A recent promotion (see below) on the University of San Francisco’s Facebook page got me thinking about the reputation of the college in relation to career prospects, especially since many students (and their parents) seek college degrees for greater future job security.
Tag: College admissions
Will the $10 Billion Deficit in Pension Obligations Affect the Quality of UC Education?
The perfect storm: increasing numbers of qualified high school graduates for UC admissions, baby boomers maturing to retirement, who were promised generous pensions–which UC administrators did not fund for 20 years starting in the early 1990’s–and current reductions in state funding for higher education–all put pressure to increase tuition–while at the same time real wages…
College Application Advice for Rising Seniors & Their Parents
“OMG, I’m going to be filling out college applications in the fall!” Rising seniors (and their parents) can react on a scale, somewhere between total avoidance and frenetic activity to get it all done. Here’s a few tips to prepare for Fall applications:
Low SAT Score = Total Failure? NOT
“If I don’t get a high score on the SAT (or ACT), I’m never getting into college, then I’ll be a total failure, all these AP classes will have been for nothing and I’ll be homeless!” Many of the juniors and seniors (and their parents) we advise sense some variation of this stress–which is a…
Arrrgh! What Information about Colleges Should Be Paid My Attention?
The most recent U.S. Department of Education statistics about the states the Fall 2010 freshmen class comes from is telling for prospective applicants and their families, when seeing the data from different views.
Summer and the College Essay
Every summer, several parents of soon-to-be seniors contact Creative Marbles to ask about finishing college application essays before the next school year starts. In parents’ minds, the thinking goes, “Summer’s a totally unstructured time. Less distractions with school work and after-school activities. The college essay is essential to a competitive application, and I want my…
Alternatives to College: “The Road Not Taken” or Emerging Reality?
The good news: There are alternatives to attending college right after high school. The not so good news: pursing an alternative path, like a “gap year” community service project, is still “the road not taken” and requires the courage of standing out from one’s peers–both for students and their parents.
When Considering Student Loans…
A student loan, well any loan, is future income brought forward. While there are consequences to debt, the key is being educated to the realities of repayment in the long term (i.e. opportunity and financial costs) and being rigorously honest in the intermediate term about the value of the college education your debt is purchasing.…
What’s a College President Got to Do with Me?
Prospective students and their parents would be smart to investigate the view of the presidents at colleges they’re considering for application to know if they share values and the college will be able to help the student reach his/her individual goals, since college presidents’ views regarding the role of colleges varies depending on the type…
Are College Going Attitudes Changing?
Are students’ and their families’ attitudes changing about college? 375 colleges, an increase of 96 institutions from 2011, report still having space available for freshmen and/or transfer students for Fall 2012. Has the economic uncertainty caught up with families’ choices? Is the $1 Trillion total student debt and consequences for individual borrowers causing families to…
3 hours and 45 minutes…Preparing for the SAT or ACT
The ACT with Writing and the SAT are 3 hours and 45 minutes of testing time alone; not to mention–given on a Saturday morning, requiring teenagers to arrive at the testing center by 7:45 am, and can be a 5 hour endeavor with the standard breaks and registration checks. Plus, these can seem like “the…
To Take AP or Not to Take AP…
The number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes being offered and the rates of passing scores on the tests are increasingly being used as one criteria to rank high schools. (Washington Post, Newsweek) As parents become more savvy about the college admissions process, many know that the number of rigorous courses offered at a high school…
A University for the Students?
Is college education a public good or a student-centered model for individual development or both?
Middle Class Families Concerned about Affording College
Real wages haven’t increased, at the same time as pension values are decreasing, state budgets uncertainties are reducing funding for public universities and children are maturing into college age. What a perfect confluence for many middle class families and contributing to nervousness that the lifelong dream of a college degree–demonstrated through multiple honors and Advanced…
Why Teens Don’t Always Apply for Scholarships
Shifts in the views of parents with children aged 16 or younger about when adulthood financial independence should begin coincides with parents concerns about paying for college. In Creative Marbles experience, parents expect to shoulder the majority of college costs, at the same time expecting children to contribute toward their education. However, the shift in…