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Special Reports by Ralph Becker
Entries by Category
Click on a category below to view a list of all entries within that category.
- Admissions Process (25)
- College Application Process (20)
- College Endowments (1)
- College Majors (16)
- College Preparation (11)
- College Profiles & Rankings (45)
- College Visits (1)
- Curriculum (8)
- Essays & Recommendations (13)
- Extracurricular & Internships (7)
- Financial Aid & Scholarships (11)
- Interviewing (1)
- Other Topics (31)
- Pre-Professional Programs (11)
- Researching Colleges (27)
- Special Programs (6)
- Standardized Tests (11)
- Student Engagement (Retention) (8)
- University of California System (5)
Entries by Title
Click on an entry title below to view the full text of that entry.
- The Block Plan and Colorado College
- Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) and a Word from its Admissions Director
- Cooper Union: No Longer ‘Free as Water and Air’
- The UC Admissions Process: 2013
- C4- The New and Improved Common Application
- The Proposed Redesign of the SAT
- Best Practices of a Student-Focused University
- Tips for Successfully Transitioning to University
- Borrowing for College
- Oberlin-The Queen of Ohio Liberal Arts Colleges
- The Liberal Arts Alternatives- Public Liberal Arts Colleges
- The Allure of Out of State College Opportunities
- College Coop Programs
- The Ever Popular Computer Science Major
- The Benefits and Limits of Advanced Placement (AP) Courses
- Questioning the Value of the Bachelor’s Degree
- The State of College Admissions 2012
- The Importance of Research
- The Multitasking Myth
- Enrollment Management and the Admissions Experience
- Knowing a College Well: An Exercise with Bucknell University
- Writing the Supplement to the Common Application
- Getting on the Rhode (or Fulbright) to Undergraduate Greatness
- The Speed Reading Fallacy
- SAT in Amherst, Massachusetts for a mere $4,495
- The SAT or the ACT?
- An Interview with the Admissions Director from Grinnell College (Iowa)
- Yale University in Singapore—the Liberal Arts in Asia—and its Discontents
- NACAC's 14 Key Factors in the Admission Decision
- How to Gain the Most from the Undergraduate Years
- The UC Admissions Process: 2012
- UC Davis, the UC System’s Pearl of the Sacramento Valley
- The Waiting Game and the University Admissions Waitlist
- Generating Ideas and the Brainstorming Myth
- The Community College Option
- Tuition Free Schools to Combat Escalating College Costs
- The Medical School Picture: the AAMC Guide to Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR)
- Carleton College: a Superb Liberal Arts College in Minnesota
- The ‘Early Decision’ Decision
- The Dental Picture: the ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools 2011
- Gaining the Best Financial Aid Packages
- Why Swarthmore Warrants a Glance
- The Checklist and the Admissions Process
- Procrastination and the College Essay
- Financial Aid for the International Student
- The Service Academy Alternative: Senior Military Colleges
- The Value of Collaborative Learning
- Answering the ‘Why Us?” College Essay Question
- Involvement: a Key to College Success and Admissions
- School Year Plan—Why the Type of School Year Plan might be important to you
- Middlebury College, One of the Best Colleges No One has Heard of
- Selecting a Topic for your College Essays
- Profile of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- The Importance of Revising College Essays
- Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.School)
- Maine-lining the Liberal Arts: Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges Considered
- The Marked Decline of Liberal Arts Colleges and Why
- The Combined BS/DDS or DMD program
- The International Campus Rush
- Work Experience and the College Admissions Process
- College Admissions is a four-year Process
- Intellectual Entrepreneurship (IE) Program
- 3+2 Dual Degree Program: Engineering (BS) and Liberal Arts (BA) Degrees
- Conquering College Essay Procrastination
- Becoming a Recruited Scholar Athlete
- Top Small Liberal Arts Schools: Haverford and Pomona College
- The British University Option
- The Relevance of Same-Sex Colleges
- Majors and Salaries: the Economic Value of a Major
- Intellectual Curiosity and the College Admissions Process
- The Application Evaluation Process: A General Overview
- The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)
- Getting Your Recommendations in Order
- The Science of Teaching Science: It’s the Method not the Teacher that Matters
- Canadian Universities-Exploring an Alternative Undergraduate Experience
- Cost/Benefit Analysis of a Harvard Diploma
- The Complete Guide to BS/MD Programs by Todd Johnson: a review
- Pepperdine in Perspective
- The Psychology Major
- The ROTC (Reserved Officers Training Corps) Scholarship
- The Financial Aid Award Appeal Process
- The Engineering Major
- Trends among Top Colleges
- A Question of Financial Aid
- The Nursing (BSN) Major Considered
- A Question of Aptitude: Discovering your Major
- Of Major Importance: Student Designed Majors
- The Art of the College Decision Letter
- Communications Major Considered
- Appealing an Admissions Denial
- NACAC Survey on the SAT stirs up controversy
- What are Liberal Arts Colleges and Why You Might Want to Know?
- Writing the Common Application Supplements
- The 2010 Prompt Parade
- Profile of Frank Olin School of Engineering (Massachusetts)
- Looking for a ‘Well Endowed’ College?
- Unfolding the Common Application
- Public versus Private Research Universities
- Knowing a College Well: An Exercise at Bucknell University
- Retention Rates: A Critical Measure of a College Program
- The Common Data Set, a Useful Tool
- Writing the College Essay
- Treading the Pre-Law Path
- How Effective is a College You’re Planning to Attend at Educating its Students?
- College Rankings Considered
- Secrets of Successful Students
- Writing Well for College and Life
- Questions for a College Visit
- Coming off the College Application in 3D
- Undergraduate Business Programs
- Growing Popularity of Becoming a Pharmacist
- “Why Carnegie Mellon [or any other school you are applying to]?"
- Treading the Pre-Med Path
- Occidental College-the pearl of Eagle Rock
- Bellwethers of Ivy Quality
- The Academic Index (AI)
- How Colleges and Salaries Match Up
- Objective: Planning and Researching the Route from High School to a Career
- The Importance of the SAT Subject Tests
- Joining a Combined Baccalaureate Medical Program
- The Perfect Portfolio: Applying to Art School
- The Future of a Post-Secondary School System Currently Under Siege
- Searching for Scholarships
- Encountering the World of Enterprise through Job Shadowing
- How Students Learn: A Review of Why Don’t Students Like School
- College Presidents write an Admissions Essay
- A Core Curriculum: Benefit or Constraint?
- Finding Your “Passion”
- 10 Questions You Should Ask before Accepting an Admissions Offer
- The Mystique of the Elite Schools
- The Fall 2009 Admissions Update
- Reducing the Costs of your Bachelor's Degree
- Changes in the UC Admissions Policies and their Effects on the fall Class of 2012
- College Research on the Web
- Exploring University 'Special' and Honors Programs
- Catholic Colleges Considered
- Q&A Session on College Admissions: Yale, Pomona College, Lawrence (Wisconsin), University of Texas, Austin
- College Essay Tips from Seasoned College Counselors
- College Board’s Score Choice Launches March 2009
- "Need Blind Admissions" and the Financial Aid Process
- What Student Faculty Ratios and 'Small Class Sizes' mean
- The UC System is Struggling as Public Funding is Reduced
- Colleges Still Accepting Applicants for Fall 2009
- The Advantages of the Small College with the Resources of a Giant University
- Dealing with the Costs of College
- Positioning Your Application- General Principles
- What Happens when a College Goes Standardized Test Optional
- Colleges and the Financial Crisis
- The Cost of Learning
- What are the Actual College Retention Rates for our Leading Universities
- The College Board's 'ReadiStep' Test for 8th Graders
- Arguably the Most Beautiful Campuses in California
- The TOEFL, IELTS or the Pearson Test of English
- College Preparation Primer for a Fall 2008 9th Grader
- Selecting a Major
- College Application Admission Options
- Searching for Internships
- The SAT under Siege
- Developing your Extracurricular Profile
- Attending US Service Academies
- The Value of Self-evaluation in the Admissions Process
- The College Interview: Tips and Ideas
- Considering the IB Edge
- The State of College Admissions: Northwestern, UC Berkeley, and Stanford
- The Wait List Heats up
- Researching Colleges
- It's Time to Get 'Engaged'
- The Ever Growing Selectivity of USC