One of my professors remarked, regarding the place of prescriptive advice in writing, ‘I’m not going to tell you what you should do. I’ve tried to strike the word “should” from my vocabulary. Whenever I say it, whatever follows often sounds dubious on reflection.’ Better, I suppose, to offer an observation and let the reader decide for herself. The same professor didn’t think much of the annual Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference. Though he never said, you shouldn’t go. He may have observed that his students often failed to learn much from the panels they attended, and that their reading and writing fell off during their conference stint. Writing happens when you’re alone in a small room […]

March is a particularly fine month to be a college student. Finals are a long way off, class discussions have moved beyond the awkward phase, everyone has a few new followers on Instagram…and then there’s Spring Break. The best part of college is not even being there, right? According to the Huffington Post, Spring Break in Cancun is so good that they have to guard it with Marines. 25,000 spring breakers went to Cancun last year, and they are expecting 43,000 this year! This is a big number, so I’ll offer a point of comparison: it’s as if every man, woman, and child in my hometown suddenly took their shirts off, poured fruity drinks, and then stopped all traffic in the streets […]

Your college, even if it’s not your top choice, is still the right choice. Senior Editor of business coverage at TheAtlantic.com, Derek Thompson, occasionally notes the correlation between unemployment rates and level of educational attainment. In his February first article, “A Case for College: The Unemployment Rate for Bachelor’s-Degree Holders Is 3.7 Percent”, he makes a brief statistical case for four-year college. Many of you already know college is a wise investment, but it’s still nice to see the numbers.  If you don’t feel like visiting his article to check out the info graphics, you can take this away: “Those who graduate from college are more likely to have a job, more likely to earn a higher wage, and more […]

During your first two weeks of school, you didn’t think you would survive the semester. You’d decided to attend one of the largest universities in the country because it offered a strong alumni network, and incredible undergraduate research opportunities. Also, it didn’t hurt that palm trees lined the footpaths between the dorms and classrooms. While the warm breeze, endless sun, and campus dining options had surpassed your expectations, you felt insignificant and nameless among the student masses that filled your lecture halls. Moreover, though you met people at parties, you hadn’t made any real friends who shared your interests. Then, in freshman English Composition, you were assigned to a work group with G, the smiley girl who lived down the […]

College As Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?  Apparently, this is a catchy title for a white paper. The report, released January 2013 by the National Bureau of Economic Research, set off a firestorm of responses in the higher education media sphere: Stephen Dubner of Freakonomics, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Huff Post Teen, have all composed responses to the claims of the study. Well, what’s the shocking news? We find that most students do appear to value college consumption amenities, including spending on student activities, sports, and dormitories. While this taste for amenities is broad-based, the taste for academic quality is confined to high-achieving students.1 The NBER paper goes on to explain the 16%-20% […]

Tell me about yourself. When you’re filling out college applications, schools pepper you with different permutations of this question. Can you briefly recount your most meaningful experience? Who or what matters most to you? How do you handle adversity? Why does diversity matter in your life? Is it any surprise that a new study shows, “First-year students indicating that they frequently felt “overwhelmed by all I had to do” during their senior year of high school increased from 28.5% in 2011 to 30.4% in 2012.” While colleges have plenty questions, far less frequently, if at all, do they ask what you expect them to deliver. If they did ask, would you be in a position to answer? Maybe not until […]

Forget about ACT and SAT scores, should non-cognitive assessments play a greater role in college admissions decisions?  This is a livewire question, at least in certain academic circles. Most recently, experts debated the issue a week ago at a conference hosted by the University of Southern California’s Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice.  You may ask, what exactly is a non-cognitive assessment? Unlike the ACT and SAT, non-cognitive assessments aim to directly measure qualities like a student’s work ethic, teamwork skills, acceptance of criticism, leadership abilities, conscientiousness, creativity, organizational skills, and many other traits that match up with academic and workplace success. These tests have long been used in HR hiring processes.  In a way, college admissions officers already […]

Last week admissions decisions for early applicants started making their way into mailboxes and inboxes across the country. For some students, an acceptance to a first-choice school marks a sigh of relief. For many, many others, however, an unfavorable decision on an application is a disappointment. If you’re one of the applicants that didn’t receive the acceptance you hoped for, it’s ok to be disappointed. But it’s more important to not dwell on the rejection, and instead develop a game plan for how you’re going to move forward with the college application process. Here are some things to keep in mind while you do just that: 1.    Understand the Letter You may have stopped reading the letter you received once […]

Dear Families, The horrific events that took place in Newtown, CT on Friday have had an impact on each of us – our families, our students and our teachers. As school begins again today, our students may feel unsure or have questions about their safety at school or in other public places.  It is always difficult for parents and teachers to talk about this type of violence with our children.  Attached you will find some resources that we hope you will find helpful. Our thoughts continue to be with the families of Newtown during this very difficult time.  We are here for you as well.  Please reach out to us if we can be of any assistance or support. Warmly, The Sarphatie […]

The fact that it is easier for children to learn a second language (or third, or fourth, etc.) earlier in life is well known at this point. Only 25% of elementary schools even OFFERED foreign language instruction in 2008, but there is increasing support for more comprehensive foreign language instruction and education in K-12 schools. “People who speak a foreign language tend to make more money. Something like 3 percent on average regardless of the field…” If you knew you could have essentially a three percent raise regardless of what career path you took, would you have signed up for it? Would you sign your children up for it? In a society that is increasingly diverse, and with the economy […]