Purdue University

College Reality Check: Some Experts Weigh In On The Latest Tool for Families

Posted on Thu, 05/30/2013 - 09:25

There's no shortage of information when it comes to researching colleges -- guidebooks, email, college fairs, blogs, YouTube. In fact, there are so many new sites and tools -- College Score Card, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and their Shopping Sheet (this is a sample) -- that it can be hard to know what’s useful and what’s not. One of the newest tools on the table is College Reality Check, brought to you by a partnership between the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Gates Foundation. With 3600 colleges in its database, the tool aims to allow users to see how these institutions fare with regard to net price, graduation rates, debt rates and more.

We're big believers in information -- that is, good information. So we asked a group of college admission deans and high school college counselors to share their initial thoughts about the value of College Reality Check and how families can best employ the data this new tool provides. Read on to take advantage of their bird's eye view of this newest source of information:

New Common App Members

Posted on Fri, 02/22/2013 - 01:12

Purdue University, Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Oklahoma will start using the Common Application this August, according to an announcement today by Common Apps’ Board of Directors. These three universities are among 39 new members, bringing the total to 527. The new members include three public flagships, as well as five new international institutions and the first university from Hawaii -- Hawai'i Pacific. The full listing can be found here.

Purdue University joins the Gourmet Guide

Posted on Mon, 07/02/2012 - 02:08

Purdue University of West Lafayette, Indiana, joins the Gourmet Guide! We wish we were on a college road trip this summer so we could stop in at Bruno's for the "Drew Brees" pizza or grab a burger at the deceptively named Triple XXX, which has been featured in USA Today Travel as one of the “51 great burger joints across the USA," as well as the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive Ins, & Dives.” If you're visiting the Purdue campus, check out the recommendations from Jacqueline F. Hills, Senior Assistant Director of Communications at the  Office of Enrollment Management,  and her staff, here.      

Chat Leonard, Metro Academic and Classical High School

Posted on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 18:01

Chat Leonard is Director of College Counseling at Metro Academic & Classical High School, a magnet school in the St. Louis University neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. She joined the administration of the school she calls "one of the gems of the St. Louis public school system" last year, after 13 years as a College Counselor at Clayton High School. Named one of the top 100 public schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine, Metro prides itself on its diverse ethnic and socioeconomic student body, where 50% of the 326 enrolled students are African American who live within the St. Louis city limits. In Ms. Leonard's first year as Director, 100% of her students went on to attend four-year colleges.

Purdue University's Dean of Admissions Answers Our Questions

Posted on Sat, 10/15/2011 - 22:55

Pamela T. Horne, Purdue University's Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, answers "5 Questions" for us in True Admissions!  Check out what she has to say about the kind of student that does well at Purdue, her advice for parents as their students go through the application process, and some of her favorite things, including Boilermaker Special waffles!

Pamela T. Horne, Purdue University

Posted on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 22:47

Each month we invite a Dean of Admission to answer five questions. We may ask their best advice for applicants, how their office reads applications, their favorite thing on campus, or the most surprising fact about their college or university. If you'd like to pose a question to a Dean of Admission or if you'd like to nominate a Dean for us to feature, please email us at authors@collegeadmissionbook.com.

This month, we are pleased to welcome Pamela T. Horne, Purdue University's Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, as our interviewee from the other side of the desk.