Something Better Than College Rankings

Like most college counselors, any discussion of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings makes me feel like this:

But I thoroughly look forward to the annual Almanac of Higher Education published around this time every year. The Almanac "gathers an assortment of key data about the most important trends in higher education" and I find it to be fascinating reading. Here are a just a few of the charts I found to be interesting this year:
Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students, 2011-12
Top Study-Abroad Destinations for U.S. Students 2009-10
Colleges That Charged $50,000 or More in 2011-2012

All right, that last one made me feel a little like the photograph above, but it's interesting reading nonetheless. And remember that many of the most expensive colleges in the country are all the most generous with need and/or merit based financial aid.

Published by: TSM

Mail Call - Late Summer Edition

We are making our way through LOTS of mail from colleges. Here are some highlights:

Ohio State University

• Is now on the semester system
• Will begin using the Common Application (plus supplement) this year!
• The deadline is February 1

Boston University

• Subject Tests are no longer required (happy dance)! Students must sumbit the SAT or ACT with writing.

University of San Diego

• Will no longer have an Early Action and Regular Decision deadline. USD now has a single 12/15 deadline.  Editorial comment: The counseling department is thrilled and wishes more colleges would do away with November deadlines!

Fordham University

• Class of 2016 Profile (as of 8/1/12)

34,005 applications
14,567 offers of admission
43% admit rate
1830-2050 middle 50% SAT score for admitted students
1868 class size
44% male 56 % female

Published by: TSM

Thinking about Villanova Nursing?

If you are considering a major in Nursing and Villanova is on your list, this post is for you!

Last week I received our annual admissions update from the Villanova Nursing program - here are some exerpts from their newsletter:

The College of Nursing continues to experience an increase in the quality of students applying to our program. For the fall 2012, we received the most competitive academic profiles to date, reflected in the students’ GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Approximately 760 applications were reviewed for an established target enrollment of 95 students. We welcomed 102 freshmen from seventeen states across the country including Iowa (new stateof origin.) We welcomed seven males to our freshmen class including our first male Presidential Scholar. The accepted nursing student profile: middle 50% GPA - 3.8-4.1 middle 50% SAT (CR/Math) - 1270-1365 and middle 50% ACT composite - 29-31.
The Connelly-DeLouvier International Scholars program continues to offer short and long-term educational opportunities within the nursing curriculum to qualified nursing students. Some of our sophomore, junior and senior students have had the opportunity to complete a portion of their academic experience in Manchester, England, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua, Ireland and South Africa, as well as opportunities to work with midwives at an El Paso, Texas Birthing Center.

We cordially invite your students to attend our Undergraduate Open House on Sunday, September 30th from 1 - 4 pm to gain greater insight into our program and what it means to be a Villanova Nurse. Online registration is now available atwww.villanova.edu/nursing. We would appreciate if you would share this information, along with the enclosed flyer, with your students and encourage them to register early as space is limited.
 
We welcome your students to visit the College of Nursing for a personal information session.Please have them call 610-519-4900 to speak with Mrs. Holly Cicala to schedule an appointment or via email atholly.cicala@villanova.edu. They may also contact me directly at 610-519-4911 or via email atchrista.gardner@villanova.edu.  For more information about our academic programs, we invite you to peruse our College of Nursing website atwww.villanova.edu/nursing.

Published by: TSM