The following chart, published by Inside Higher Ed, shows the percentage of male undergraduates who are ages 24 or younger, according to race and ethnicity.

You'll see that most ethnicities are holding steady, neither widening nor narrowing the gender gap significantly; Latino male enrollment, however, does seem to be decreasing. The report shows that educational achievement and enrollment is lowest among Hispanic men who were born outside of the United States.

One explanation for the widening gender gap among Latinos, according to Deborah A. Santiago, VP for Policy and Research at a Latino advocacy group, is that "for many low-income Latino males, the opportunity costs of higher education seem too great, when they compare paying for college to 'earning $25 an hour in a construction job.'"

It is because of this attitude, elaborates Santiago, that work-study programs may be the only way to appeal to these Latino immigrant males.

And what about the future of gender gaps in higher education? Will the men ever catch up?

According to an article in The Chronicle, the current economic situation may actually help further narrow the gap.

Jacqueline E. King, a vice president at the American Council for Education, explains this outlook:

There has been some anecdotal evidence coming in from community colleges saying that since the recession, they've seen enrollment of non-traditional-aged men expanding pretty rapidly. They've been laid off or they're worried about being laid off, so the job market is pushing them to upgrade.

That's not to say that the number of male applicants below 25-years-old will also go up, but it is a start.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Source: Female Undergraduates Continue to Outnumber Men, but Gap Holds Steady (http://chronicle.com/article/Female-Undergraduates-Continue/63726/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en)
Source: Gender Gap Stops Growing (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/26/gender)

• In the State of the Union address, President Obama urged colleges to “get serious about cutting their own costs.” To assist in the goal of making higher education more affordable to the greatest number of students, Obama plans to increase federal support for education by 6% in 2011. Obama also supports the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act which, if passed by Congress, would eliminate bank-based federal student loans. This bill, according to the presdient, “will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans.”A more lenient payback plan is also being discussed. (The Chronicle)

• According to The Chronicle last week college endowments have declined by about 23% in the last two years. In fact, the investment return for 2009 was the worst return recorded in the history of the endowment study, at -18.7%. According to John D. Walda, president of the National Association of College and University Business Officers, however, “the picture for endowments is a lot cheerier than it was a year ago.” Optimism for the future, though, doesn’t help the fact that certain schools that had been dependent on endowments are now in pretty bad shape, especially considering the sizable loans they’re now forced to take out. The only reason why these schools didn’t go under was because of fortunate investment returns from previous years.

• The Moscow Times reports that “Russia’s business education market was among the world’s worst hit in 2009.” In some cases, admissions fell about 50% from last year. Some schools are even dipping into their own funds to create lending programs for students in order to maintain adequate student enrollment. Besides the fact that students (or their sponsoring companies) can no longer afford to pay for business schools, students in general seem to have lost interest in pursuing an MBA, at least for the time being. However, despite the decrease in MBA program enrollment, interest in EMBA programs in Russia is on the rise.

• Women are equally represented in medical and law schools, but still lag well behind in numbers in the b-school sphere. “Business Schools Sweeten Lures for Women,” a recent article from WeNews, suggests that in order to increase female enrollment in America’s business schools, MBA programs are forced to lure women in by their sweet teeth, both figuratively and literally. Recruitment events for female MBA prospects are popping up all over the country, including a private party at New York City’s Dylan’s Candy Bar.

• Do students benefit from being in a diverse educational climate? Is affirmative action, or "race-conscious admissions," justified? Will diversity improve education? These are questions raised by Peter Schmidt, author of a recent Chronicle article on campus diversity. The answer: It depends (of course). If situations are handled optimally then educational benefits will increase and the inherent problems of affirmative action will decrease. Most agree that affirmative action is not a policy that can be accepted on its own, but most be implemented along with other educational and diversity initiatives and even at that, with caution. Still, many universities are skeptical of the educational benefits derived from race-conscious admissions and believe that accepting more qualified students will benefit the students and the school, both long- and short-term, more than were they to focus on boosting classroom diversity.

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Source: In a Speech Focused on the Economy, Obama Calls for Cutting College Costs (http://chronicle.com/article/In-a-Speech-Focused-on-the/63763/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en)
Source: Average Return on Endowment Investments Is Worst in Almost 40 Years (http://chronicle.com/article/Average-Return-on-Endowment/63762/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en)
Source: Business Schools Suffer in 2009 (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/business-schools-suffer-in-2009/398093.html)
Source: Business Schools Sweeten Lures for Women (http://www.womensenews.org/story/business/100121/business-schools-sweeten-lures-women)
Source: New Research Complicates Discussions of Campus Diversity—in a Good Way (http://chronicle.com/article/New-Research-Complicates/63787/?sid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en)

  By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

In short, Dean Henry is attempting to remove Stern's reputation as a "finance school" and instead transform the school (and its reputation) into a more diverse program that doesn't just churn out students for careers in finance, but for a wide range of other career fields as well.

In 2007, 44% of Stern graduates entered investment banking. In 2008 that number was down to 37%. In 2009, only 32% entered that same field.

In 2008 only 8% of Stern graduates did not receive a job offer three months after graduating. In 2009 that number jumped up to 18%.

Relying on investment banking is just not as wise as it once was.

The challenge of transforming the Stern class profile is a twofold challenge: First, restructuring the career services department—this will require the addition of many new resources as new recruiting relationships need to be forged in new industries. The second challenge is more difficult—the restructuring of the academic program itself. These changes will require getting new faculty members and shifting around management duties, in addition to the actual changes that need to be made in the curriculum.

Students for the most part are welcoming these changes with open arms. Stern graduates are somewhat notorious for taking jobs in North America alone and perhaps look forward to the program's forthcoming global footprint expansion.

The new dean makes it clear that despite his ambitious plans to expand Stern's program and diversity, one should not conclude that he plans on severing relationships with Wall Street. In fact, Henry says "he will continue to strengthen relationships with Wall Street and the finance sector in general."

Thomas Cooley, Professor of Economics and former Stern dean reflects on Stern's past and present situation. He explains that this is not the first time that Stern was faced with such a challenge. In the last decade, he explains, when everyone was turning towards the dot-coms, Goldman Sachs actually had trouble recruiting.

Cooley ends by making two final points: First, he says, "[w]hatever you think the world is right now, hold on because it can change very quickly. And second, "Stern will always tilt slightly toward Wall Street, but then again most business schools do.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

So if you didn't really donate your last paycheck to save the whales, then don't say you did. And if you aren't really descended from a Sioux Indian chief, then don't say you are. And finally, if you don't really dance for the Rockettes, then don't say you do.

In short, be honest. The UC "application police" won't just be checking for plagiarism in your essays, but for falsifications (read: FIBS or even, yes, EXAGGERATIONS).

In fact, last month alone UC sent 1,000 letters to applicants requesting that they provide proof for claims in their application essays, personal statements, or other application fields. The admissions offices at UC schools are now being flooded with photos, certificates, trophies, receipts, and other memorabilia that will prove a student's accomplishments.

UC chooses students at random to receive letters requesting proof. The UC administration believes the fear factor associated with the possibility of being chosen will inspire an applicant to stick as close to the truth as possible. Just like the potential IRS audit for the applicant’s parents.

UC has been utilizing this sleuth-style admissions strategy since 2003.

Related Resources:

• Ten Do's and Don'ts for Your College Admissions Essay, a free article.
• 5 Fatal Flaws, a free, 5-day email course.
• Perfect Phrases for College Application Essays, a book.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Source: UC sleuths seek proof for glorious claims on admission applications (Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips, an ebook.)
Related: Avoid These 5 Fatal Flaws in Your Personal Statement (http://www.accepted.com/college/EssayFlawsCourseCollege.aspx?utm_campaign=College&utm_medium=BlogPost&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=5FatalFlaws)
Related: Ten Do's and Don'ts for Your College Admissions Essay (http://www.accepted.com/college/dosdonts.aspx?utm_campaign=College&utm_medium=BlogPost&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=DosDonts)
Related: Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips (http://www.accepted.com/ecommerce/ebook1.aspx?utm_campaign=College&utm_medium=BlogPost&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=SubmitStellar)

But do published rankings affect the schools themselves? Recent research suggests that they do, according to this article in The National Law Journal.

While rankings are valuable means of differentiating between schools, the study argues that they also put pressure on graduate programs to raise (or maintain) their positions on national lists. One area that can be negatively affected is class diversity:

Administrators consistently reported that they have allocated more money toward merit-based scholarships in order to attract students with high LSAT scores, a factor that accounts for half of a school’s selectivity score. That leaves less money for need-based scholarships, which in turn can hurt student body diversity because applicants from lower income groups tend to have lower scorer LSAT scores, the researchers found.”

It’s easy to see how this could lead to a systemic problem. Schools can raise their rankings by increasing selectivity, but selectivity itself may not be a quality that leads to any educational benefits for students. When schools are pressured to allocate resources in certain areas, choices may be made at the expense of institutional improvements.

Shifting priorities is one way schools are affected, but there were even reports in the study of more illicit efforts to manipulate rankings:

The researchers found that some schools have employed ethically questionable tactics, such as categorizing students as part-time or probationary so their LSAT scores would not count [...] Some schools cut first-year class sizes then aggressively recruit transfer students, the study found. Other schools hired graduates on a temporary basis so they would be considered employed for the U.S. News survey.”

These tactics are pretty extreme, but they highlight an inherent tension in the publication of rankings that are trusted to such a high degree. Is there a point where the rankings are so influential that they begin to undermine their purpose of objectively measuring the quality of schools?

It seems like some of these problems can be addressed by rankings’ publishers (U.S. News, for instance, considers many factors aside from selectivity and post-graduate employment rates). And in a certain way putting pressure on schools could be a good thing. If rankings only encouraged schools to improve course offerings and student resources, it’s doubtful that anyone would cry foul.

The question is, can a rankings system be designed so well that it only rewards positive changes in schools? The findings of this study suggest that there is definitely room for improvement.

[The National Law Journal] Research documents the ‘U.S. News’ effect on law schools

Chris Black is a Content Developer at Knewton, where he helps student with their LSAT prep.

Source: Research documents the ‘U.S. News’ effect on law schools (http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435994960&Research_documents_the_US_News_effect_on_law_schools&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1)
Source: US News Rankings and Reviews (http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools)
Source: The National Law Journal (http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435994960&Research_documents_the_US_News_effect_on_law_schools&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1)
Related: Knewton LSAT Prep (http://knewton.com/lsat)

The school will concentrate on public service law and offer a curriculum in economic justice, legal support for businesses, community law practice, and civil and human rights.

In-state students will have to pay $23,500 a year for tuition, which is much less than at most private law schools. There will be public service fellowships subsidizing 50% of tuition and fees offered to 25 new students each year, as long as they work in public service law for four years after graduation.

UMass Dartmouth also hopes to uphold the 34 percent minority enrollment at Southern New England, which is the highest among Massachusetts law schools.

The public law school, not yet accredited by the American Bar Association, anticipates a program that will allow students from any UMass campus to earn an accelerated law degree, finishing their undergrad studies in three years, and beginning law school in their senior year.

There will be rolling admissions for the first year, and students can start applying now using Southern New England's online application. The public service fellowship applications will be available next week and are due March 20.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The Chronicle article discusses the European Union's initiative to create a comprehensive global university ranking system. The project promises a "superior product" that will significantly influence the internationalization of higher education.

The EU's new rankings have a budget of $1.6 million. It will be run by a German-Dutch-Belgian-French consortium whose mission is to develop a ranking system "that goes beyond the research performance of universities, to include elements such as teaching quality and community outreach."

The consortium will develop university profiles based on the following six categories: teaching and learning, student body, international orientation, research, disseminating research, and regional engagement.

Why are universities so inclined to "measure up" on an international scale? A few factors have led to this increased pressure:

• Worldwide enrollment jumped more than 50% last decade.
• An increase in university expansion to and partnership with foreign universities.

As universities and prospective students become more and more hyped about global rankings, those rankings will hold more and more weight, and attract increasing criticism.

"[The rankers] all understand they're very vulnerable to criticism," says Thomas D. Parker of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. "All of them are aware that they started out with pretty simple tools, and that if they're going to satisfy anybody, they need to get a bit smarter."

Most of the skepticism on the forthcoming EU rankings rests on the rankings' perceived vagueness. For example, Frans van Vugt, one of the leaders of the new project, describes the "resulting classification of each institution to a sunburst, with each category contributing a ray." I guess we'll have to see it to know what he's talking about.

Potential areas of weakness in the EU’s rankings include:

• Peer review, one of the EU ranking’s criteria, is subject to abuse and is highly criticized. Will peer attitudes be biased or will they accurately reflect what test scores and more measurable criteria can't assess?
• Research, a key criterion in other major rankings, may move decidedly off the radar. The EU rankings will steer focus away from "research intensity and toward a handful of other indicators."

In all fairness, the EU rankings are still in the early stages of development. A test run is scheduled for 2011. We'll reserve judgment until then.

Related Resources:

• How to use the MBA Rankings: Admissions Chat with Dean Paul Danos

• The Rankings: An Accepted.com Special Report

• Study Casts Doubt on Rankings



Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Source: How to Use the MBA Rankings Admissions Chat with Dean Paul Danos (http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2006/mba05042006_rankings.aspx?utm_campaign=Ranking&utm_medium=Blog&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=RankingChat)
Source: Rankled by Rankings (http://chronicle.com/article/Criticism-of-Global-Rankings/63786/)
Related: Study Casts Doubt on Rankings (http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2010/1/24/study-casts-doubt-on-rankings.html?utm_campaign=Ranking&utm_medium=Blog&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=RankingPost)
Related: The Rankings: An Accepted.com Special Report (http://www.accepted.com/mba/rankingreport.pdf?utm_campaign=Ranking&utm_medium=Blog&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=RankingReport)
Related: Financial Times Global 2010 MBA Rankings (http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2010/1/25/financial-times-global-2010-mba-rankings.html?utm_campaign=Ranking&utm_medium=Blog&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=RankingPost)

Phone interviews are a great resource for candidates who have already traveled to visit the campus or whose location prohibits them from having an alumni or on-campus interview.   Ithaca was not the easiest place in the world to visit, so we did present the phone option after offering an on-campus interview.  All interviews were weighted the same.

From a candidate’s standpoint, the phone interview should be treated the same as an in-person interview.  I do recall one candidate telling me she couldn’t believe she was interviewing in her pajamas.  I couldn’t believe she told me she was in her pajamas and from that moment on, I couldn’t take the interview seriously.  We ultimately denied admission to this candidate.

I do advise my mock interview clients to dress appropriately for our mock interview and for their phone or in-person interview.  Wearing business attire helps you prepare for your big day with the interviewer.  In fact, I usually prep my clients using skype so I can help them with eye contact, hand gestures, and interview skills. 

While I don’t necessarily agree with Korner Talk's conclusion regarding phone interviews, if you are not a morning person, don’t schedule the interview first thing in the morning.  I do agree with Korner Talk that you should practice, practice, practice, and Accepted.com is happy to help you with your MBA interview preparation.

Finally, some advice for Korner Talk: If you feel you blew your interview, you can always contact the admissions director and ask for another interview.  I had a number of candidates -- for whatever reason: poor reception, weak interview rapport, illness, etc. -- ask for a “do-over.”  We usually granted the request.  Every school has its policies, but it never hurts to ask.

Related Resources

• MBA Interview Feedback Database
• MBA Interview Prep Course
• MBA I.V.: MBA Interview Questions & Tips, an ebook

By Natalie Grinblatt Epstein, former Admissions Dean/Director at 3 top business schools. Natalie would be happy to prepare you for your MBA interview.

According to The Daily Pennsylvanian there are a few possible explanations for these significant application increases across the board (almost) at these top universities. Here are few suggestions:

1. Certain schools (like Penn) have broadened their advertisements, including a feature in a New York Times blog by Eric Furda, Penn Dean of Admissions.
2. Applicants are applying to more places in order to keep their options open when it comes to receiving and then comparing financial aid offers.
3. For Harvard, the elimination of the early decision option and the opening of the new School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have led to an increase in the applicant pool. Harvard has also implemented other financial aid initiatives, says Jeff Neal, Harvard spokesman.
4. University of Chicago’s huge application increases are attributed to the school’s switch to allow the Common Application.

Yale Universities 1% decrease, according to Sally Rubenstone, a Senior Advisor at College Confidential, may be due to the murder of Ph.D. student Annie Le or to Yale’s “hyper-selective and seemingly unpredictable admission decisions.”

Additional Resources:

• Sample College Application Essays.
• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your College Application Essay, a free ecourse.
• Perfect Phrases for College Application Essay, a book by Accepted's Sheila Bender.
  

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Source: Ivies see rise in total applications (http://thedp.com/article/ivies-see-rise-total-applications)