Universities Weblog

Ivy or bust? Don't be surprised if your guidance counselor suggests otherwise, even if your "numbers" justify your desires.

That's the message in this story, which offers several examples of misguided students. Counselors, it seems, are overburdened by growing advisee numbers, so personalized attention is rare. At the same time, they remain cautious because of the intense competition for admission to the Ivies and other selective colleges, and they don't want to encourage students with what they perceive as slim chances. But they often shortchange students who, with a modest dose of direction, might find their way to their dream schools.

Best advice? Get a second (or third, or fourth) opinion and apply anyway. Guidance counselors can't stop you from trying. But keep in mind that rejection is always possible, even for the most highly-qualified.

First, the good news: Half of this year's MBA grads found jobs, up from 42 percent last year. Now, the bad news: Half didn't.

But let's focus on the positive. Companies are hiring more graduates, which suggests the economy is recovering. Expect B-school applications to rise again, and for the Student Loan industry to breathe a sigh of relief.

(Source: Skidmore College)So now students face yet another option in the increasingly-complex college admissions game: spring admissions. Many institutions, as this piece points out, admit students but defer them to the following spring semester, and in some cases offer a study-abroad program for the intervening fall.

The logic, from the colleges' standpoint, is simple. Enrollments tend to dip in the spring, given fall graduations and attrition trends. A certain percentage of freshmen arriving for the fall semester won't return for the spring. Anticipating that, colleges offer spring slots to students a year ahead of time in an effort to steady enrollment.

But what's the effect for students? Are they comfortable waiting until spring to begin their college careers? Will they mind being a step behind (assuming they don't exercise other credit-bearing options)? Will their class schedules be confusing, given that many 101 courses are offered in the fall, while 102 courses usually come in the spring? And are neophyte 18-year-olds really ready to study abroad as their first collegiate experience?

Here's a case of institutions operating to serve themselves and their own cash-flow concerns. Students become plug-in solutions. So if your "dream" college admits you with a spring enrollment date, consider other options. You have to wonder if they really want you.

(Source: Trumpuniversity.com)A real estate and entertainment empire worth billions, a hit television show and now this: Trump University. If you can't become the Apprentice, at least you can still learn at the feet of the master.

With a handful of faculty, including Trump himself, the "university" will offer CD-ROMs and online instruction in subjects such as real estate, entrepreneurship and marketing. Courses will run between $300 and $400, though degrees aren't yet an option. In the meantime, you can dress for success with a Trump U hat or shirt.

Will Trump's latest venture flourish or flop like a Bankrupt casino? Will it eventually compete with established online MBA programs? Will executives proudly sport Trump U credentials on their resumes?

Stay tuned.

Every year thousands of students hear "maybe" from their top-choice colleges and land on wait lists. Institutions then cherry-pick these lists to fashion their ideal freshman class.

But as this article points out, by the time colleges get around to pulling people off the wait list, much of the financial aid money has been committed. As a result, institutions are more likely to favor kids who don't require aid—that is, kids from wealthy families who can afford full tuition.

So if you've applied for aid and wind up on your first-choice college's wait list, your chances of gaining admission are, theoretically, not as good as your rich neighbor's. Fair? Probably not, but would you want to be admitted without sufficient aid? Better to attend your second (or third) choice, assuming the finances make sense. And you can always apply for transfer admission after one or two years.

Interested in the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business? If so, check out this BusinessWeek conversation with the school's director of admissions. And learn more about "value-added" resumes.

By the way, did you know the Wall Street Journal ranks the school first for management consulting?

Call it damage control. Call it a sincere gesture. Call it a PR ploy. However you slice it, it's still $50 million.

That's how much Harvard will commit over the next decade to promote gender equity in the sciences. Following the advice of his appointed task force, Harvard president Larry Summers will dedicate those funds to mentoring, advising, child care (!) and faculty recruitment.

"Universities like Harvard were designed a long time ago, in many respects, by men and for men," said Summers (as quoted in an AP story). "To fully succeed on these issues we're going to have to address issues of culture."

Will this be enough to quell the ire of Summers' detractors? Maybe for now, but rest assured that Larry will soon speak his mind again, and the results could be similar. His presidency may wind up costing Harvard plenty.

The term "global economy" may seem trite, but business schools are increasingly paying attention to its implications. As such, they're offering more opportunities to study abroad, and students are taking advantage.

Here's a bit from a BusinessWeek article:

In the past five years, demand for global study options has dramatically increased at most B-schools. [MIT's] Sloan's G-Lab program doubled in size from 60 in 2004, to 120 this year, while Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management's Global Initiatives in Management program has gone from 24 students in 1990, to 434 in 2005—almost two thirds of the total population. Many schools, including Babson College's Olin School of Business and Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business have made international experiences a mandatory part of the full-time MBA curriculum.

The major reason for this phenomenon: As markets globalize, companies want their MBA hires to arrive with more significant international experience than in the past. The most desirable MBAs have "a great combination of business skills and technology and global knowledge," says Mario Queiroz, vice-president for content and product data management at Hewlett-Packard [...]. Global knowledge, he says, is what sets them apart.You can read more here.

According to a new study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the hiring of new college graduates should increase 13 percent over last year. To wit:

Overall, 61.4 percent of respondents expect to hire more new college graduates in 2004-05 than they hired in 2003-04. [....] Service sector employers project the most positive hiring picture: On average, they plan to hire 13.9 percent more new college graduates in 2004-05 than they did in 2003-04. Manufacturers paint a similarly positive picture: On average, they plan to hire 13.4 percent more graduates this year than they did in 2003-04. In the government/nonprofit sector, the "good news" is actually that there appears to be less bad news. Government/nonprofit employers report just a slight increase of 0.9 percent in their 2004-05 college graduate hiring, but this is positive movement from 2003-04 when they cut college hiring by 4.5 percent.

By region, employers in the Midwest predict the biggest increase, projecting college hiring to increase by 15.1 percent over 2003-04 levels. Employers in the West and Northeast report similar increases in their college hiring. Respondents from the West expect a 13.9 percent increase, and their counterparts in the Northeast expect a 13.3 percent increase. Southern employers report plans to increase college hiring by 8.9 percent.

As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.

Check out my latest piece on Inside Higher Ed:

Amid much fanfare and hoopla, one of America's premier discount department stores recently unveiled its new tagline. After spending months on market research and millions on agency fees, T.J. Maxx came up with the memorable catchphrase "You Should Go," which narrowly defeated the runner-up, "Go…You Really Should."

That bit of Madison Avenue magic reminds me of similar attempts in higher education. As any college communications officer will tell you, it's all about branding. Stamats, a marketing consulting firm, defines brand as "a trust mark, a warrant, and a promise," as well as "a word a college or university owns in the prospect's mind." To help marketers figure out how they might capture their own complex institutions in a few words, the firm offers a useful database of 551 slogans others have tried. A few patterns emerge.Continue here.