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

Profile of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Profile of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

If you’re willing to sacrifice the Mediterranean climate of California for the seasonally snowy plains of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) might warrant a review. The Twin Cities campus is, with 33,000 undergraduates, greater than Berkeley, UCLA, or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. For out of state students, its cost of attendance (COA) is less than the in-state price of Berkeley or UCLA. As part of the Big Ten, and with its seven colleges offering over 150 majors, ranging from Russian to Kinesiology, the University of Minnesota might be worth weathering the winter storms.

The Importance of Revising College Essays

The Importance of Revising College Essays

Writing a decent college essay is not an easy task. Sometimes you run with an idea and, in the end, it doesn’t work as expected. You’re going to have to revise. Don’t fret: writing a good essay takes time and, by its very nature, it demands revisions. This is all part of the process. Even Harvard recognizes and stresses the importance of revisions. Revising is as fundamental as writing the introductory paragraph.

Laura Saltz of Harvard’s Writing Center has a handout that you can obtain online: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/Revising.html, and it is indeed a useful tool as you go about revising your college essays.

Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.School)

Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.School)

“Innovators aren’t exceptional as much as they are confident.” (WSJ, 17 October 2011, R5)

“…virtually everyone has the capacity to innovate. It’s just that somewhere around fourth grade most of us stop thinking of ourselves as creative…so our ability to innovate atrophies.” (Ibid.)

These are the beliefs, along with a $35 million gift from German software entrepreneur Hasso Plattner, the co-founder of SAP, that have stirred David Kelley to create the d.School at Stanford. The program does not award degrees and is open to Stanford graduate students to learn what it takes to become more innovative. It warrants mention in this column because to survive in the years ahead every student will need to innovate and create both within the classroom and afterwards within their chosen careers.

Maine-lining the Liberal Arts: Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges Considered

Maine-lining the Liberal Arts: Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges Considered

If Pomona College is a school of interest, then you should consider three comparable schools in Maine: Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby. The three share Pomona College’s size, liberal arts orientation, and strength of science and humanities curriculum, while maintaining their unique charm, programs, and historical roots.

The Marked Decline of Liberal Arts Colleges and Why

The Marked Decline of Liberal Arts Colleges and Why

Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities are in crisis. Victor Ferrall Jr, a graduate of Oberlin College (#24 on the US News list of liberal arts colleges), president emeritus of Beloit College (WI) (#60) and author of Liberal Arts at the Brink cites a statistic that in 2000, fewer than 100,000 students, or less than 0.6 percent of all US higher education enrollees graduated from liberal arts colleges.

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.

College Admissions is a Four-Year Process

College Admissions is a Four-Year Process

Portions of the college admissions process should be performed each year in high school. Steady, cumulative completion of set tasks is vastly more effective than cramming everything into the waning moments of senior year. Take control of your admissions process and it will entice you to take control of your future—that is a skill rarely learned in any institution and will serve you well throughout your life.

Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) Program

Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) Program

Many students attend college to study with exceptional professors in fields, such as biostatistics, with the hope of getting mentored, performing research, connecting with others in parallel fields of interest, and gaining a grasp of how they might carve career paths. On paper all this sounds neat, clean, and almost easy. Yet, in reality, none of it is easy. The hardest part of most endeavors is the people part. Learning how to deal with people and setting goals are, for most students, difficult tasks. It’s too easy to screw up, to not do at all, or to get knocked off course. This is why Rick Cherwitz, an associate dean of graduate studies, and professor of communications at the University of Texas, Austin, set up the Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) Program.