TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN? The decision is out! This week, Supreme Court justices voted, 6-2, in favor of keeping the Michigan law that prevents public colleges from factoring race into the admissions process. What does this mean for the future of affirmative action policies? Let the debate begin.
CIAO, COMMON APP: The idea of going to school abroad can seem daunting to some students. For international students applying to U.S. colleges, the U.S. college application process can also seem very foreign. Huffington Post writers offered their advice to international students applying to U.S. schools by suggesting that students plan ahead to make sure they meet all their deadlines and to make sure they know about all the different tests that U.S. schools accept (SAT, ACT, subject tests, etc.).
WELCOME, CLASS OF 2018: In this year’s admissions process, Harvard University accepted a record number of African American students for the Class of 2018 at 11.9 percent of all the accepted applicants. But wait, that’s not all! 14.3 percent of Williams College’s Class of 2018 are of African American descent as well.
COMPETING IN THE IVY LEAGUE: Are all Ivies made equal? Maybe not. Between the application rounds for the Class of 2017 and the Class of 2018, the University of Pennsylvania saw a 14.4 percent increase in applications whereas Dartmouth saw a 14.2 percent decrease. Harvard received 2.1 percent less applications. Will this trend continue into future years? Only time will tell.
AMBIGUOUS ADMISSION RATES: Harvard accepted 5.9 percent of its applicants to the Class of 2018. But what does that really mean? Nick Anderson from the Washington Post argues that admission rates can be misleading because of how different schools define an acceptance offer and an application to the school. Anderson says, “Various colleges define applications in various ways. Some are quite strict about only counting apps that have all required elements in a file–essays, test scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc. Others essentially count anyone who starts the process and pays a fee.” So what does Harvard’s 5.9 percent refer to?