about it as well. I think we are going to be hearing quite a bit about this in the coming months.

COLLEGE BOARD NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

The Washington Post

Dartmouth’s Unresearched Swipes at AP

Jay Mathews

January 27, 2013

Most college professors rightly consider themselves part of an elite. They have doctorates. They have tenure. They’re special.

Few professors objected when the College Board’s Advanced Placement program began in 1955. It granted college credit for good grades on college-level courses taught only at elite high schools such as Exeter, Bronx Science and New Trier. Many professors’ views of AP have diminished now that the program is in more than 60 percent of U.S. high schools, including many where most of the students are low-income and low-achieving.

College professors tell me they don’t believe AP teachers can match the erudition and depth of published experts in their fields, like themselves. When I point out that many of the high school teachers they are complaining about have more experience and more demonstrated success teaching introductory college courses to teenagers than they do, they change the subject.

Almost all colleges give credit for good scores on AP tests because the program prepares students for the rigor of higher education and in many cases, according to research, teaches them more than they would get in college introductory courses. But a few colleges have succumbed to their faculty’s resentment of high school teachers showing them up.

The latest to do so has gotten extra attention because it is an Ivy League school. The Dartmouth College faculty, without considering any research, has voted to deny college credit for AP, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education courses and tests, all taught by those high school teachers who can’t be as good as they are.

Dartmouth classics professor Hakan Tell, chair of the faculty committee on instruction that proposed the change, said the show-of-hands vote was nearly unanimous, though nobody bothered to count. Tell said the faculty decided that the high-school-taught courses did not match the quality of Dartmouth’s introductory courses and should not get credit.

The Dartmouth admissions office still strongly recommends students take AP classes. AP scores will still be used in course placement decisions.

Tell said his committee looked at no research. He did not know, for instance, of a 2007 study by testing experts Rick Morgan and John Klaric. It found that college students who scored at least a 3, the equivalent of a college C, on AP exams in most subjects did better in the next level course than students who had taken the college’s introductory course. The study included students at 27 highly selective colleges, including Dartmouth.

The same conclusion was reached by a 2009 study in which researchers Daniel Murphy and Barbara Dodd looked at University of Texas data and by three College Board researchers in 2011 studying nearly 150,000 students at 110 colleges.

In recent years, Dartmouth’s Psychological and Brain Sciences department has given nearly 100 multiple choice questions to new students with top AP psychology scores who want introductory course credit so they can take a higher level course. In nearly every case, the students have failed to pass the placement test and have not received credit. Tell said those results were not scientific and not the basis for the faculty decision to drop AP credit, but that leaves unanswered this question: Why drop credit for all AP subjects without any research?

Competition is healthy. AP teachers are judged by their students’ results on exams written and graded by independent experts. Professors teaching introductory college courses don’t get that scrutiny. Maybe they should, if we are ever to know if their self-regard is warranted.

Published by: TSM

Three Days, Eight Colleges, One Conference!

Let's start with the most important things about our trip to Southern California. We love statistics so here is our trip by the numbers:
Number of celebrity sightings: 0 (boo!)

Number of In-N-Out Burgers adjacent to the UCLA campus: 1

Number of minutes it takes to drive 6 miles in L.A. traffic - 60
Number of locals wearing hats and gloves when the temperature dropped below 70 degrees: too many to count!

Number of college counselors that were thrilled to be in California in January: 2

Last week, Ms. Maglio and Ms. Prugh had the opportunity to attend a conference sponsored by the University of Southern California (USC) called “Attributes that Matter: Beyond the Usual in College Admission and Success.” Over 200 people attended the conference and we learned about the non-cognitive variables that colleges use in the admissions process. The sessions were great and we heard from speakers on issues such as affirmative action and private scholarship programs.

While we were on the West Coast, we also visited eight different college campuses! Our first stop was to visit the Claremont Colleges. The Claremont Colleges are a consortium of five private universities and two graduate schools that are located in Claremont, which is about a 30 minute drive from Los Angeles. Little did we know that we were visiting during a fire emergency practice drill and the campuses were filled with firefighters; at least we know that campus security is a priority! The five undergraduate universities that make up the group are Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College and Scripps College. Each school has its own campus and the schools look and feel very different!

Yes, that's the very warm sun overexposing this picture. Winter in SoCal....

Next, we headed to UCLA and stopped for a quick (and delicious!) lunch at In-N-Out Burger, which is a must-visit in California. The UCLA campus is sprawling, which is not surprising considering that UCLA is the college with the largest enrollment in the state of California. Walking along Bruin Walk, we were impressed by the number of student groups and activities that were being showcased and even got to try samples of a new type of juice drink (very SoCal…) The area around campus is filled with shops and restaurants and the campus itself is a short drive from Beverly Hills.

Mrs. Prugh hamming it up with the UCLA Bruin.

Parking proved to be quite difficult during our visit to USC but we managed to find a metered spot on campus. We would recommend making a reservation with the Admissions Office if you are going to visit so that they can help you figure out where to park. We visited during lunch and ate at Seeds, a cute marketplace in their Student Union. Checking out the bookstore meant that we saw tons of red and yellow gear, as school spirit is quite strong at USC! Home to the School of Cinematic Arts, which is the oldest and largest film school in the country, alum George Lucas just donated a record $175 million to expand the film school even further!

This is not USC. This was a quick stop at the Santa Monica Pier. It was "on the way."

 Our last college visit was to Loyola Marymount University, which is located conveniently near the Los Angeles airport. The drive up the hill to campus gives you a sense of the area and there are spots on campus with an expansive view of all of Los Angeles from the beach all the way to the mountains! We walked along the Sunken Gardens to see the stunning Sacred Heart Chapel and it was not surprising to see why Princeton Review has ranked LMU one of the most beautiful campuses in the country!

This is the view of the city from Loyola Marymount; can you imagine waking up to this every day?

Published by: LP and TSM

January Update for Seniors

Good luck with exams seniors! Remember that, even if you have been admitted to a college, first semster grades will almost always be considered in the admissions process...so take your exams seriously. We have sent out your credentials to all of your colleges by this point so please do not worry if it takes (in some cases several) weeks for a college to be able to confirm receipt of everything. It is likely that we sent our credentials several weeks before you submitted your application (we sent everything before the holiday break), but it takes awhile for colleges to match everything up. If you have any questions just let us know!

That's all for now. Study, study, study! Then you can relax - but not too much. It's far too early for senioritis or a countdown to graduation. However, I could definitely support a countdown to spring break....

Published by: TSM

From My Inbox

We received quite a bit of mail from colleges over the break, and I'll be sharing some highlights as I make my way through my inbox.

Brown University's Class of 2016

Applications: 28,742

Early Decision Admits: 555

Regular Decision Admits: 2181

Admit Rate: 9.6

Two items of note: Alumni interviews are strongly recommended and Brown will consider up to the November SAT test date for ED candidates and the January SAT date for RD candidates.

Changes at Colorado College
Last year, Colorado College received a record high number of applicants (5568), a 64% increase in the last decade. During this time their admit rate has also been reduced from 56% to 23%, and the yield on offers of admission has increased from 28% to 40%. Since 2010, they have offered a "flexible testing policy" that (in my opinion) is very student friendly. Bravo Colorado College!

More to come next week!

Published by: TSM