IvySpire

Who would have thought doodling enhances academic performance?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-the-doodle-improve-your-focus-and-memory-1406675744

The Power of the Doodle: Improve Your Focus and Memory Recent research in neuroscience, psychology and design shows that doodling can help people stay focused, grasp new concepts and retain information.

Three important questions for students to think about: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-mulligan/the-three-most-important-questions-you-can-ask-your-teenager_b_6173822.html

The Three Most Important Questions You Can Ask Your Teenager he millennials are accomplishing great things. But too many of them look inside only to peer into a void that we, at least in part, have helped to create. In our efforts to push our kids ahead, we have forgotten to ask why pushing ahead is important ...

Now that the college application season is over, read this essay for a good laugh on college admissions - http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-honest-college-rejection-letter

An Honest College Rejection Letter. Dear Applicant, The Admissions Committee has carefully considered your application and we regret to inform you that we will not be able to offer...

Google doesn't care where you went to college Laszlo Bock, Google's Head of People Operations, says experience has taught him that it's not just the Ivy Leagues, but that there's exceptional kids at many other places, from state schools in California to New York.

Share an acceptance photo!

Share College Acceptance Letter Photos With U.S. News Education - US News Post your photos on Twitter and Instagram for a chance to be featured later this month. 

Admissions Rates creep down at Stanford and most Ivy League schools.
CLASS OF 2019 VS 2018
Stanford: 5.04% (down from 5.07)
Harvard: 5.33% (down from 5.9)
Columbia: 6.1% (down from 6.9)
Yale: 6.49% (up from 6.26)
Princeton: 6.99% (down from 7.28)
MIT: 8.0% (up from 7.7)
Brown: 8.49% (down from 9.2)
UPenn: 9.9% (same as last year)
Dartmouth: 10.3% (down from 11.5)
Cornell: 14.9% (up from 14.0)

Will MOOCs revolutionize college admissions? It's April 1 and college admissions for 2014-2015 is drawing to a close. As acceptance rates plummet, many students heard disappointing news this past week. Stanford's overall acceptance rate of 5.0% and Harvard's of 5.3% are lower than last year. How low can the go? What will the college admissions landscape look like ten years from now? And how will MOOCs change that landscape? For those that are disappointed by rejections this week, realize that what you do in college is so much more important than where you go. How and what you learn is far more important than where you learn it.


http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2015/03/29/The-coming-revolution-in-college-admissions-as-MOOCs-better-predict-college-success-than-SATs/stories/201503290128

The coming revolution in college admissions This month, admissions officers at America’s most prestigious colleges are scrambling to put the final touches on letters admitting the Class of 2019. Just as students from around the world are vying for a limited number of spots in America’s best colleges, higher-learning institutions are competing…

About 10 years ago, in the epic battle of college admissions, students started to gain the upper hand again by switching to the ACT from the SAT. As the ACT started to gain traction in the college admissions world, students were able to choose between abstract reasoning (SAT) and content mastery (ACT).

To score well on a content mastery test simply requires time and dedication to learning the subject matter. Because scoring well on the ACT is a methodical process, students started to jump on the ACT bandwagon in droves. Today. some high school guidance counselors even recommend that students take the ACT as a general rule without regard for whether a student is better at critical thinking or learning content. This has led to a leap in college admissions standards for ACT scores that has well surpassed that of the SAT in the last few decades.

While top colleges will generally still consider SAT scores in the mid 90th percentile range, a student taking the ACT needs to generally score in the 98th+ percentile to be in contention for a top college. My, how the tables have turned.

What do you think students will think of next to get the next leg up in college admissions?

Read these options on improving the college process. I would first recommend doing away with early decision since I see it as benefitting universities more than it benefits students. It places an unnecessary burden on students to decide earlier. It is unfair to students who need to compare financial aid packages. When colleges accept close to 50% of their class early, it makes regular decision acceptance rates plummet unfairly.

What would your suggestion be?

How to Improve the College Admissions Process What can selective colleges and universities do to improve the admissions process?

Embrace your positive decisions. It's not where you end up in college, but what you make of it!

The next steps: When college admissions don't go as planned Students should keep an open mind, and remember their college experience depends not so much on the actual school, but on what you make of it.

Getting into a good college has never been tougher
Acceptance rates for good colleges have dropped substantially across the board. And, the standard for what constitutes a great applicant at top colleges keeps rising. 20 years ago, a 1300-1400 SAT (out of 1600) or a 27 -30 ACT would have been in contention for a top college. Today, a 1500 out of 1600 on the SAT or a 33 on the ACT is considered middle of the road for a top college. GPAs show a similar trend. 20 years ago, less than 90% of the incoming class at a top college was in the top 10% of their high school class. Today, if you’re not in the top 10% of your high school class, chances are slim for acceptance at a top college.

What’s causing this highly competitive environment?
Are they temporary distortions or permanent changes? Is it going to get easier, level off, or only get tougher? Let’s take a look.
• Online Common Application Puts Lower Acceptance Rates only a Click Away: The advent and wide acceptance of the online common application has caused students to apply to more colleges than ever. Want to add one more college to your application? Type and click! In turn, this has caused the acceptance rate to drop as the number of spaces available has hardly budged while the number of applicants soar! How are students fighting against this trend? Why, applying to more colleges, of course! If a student’s odds of acceptance are lower today, it only stands to reason that more applications would help offset some of the negative impact of a lower acceptance rate. It’s the easiest and lowest cost way to respond to lower odds. This vicious cycle shows no signs of letting up as the number of colleges that accept the common app continues to increase, the acceptance rate continues to trend down as a result of this and many other factors, and applying to more colleges is just a click away.
• Overseas Applicants Vying for Spots in the US College System: The US college system is regarded as the best in the world. Combined with massive growth in the ranks of the middle class in many countries around the world, the number of international applicants has soared. While the admission rates for international applicants is significantly less than for US high school students, they’re still an order of magnitude higher than the 1% or lower acceptance rate these students are used to at home. India’s top colleges have acceptance rates of 1% while top colleges in Far East Asian countries like China and South Korea accept fewer than 0.5% of applicants. Equilibrium calls for the acceptance rate at US colleges to sink further, especially in light of not only the US college system being perceived as the best, but also applicants looking at the US college system as an entryway to immigrate to the US on a more permanent basis, particularly to flee from politically uncertain regimes.
• Hypercompetitive Education Culture Being Exported to the US: To combat the competitiveness of college entrance in general, overseas parents are now sending their children to the US for high school and middle school so they stand a better chance of college acceptance compared to applying directly from overseas. Many of these children come from education cultures that are hypercompetitive where grade school runs 6 days a week, 14 hours a day. This hypercompetitive education culture, as a result, is being exported to US shores and domestic students have little choice but to compete. As global economic growth continues, more and more parents overseas will be able to afford to send their kids abroad to the US to study starting as early as middle school.
• A Top College Education Opens the Doors to Certain Coveted Careers: Certain industries, such as consulting and finance, will almost exclusively hire from highly ranked “name brand” colleges. Entry level positions in these fields can result in a healthy total compensation of over $100,000/year with just a bachelor’s degree and little to no work experience. Assuming one stays the course in one of these professions, one can potentially look forward to a multiple 6-figure or even 7-figure income before the age of 30. This is in sharp contrast to the average college grad who, while enjoying better career prospects than those without college degrees, may never achieve this level of financial success. This, in turn, fuels greater competition for a spot in a top college, which is only getting more heated, especially given that immigrants judge their success in life in large part by their net worth and income. As the disparity between jobs that precede entry to the upper class and other jobs without that upper class trajectory widens, as evidenced by the lack of middle class job growth while upper class income continues to increase exponentially, is only causing greater competition for the few spots available at a top college.
• Tutoring and Test Prep Effect: 20 years ago, most people prepared for the SAT or ACT on their own with a test prep book. Then, the middle class started using test prep centers while the upper class started hiring private tutors for test prep. Tutoring centers started popping up for academic subjects and the upper class started getting private tutors for classwork and homework. Today, the upper class are getting tutors before their kids even step into pre-K and the middle class are having their kids prepare for standardized tests years in advance in tutoring centers. It’s only natural that the average score and GPA of students raised in cultures that value education have increased. Yet, if their test scores and GPAs increase just enough to keep pace with everyone else, their chances of getting into a top college doesn’t improve at all. The tutoring and test prep arms race as a whole is just simply adding fuel to the fire of increasingly insurmountable standards for college admission.

How to Level Out the Playing Field
• Private Tutoring and Test Prep: Unfortunately, colleges assume that a student whose family has resources has at the very least gone through test prep and those with substantial resources have hired private tutors, so not hiring a private tutor or using test prep will only hurt a student’s chances. And, colleges have become very good at figuring out whether a student comes from a well-to-do background based on a host of factors. Unless you’re a legacy student, an underrepresented minority student, or have made a significant contribution to further a university’s cause, to get ahead of the pack, you need a GPA in the top 10% of your high school class (diluting the academic rigor of the course load does not help), and an SAT score of 2200+ or ACT score of 34+. Therefore, your standards for test prep and tutoring should start at the very least with high academic standards. While a tutor with a stellar academic record may not be a good teacher, a great teacher who has not done well in the subjects or tests for which you need tutoring is a recipe for disaster. At IvySpire, we only hire tutors with the highest academic credentials (Ivy League or equivalent, top 1% test scores), and have the gifts of connecting with students, teaching, and making learning fun.
• Admissions Counseling: A high school guidance counselor has to work with many students and simply does not have the time to put into each student’s college application process. Furthermore, very few have worked for a college admissions office at a top college. In fact, unlike guidance counselors at top private schools, many guidance counselors are not well-versed in how to go the extra mile for their students. IvySpire admissions counselors have behind-the-scenes experience at elite colleges, know the inside secrets to getting in, and work with students, parents, teachers, and guidance counselors to maximize students’ chances of acceptance.
• Developmental Consulting: In a world where students with perfect SAT / ACT scores and compelling lists of extracurricular activities are routinely rejected, your college application needs to stand out as truly unique. This is not to say that high grades, high test scores, and extracurricular activities don’t matter. They absolutely do. However, because there are so many applicants with equally impressive backgrounds, you need to come across as special among your peers. Our team of advanced degree psychologists can help you gain greater self-awareness and confidence. Working as a team, our developmental consultants and admissions counselors can help students develop compelling personal narratives that stand out from the crowd.

The Results Speak for Themselves
Our students have been accepted to the world’s best colleges, including:
• Stanford
• Harvard
• Princeton
• Yale
• Columbia
• University of Chicago
• Duke
• U. Penn
• Brown
• Dartmouth
• Northwestern
• Johns Hopkins
• Cornell
• Amherst
• Williams
• and many more

Brains and Braun!
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/20/394340722/john-urschel-ravens-offensive-lineman-publishes-math-paper

John Urschel, Ravens Offensive Lineman, Publishes Math Paper "A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians" was published in the Journal of Computational Mathematics. It's not Urschel's first paper.