College Admission

Douglas Christiansen, Vanderbilt University

Our inaugural dean answering five questions for us in 2012 is Douglas Christiansen, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  Founded in 1873, Vanderbilt is a private research university with an enrollment of approximately 12,000 students, including almost 6,800 undergraduates. Christiansen oversees the selection and enrollment of  each year's incoming freshman class -- about 1,600 students -- as well as the offices of Student Financial Aid and Honors Scholarships. Join him here to learn more about the kind of student that thrives at Vanderbilt, how the Admissions office makes decisions,  why he believes the school's two rounds of Early Decision are a good idea, and how the future is shaping up on the 330-acre campus, part of which is a registered National Historic Landmark.

Counselor of the Month: Marcia Hunt, Pine Crest School

Marcia Hunt, Director of College Counseling at Florida's Pine Crest School, joins us this month to share her advice and insight on everything from her favorite resources for students and parents to some do's and don'ts that will help them get the most from the relationship with their counselors. Read more in True Admissions! here.

Marcia Hunt, Pine Crest School

Marcia Hunt, Director of College Counseling at Florida's Pine Crest School, joins us this month to share her advice and insight on everything from her favorite resources for students and parents to some do's and don'ts that will help them get the most from the relationship with their counselors.

Hunt has been counseling students for twenty-nine years at Pine Crest School, which has about 2,600 students, pre-K through 12th grade, on campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. A graduate of Syracuse University, where she was a political science major, she also holds a masters in counseling from Canisius College.

Married to an attorney and mother to two children, now grown, at one point, Ms. Hunt was also ranked in women's doubles tennis in Florida. We think she should write a book on time management!

The Global Worldview of College Campuses

A global worldview is an attribute that many students today seek when they look at colleges. Edward Fiske, author of The Fiske Guide to Colleges, in an article in the Huffington Post,  discusses the challenge of globalization and how American colleges are meeting it -- opening international outposts and admitting more students from abroad -- in this informative article  Globalization -- What It Means for Colleges and Students.

Jennifer Delahunty, Kenyon College

This month, we have turned the interview tables on Jennifer Delahunty of Kenyon College to ask her our 5 Questions for the Dean. In addition to her work as the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the 1600-student Gambier, Ohio, campus, Delahunty is a well-known writer on all things admissions. (Full disclosure: we have been lucky enough to participate in one of her editorial projects!) In 2006, an op-ed she penned for the New York Times on gender issues in admissions, To All the Girls I've Rejected, went viral. It's just one example of the honesty and transparency that she brings to the admission process in all that she does.  Join her here to gain some of her trademark insight into Kenyon -- the classroom, the campus, and the admission office -- and some of her sage advice for parenting through the process.

Is there a college bubble?

In a poker tournament, the "bubble" is the point in the tournament at which the next player out will not win any money. Merriam-Webster defines a bubble as "something that lacks firmness, solidity, or reality." Richard Vedder of The Independent Institute and Andrew Gillen of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, note the "defining characteristic of a bubble is unsustainable growth that eventually reverses." In Cost Versus Enrollment, a provocative -- but seriously wonk-ish, you've been warned! -- article, Vedder and Gillen examine whether there is a higher education bubble -- with an in-depth look at cost, outcomes, the benefits of a degree, and whether so many students should be attending college.

The bottom line: a saner future most likely awaits applicants and their families!

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