Research Opportunities
Ralph Becker
The Importance of High School Research

Many applicants to the most selective university programs share high grades, high test scores, solid recommendations and generous doses of community service and volunteer activities. Yet, if they want to set themselves apart from the pool of exceptional students, a significant research experience in STEM or the social sciences helps.

The Importance of High School Research

NYU

Haunted Campuses

Haunted Campuses

The New York University (NYU) application essay reads: ‘NYU is global, urban, inspired, smart, connected, and bold. What can NYU offer you, and what can you offer NYU?’ Whatever you might offer NYU, NYU offers you a place in the elite of haunted campuses, along with a very good scare above and beyond its annual tuition rate of $45,000.

Founded in 1831, NYU has over 20,000 souls buried beneath its main campus. The land comprising Washington Square Park, NYU’s Greenwich Village location, was a ‘potter’s field,’ a graveyard for the indigent.  It also served as a mass grave for the thousands who died in the Yellow Fever epidemic of the 1820s. The Old University building, one of the first buildings built on the campus, was haunted by a young artist who committed suicide in one of its turrets.

College Coop Programs

College Coop Programs

In Germany, the economic powerhouse of the European Union, its century old Apprenticeship program, also called the Dual System, is a critical component in its current economic prosperity. The program integrates apprenticeship with ‘vocational schooling,’ and involves the cooperation among businesses, government, and ‘chambers’ (employers’ organizations). This apprenticeship program transitions students, year after year, into world-class workers with real responsibilities. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the US had something similar?

The Combined BS/DDS or DMD Program

The Combined BS/DDS or DMD Program

Should you be graduating from high school next year, and you aspire to become a dentist, then you might be a good candidate for the combined Baccalaureate DDS (doctor of dental surgery) or DMD (doctor of dental medicine) program. In the eyes of the American Dental Association (ADA), a DDS is the same as a DMD.

There are over 60 dental schools accredited by the ADA, all of which can be found at  http://www.ada.org/267.aspx.

The International Campus Rush

The International Campus Rush

The September 23rd, 2011 Economist contains an ad from the Qatar Foundation citing the efforts of Tammi Moe of Virginia Commonwealth University, who is traveling the globe, assembling an archive history of Qatar’s cultural history. Yes, Qatar is home to Virginia Commonwealth University’s international satellite campus, which specializes in teaching fine arts. You might not even know where Virginia Commonwealth is located in the United States (it’s in Richmond, Virginia) but in Qatar it’s in Education City in Doha, Qatar’s capital. Quaint, isn’t it?

No Qatar, and VCU has plenty of company…

Work Experience and the College Admissions Process

Work Experience and the College Admissions Process

“All work experience—even if it’s working in a convenience store—is life experience and involves responsibility. We value all of it…” Karl Furstenberg, Dartmouth College (How to Get Into the Top Colleges, Richard Montauk and Krista Klein, Prentice Hall, New York, p. 282)

If you have gained any kind of work experience over your high school years, broadcast it across all you applications proudly. Why wouldn’t you? Even if, as mentioned above, it is a menial job, it shows that you understand how to sell your service to others, have discipline, time management skills, a solid work ethic, and have learned something about the real world, working with people and solving—in some form or another—real world problems. Few schools discount such efforts; Dartmouth, we know, lauds them.

Trends Among Top Colleges

Trends Among Top Colleges

When is enough ever enough? You might want to ask William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard, that very question. This year Harvard received over 35,000 applications for 1,700 offers. That is slightly over a 4.8% acceptance rate. By some estimates, 1 out of every 50 college-ready high school seniors sent an application to Harvard. Frankly, with Harvard’s aggressive financial aid package for any family making HHI under $180,000, and with its single essay supplement to the Common Application, the applicant pool might exceed 40,000 next year.

The Importance of the SAT Subject Tests

The Importance of the SAT Subject Tests

Many consider the SAT Subject test one test too many. Most applicants to the very selective schools are already taking AP or IB exams, the ACT and/or SAT, and the CAHSEE (in California) to determine English and math competency. Why add the SAT Subject Tests to the burden? The UC Regents concur; they’re ending the SAT Subject Test requirement beginning the fall of 2012.