Happy Common App Day! As I finish sending out my tip sheets to our 2024-25 applicants, the noise around college admissions just doesn't let up. Indeed, College Board and the ACT are hogging the headlines as we try to get our students ready to become stellar applicants. Let's block out the uncertainties and focus instead on application issues, unCommon style.
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Coke or Pepsi? The Challenge Never Ends
Readers of this blog know how often we take a swipe at College Board. Of course students like the new digital adaptive SAT, which debuted in the United States in March; it's shorter! Now it's ACT's turn. Last month, it fueled the Pepsi Challenge by announcing changes beginning Spring 2025:
The Science section, dreaded by some students (though, as we point out, it's actually reading in the context of science) will become optional. So students can elect ACT plus Science or just the three sections.
At the same time, there will be fewer questions, making what ACT refers to as its "core test" shorter - two rather than three hours and 44 fewer questions. Unlike the College Board's SAT, students can choose either an online or a paper-and-pencil version.
The test will not be adaptive.
There are many questions stemming from the change. For example, how will colleges compare SAT versus ACT results in the absence of concordance tables? How will applicants be viewed by admissions if they go STEM-less? States test-prep guru Anna Gazumyan-Silverman, "The ACT promises to release new practice materials in the coming months but has yet to give dates. They are working on an addendum to the 2024-25 Official Study Guide and promise to have a free resource as well as paid resources through their partner vendors."Note: Students can take the ACT as it exists today only through July 2025.
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AP Scoring Changes: What Gives?
Yes, it seems that we can't get enough of College Board. Just weeks after AP scores were released, the media went nuts about AP scoring changes that are leading to, well, higher scores. As explained in Inside Higher Ed, College Board has replaced the old scoring based on standards set by educators with something known as evidence-based standard setting (EBSS). We learn that "since the College Board began implementing EBSS in 2022, nine AP exams have seen significant increases in student success rates: AP Literature, U.S. History, U.S. Government, World History, European History, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, and two science tests, AP Biology and Chemistry.”As stated in the Wall Street Journal, "Some skeptical teachers, test-prep companies and college administrators see the recent changes as another form of grade inflation, and a way to boost the organization’s business by making AP courses seem more attractive." Not all exams have been recalibrated, as the Journal points out, so there may be more good news for test-takers next year.
But that doesn't mean CB owns the market. There are IB programs and, in some cases, dual-enrollment programs, the result of partnerships between high schools and local community colleges. Those programs give teachers and professors more curricular freedom, and students may still earn college credit. Go figure (literally). But wait; there's more. Sixteen APs are going digital in 2025! Those are mostly in the humanities, while STEM APs will be partly digital.At the same time, execs from College Board will be on leave to help out the FAFSA system after its disastrous year. As Inside Higher Ed points out, College Board manages the CSS Profile, used by independent universities and large research universities to determine financial aid. What gives?
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Early Decision: A Different Approach
We know that Early Decision and Early Decision II can give students a leg up on the competition. Recently, UChicago announced a new way to apply Early. Known as Summer Student Early Notification (SSEN), it allows students who have taken UChicago's summer programs the chance to apply by October 15 and get a decision in just three weeks. Remember: students who apply to UChicago under any option tend to be somewhat of a self-selecting population. But if they know the academically oriented university is their first choice, they may get the process over with earlier.
So . . . does attending a summer program give your student an advantage in admissions? Almost always, the answer is no. Those programs are generally filled by highly academic applicants who can afford to pay. You know how I feel; candidate differentiation is what matters.
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Big Sports (Bring the) Cash In
You may recall a post about budget issues at Penn State. So what's happening as PSU struggles to figure out finances? It's ready to renovate Beaver Stadium, the cost of which is expected to be covered by its athletic department. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, concessions, boxes, suites and more will fund the deal, which will cost about $700 million. Not all trustees and coaches are happy; the athletic department just broke even last year.
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History Education: The Gift that Keeps Repeating Itself
We expect generous funding from donors to support STEM programs, but history? That's why it was such a pleasure to find out about a $25 million gift made by Meyer and Renee Luskin to their alma mater, UCLA. In a release, Meyer Luskin explains: “We believe the study of history is vital in creating informed participants in a vibrant democratic society . . . This gift will ensure that students and faculty have ample resources and opportunities to study the past, which will allow them to further understanding of the present in service to the public good.” The Luskins will have a department named for them as a result.
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I Do (Use Your Campus)
We know that summer programs help colleges earn revenue when students aren't on campus. As explained in the Wall Street Journal, colleges large and small have found other ways to make a few bucks: using their campuses for weddings and events. Take RISD, a favorite of mine. It has a blossoming conference services business that is hosting outside events such as a wedding in its Nature Lab, "which stores nearly 100,000 real and reproduction plant and animal specimens." (Yes, skulls at your wedding!) Another beauty, Vanderbilt, hosts interns who can't afford Nashville prices. So does Georgia Tech, which expects to bring in $1.6 million by housing 650 interns. After all, Coke and Home Depot are situated nearby.
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Marine Science Goes Colonial
Those who have seen Williamsburg and the lovely College of William & Mary admire the colonial charm. Recently, W&M received its largest-ever donation, some $100 million. The Tribe will fund the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences, including programs and a building. Derek Aday, Batten's future dean shared, “It's going to be a mix of renovation, innovation and new spaces to get us what we need to be to make us really a premier destination for other scientists and learners in the public to come together.”
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School will be here soon enough, so be sure to enjoy the rest of your summer. (Fortunately, I had a lovely college stop: Williams!)
But if you're feeling the heat of the college process, be sure to get in touch with questions or to set up a meeting.
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