“We have a crisis in education" said Coleman who takes over as President of the College Board in October

David Coleman says the College Board’s mission
goes beyond measuring and testing to “designing high-quality
curriculum.”

The New York Times

By TAMAR LEWIN

Published: May 16, 2012

David Coleman, an architect of the common core curriculum standards that are being adopted in nearly all 50 states, will become the president of the College Board, starting in October.

The College Board, a membership organization of high schools and colleges that administers the SAT, the Advanced Placement program and other standardized tests, helped design the standards — an outline of what students should learn in English and math from kindergarten through high school — meant to ensure that all high school graduates are prepared for college.

Mr. Coleman’s new position will involve a continued focus on college readiness. “We have a crisis in education, and over the next few years, the main thing on the College Board’s agenda is to deliver its social mission,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “The College Board is not just about measuring and testing, but designing high-quality curriculum.” Read More

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Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

College Sticker price has a real chilling effect!

The New York Times

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER

Published: April 13, 2012

Last fall, the Department of Education began requiring that colleges and universities install a “net price calculator” on their Web sites. The calculators estimate how much a student might actually have to pay, based on parents’ income, family circumstances and other factors that would guide a financial aid office at a particular campus. The goal, according to the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, is to “help potential degree seekers better understand which schools they can afford to attend and how much debt they will have to take on to get a degree.”

How is it working so far?

Like all things in their infancy, there are growing pains. For one, with the diversity of calculator options, comparisons between schools can be difficult. Many universities and colleges use a template provided by the Department of Education. Others have built their own, with more detailed surveys of users. More than 650 campuses subscribe to a calculator provided by a company called Student Aid Services. About 330 institutions use the version developed by the College Board.

“I tend to describe these as being good ballpark estimates of affordability, but not yet suitable for comparing colleges,” says Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on financial aid who founded the Web site finaid.org. “You can’t tell the difference between home plate and center field,” he says.

And so we asked a few currently enrolled students to test out the calculators using their own financials. They gave the calculators mixed reviews, in accuracy and ease in filling out. Read what they said

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

College Hunt Starts Earlier

The New York Times

By JENNY ANDERSON

Published: March 6, 2012

Pictured here are freshmen at Léman Manhattan Preparatory School, a for-profit institution, reviewing sample college applications. Nonprofit schools are more likely to delay the college process to junior year. 

At Avenues,  a for-profit school scheduled to open this fall in Chelsea, college counseling will begin with students in ninth grade. Similarly,Léman Manhattan, a for-profit school downtown, starts the formal college search process with its freshmen; in addition, seventh- and eighth-grade students can visit campuses on a three-day trip in the spring. 

But at the Trinity School and Ethical Culture Fieldston School, two elite private schools, the college planning process does not get under way until 11th grade, a tradition administrators actively work to preserve. To begin any earlier, they say, would put undue pressure on students.

Established nonprofit private schools and new for-profit ones are taking divergent approaches to a question that vexes almost every parent and student headed into thecollege admissions thicket: Is it better to get a jump on the process but risk turning high school into a staging ground for college admission? Or is it preferable to start later, when students are more developmentally prepared but perhaps missing opportunities to plan hobbies, choose classes and secure summer internships?

That question has special importance for current juniors, as they begin to narrow their list of top choices and plan for college admissions testing.

Gardner P. Dunnan, head of the upper school at Avenues and the former head of the Dalton School and the School at Columbia University, is a proponent of beginning early. “I believe the process should start in the ninth grade in terms of really thoughtful planning of the high school career,” he said. An early start, he said, allows students to focus on an area of mastery — a critical tenet of the Avenues curriculum — and showcase that for colleges. Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Princeton Is Swamped in Early Applications

The New York Times
By JACQUES STEINBERG
Published: November 10, 2011

Princeton canceled its early-admission program four years ago to delay the beginning of the annual frenzy of applicants hoping to secure a precious seat in the next freshman class. But when none of their main competitors followed suit, they announced in February that they would once again offer applicants an opportunity to apply in November, two months before the regular deadline.



The response, at least at Princeton, was a flurry of early applicants. A spokesman said Tuesday night that 3,547 students had applied by last week’s deadline through the university’s “single-choice early-action” program. That figure is nearly triple the size of the entire freshman class.

It appears among about 100 colleges and universities queried, that early applications to some highly selective colleges were up, despite the pinch that the economic downturn has placed on families’ college savings accounts. (Those who apply under early-decision programs commit in advance to enroll if accepted, and lose the ability to compare other colleges’ financial aid offers; early-action programs like Princeton’s are not binding on applicants.)

Duke, for example, said that 2,716 students had applied under its binding early-decision program, a 23 percent increase over last fall. Johns Hopkins said it had received 1,440 applications to its binding program, an increase of nearly 8 percent. And nearly 1,800 applied through Dartmouth’s early-decision program, a 2 percent increase.

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Which College Feels Right For You? The best way to answer this, is to visit universities and "SEE FOR YOURSELF"

An excellent complement to the 2011/2012 School Curriculum!

Visiting as many college and university campuses as you can is a great way to learn which college is right for you. Is your best fit a college in a rural or metropolitan area? How far do you want to be from home? Do you prefer a campus with a large student population, or a smaller one?

Which university offers the academic programs that will launch your targeted job field or graduate program? Our tours of six universities will give you an opportunity to view firsthand the character and diversity that each of these institutions of higher education offer.

Enjoy your journey as you learn more about each university's offerings, yourself, and your best college

These Campus Tours are open to High School students and parents and unaccompanied students. Our trips include:

- Deluxe Motor Coach
- Hotel Accommodation
- Designated Nightly Security
- Breakfast and Dinner Daily
- Campus Info Sessions
- Professional Tour Director
- All Taxes and Gratuities

SEPTEMBER 2011 - Florida Public Universities
Wednesday Sep 28, 2011 - Friday Sep 30, 2011

NOVEMBER 2011 - New Jersey / Pennsylvania
Wednesday Nov 9, 2011 - Friday Nov 11, 2011

MARCH 2012 - Florida Public Universities
Monday Mar 12, 2012 - Wednesday Mar 14, 2012

JUNE 11,2012 - Florida Public Universities
Monday Jun 11, 2012 - Wednesday Jun 13, 2012

JUNE 18, 2012 - Florida Public Universities
Monday Jun 18, 2012 - Wednesday Jun 20, 2012

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

On the Road Looking At College Campuses - Are you having fun yet?

The Boston Globe
By Joan Wickersham
July 22nd, 2011
Illustration by Gabriel Polonsky for The Boston Globe


WE ARE on the road, looking at colleges with our younger son. Enjoy the process, we have been told. Well, we sort of can, and we sort of can’t. He sits in the back seat, reading a book. A lot of the time he sleeps. Asleep, he still looks like the baby we brought home from the hospital.

We pull into the college parking lot. No matter what school it is, no matter what time of day, the lot is full. So is the admissions office: packed, jammed, kids and their parents and younger siblings, slumped in chairs, or standing, shifting nervously from foot to foot. There’s always a girl standing arm-in-arm with her father, and another girl scowling as her mother urges her to pick up the brochure, and a solemn family huddled together on a couch reading the brochure.

The admissions officer comes in, expresses amazement at how many people have showed up, and moves the group over to some larger venue: a chapel, a lecture hall, an auditorium. We trail across the quadrangle after her, a big straggly shuffling mob, crossing a street, stopping traffic: make way for anxiously-hoping-to-matriculate ducklings.

Once we are all seated, the admissions officer tells us how wonderful the school is. It excels in the humanities and in the sciences. It cares about its undergraduates, despite the fact that it’s a big university. Or: It offers its students the chance to do research, despite the fact that it’s a small college. Famous people teach there. Famous people went there. It has a core curriculum, or distributional requirements, or it doesn’t, for excellent well-thought-out reasons. It has dozens of student clubs and organizations, and if the one you want doesn’t exist then you can start it.

People listen, don’t listen, whisper, check their cell phones. A mother sitting near the front takes copious notes, filling three pages of a legal pad. The presentation is mouthwatering and dispiriting. The school is very selective. The admissions officer quotes some figures: the astronomical number of applicants, the microscopic number of acceptances. “But have fun with the process!’’ she says.

We shuffle out again. Our tour guides are waiting. The big mob is divided into smaller mobs, each of which trudges off behind a bright, kind student guide, who tells us how wonderful the school is, that it excels in the sciences and in the humanities, that it has dozens of student clubs and organizations and if the one you want doesn’t exist then you can start it. We pass classrooms, crowd into the foyer of a library, step inside a science building, tour a vast gymnasium. We are invited to ask questions. A father wants to know if the bathrooms are co-ed. A mother wonders about campus security. No one asks the big unanswerable questions but we are all thinking them: Will my child get in here? Would he or she be happy here? If not here, where? Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Getting ready to go to college for the first time - Transform your dorm and win a $1,500 dorm room makeover from Dormify!

USA Today
College


Getting ready to go to college for the first time can be stressful — trying to squeeze in plenty of time with your friends before you all go your separate ways and spending so much time shopping when you don’t know what you will really need until you get there. Thank goodness for college checklists, right?

You want to make a statement about who you are when you get to campus (especially if you are going to a big school). What better way to attract people’s attention than with a customized dorm room? At Dormify, they truly believe that your dorm room should be as stylish and unique as you are. And now, they’re making it even easier!

Turn your pre-college nightmares into dreams by entering to win a $1,500 dorm room makeover from Dormify! You will have Dormify’s style experts on-call to help you through the process (because let’s face it, we can’t imagine what mom will be like on move-in day). It’s really simple — like our page on Facebook and click “Sweepstakes” under our profile picture to enter to win. Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Heading For College? What You Need To Know

A teenager headed for college needs to know how to handle some grown-up tasks. Like, how to keep track of a bank account, how long foods stay fresh in a refrigerator and what to do if pulled over by a police officer. Knowing how to boil water can't hurt.

NEXT month, many parents will drop off their children at college, laden with newly bought sheets, lamps and hampers.

They’re as ready as they’ll ever be to start their new lives. That is, until the next phone call or text asking why the clothes came out of the dryer an odd shade of pink. Or why is the microwave buzzing in that weird way? Or, even more scary: what exactly does the car insurance cover?

So what does the recent high school graduate need to know?

Laundry, certainly not newfangled, was surprisingly high on many lists. Know how to do the basics like separating colors, darks and whites and what water temperatures to use, as well as what shouldn’t go in the dryer.

Also there is no need to fill up the soap container in the washing machine. Less is better in this case — clothes come out cleaner, the machine lasts longer and everyone saves money.

Speaking of money: if your teenager is opening her first checking account, make sure she knows how to make out a check properly.

Most teenagers won’t go to college with their own credit cards, but they may have a parent’s debit card or a bank account they can access with an A.T.M. card. Of course, they’ll need to keep track of their spending.

They need to have some sort of budget and a general concept of how much they need to get through each period, and what large payments need to come out. Students still need to monitor their accounts to see if there were any A.T.M. or debit transactions that didn’t ring true and if there’s a problem, get in touch with the bank right away.

If you're late on payment for a cellphone or a cable bill, you begin to injure your credit rating, and it can be on your record for seven to 10 years, and that can really hurt down the line.

Parents should teach their children to have “a healthy dose of skepticism” when buying anything, whether it be a shirt online or a service from their own university.
Check out all hidden fees,know return policies, and find out if the company charges a restocking fee for returns, which is becoming more common both online and in stores.

And if you're unfamiliar with a company, go online and search for the company’s name along with “scam” or “rip-off” to see the company’s reputation on the Web.


And what do parents need to learn? To step back. Try not to fix every problem. Saying “figure it out yourself,” or nicer words to that effect, is perfectly acceptable. Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

13 Colleges That Are Still Accepting Applications

HuffPost
College

Allegheny College, Pennsylvania

According to a Space Availability Survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), (as of May 4th) 293 schools are still accepting applications.

Comprised of schools that either didn't fill all open spots for next year's freshmen class or that simply have application deadlines later than the May 1 norm, the list is dominated by private institutions such as Virginia's Roanoke College, Georgia's Agnes Scott College, and Florida's Eckerd College. Some well-known public universities, including Arizona State University and the University of Maryland—College Park, are still seeking freshmen or transfer applicants this year, too.

"A lot of times, people think if there's any schools left, they can't be good schools," says Todd Johnson, consultant at College Admissions Partners. "It's not going to be the top liberal arts colleges or the top national universities, but there are some good, solid schools on there." Now that you know there is still time, check out our slide show of 13 colleges that are still accepting applications

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

College Admissions: 4 Things to Do Before Saying “Yes”

Monday, March 28, 2011

Cristiana Quinn,
GoLocalProv College Admissions Expert

By April 1, all the college acceptances will be in for anxious high school seniors. Often, students and parents have difficulty assessing colleges and making a decision. While a “gut feeling” based on a campus information session and tour is one good factor to consider, there are other points that need to be reviewed. After all, this is one of the most important decisions and largest financial investments, you will ever make. Now is not the time to leap without looking VERY carefully.

Majors Offered and Course Availability
Some seniors will have a good idea of what they want to major in. If so, take a deeper dive into the courses offered, professor credentials, and internships or research opportunities. Remember that course catalogs are VERY deceiving. They usually contain every course taught in the last 5 years (or that may be taught in the next 5 years). It does not mean that those courses are taught every year (or even close to it). For a more accurate understanding of the classes that you will have to choose from in your major, call the department and ask for a course list for this year and next year. If you are a student who is undecided on a major, carefully consider the breadth of offerings at your potential colleges and make sure they line up with your interests.


Look at the Data
There are some important statistics that parents and students should review before choosing a college. These are readily available on websites like www.collegeboard.com or www.collegedata.com. The first one that I look at is “students returning for sophomore year” - this is a key indicator of how happy students are at a college and the support they receive. If a college has below a 70-75% return rate, I get concerned. The next data point I suggest you review is the “4 year graduation rate”. While nationally this is quite low (many students take 5-6 years to graduate), you should know what the likelihood is that your costs will extend beyond 4 years. Another item that can be important to students who wish to pursue an advanced degree is “percent of students going on to graduate school”.

The one published statistic that I find suspicious (and don’t put a lot of stock in) is “percent of students finding full-time employment within 12 months of graduation." Given the poor economy, I find the high numbers at many schools hard to swallow. Lastly, families should investigate the economic health of a college, including the endowment fund and state of the physical campus. In 2010, approximately 150 colleges in the U.S. failed the US Department of Education’s test of financial stability (which sets fairly low standards).

Beware of Student Review Sites and Gossip
The old adage “bad news travels faster than good news” is especially true with regard to colleges. So, please be wary of online sites that host bitter student reviews. Few happy students have the time or the inclination to go on and post a positive review. Also, take the gossip in your high school or neighborhood with a grain of salt when someone leaves a college. Look instead at the overall statistics; do not make a judgment based on one individual. For a great guide centered around hundreds of student surveys and interviews, I recommend The Insider's Guide to the Colleges by The Yale Daily News. It only reviews about 300 colleges and universities in the country, but it does a terrific job of giving insight into campus life, course rigor, professor access and the surrounding community.

Spend the Night (This is where College Campus Trips comes in!)
Finally, students should consider going for an overnight visit at their top choice college before accepting. The admissions office at most smaller colleges will help facilitate this, but at larger institutions, you may need to network with friends and family to find an existing student to host you for the night. This “real life” experience will give you a valuable feel for the flavor of the student body and even the quality of the classes and professors.

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

"Crazy U" - A Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College

The New York Times

The admissions process, as Andrew Ferguson puts it in his new book, “Crazy U”, entangles not just our pocketbooks but everything else that, besides world peace and cocktail hour, matters to parents: “our vanities, our social ambitions and class insecurities, and most profoundly our love and hopes for our children.” This is a must read!

Mr. Ferguson is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, and he’s a valiant guide through this emotional territory. He’s got a big, beating heart, but he tucks it behind a dry prose style that owes a little bit to Mark Twain and Tom Wolfe — to name the first two white-suited writers who come to mind — and also to Dave Barry (who I suspect wears Dockers).


He made me laugh early, and often. Why do high school kids look so disoriented on SAT day? It’s not the test. It’s that their cellphones have been pried from their clammy fingers. “None of them had gone four hours without sending a text message,” Mr. Ferguson writes, “since middle school.”

“Crazy U” is a chronicle of Mr. Ferguson’s attempts to help place his son, who is 16 when this mini-odyssey begins, in a decent college. Mr. Ferguson’s boy (he is never named) is only an average student, and his father fears for him in a process that’s become a nationwide talent hunt favoring teenage extroverts and self-marketers. “I wasn’t sure,” he writes, “my son had the personality for it.” He means that as a compliment. Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Student Pays Tuition One Dollar at a Time

The New York Times
January 16th, 2011

On Friday, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, Boulder, found a symbolic way to give the school a different way to look at the cost of tuition. The student paid his entire spring semester tuition — all $14,309.51 of it — using dollar bills, a 50-cent piece and a penny.

It took Mr. Ramos two days to withdraw the money from several banks. He said that when he walked into the bursar’s office on Friday morning with a 33-pound duffel bag full of cash, the tellers were stunned and it took three people nearly an hour to count the money.

While tuition at the university has risen in recent years, it has not increased for this student as being from Sacramento, he pays the out-of-state rate, which remains the same for all four years.

Mr. Hilliard a University spokesman said no student in the last decade had tried to pay tuition with bills. But he said he remembered that when he was a student at the university in the 1980s, a fellow student tried to pay entirely with coins. That student was turned away, Mr. Hilliard said.

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

NACAC's 66th National Conference

I am attending the NACAC's National Conference in St Louis, September 30th-October 2nd, 2010.

Come visit me in the Exhibit Hall

Schedule At A Glance

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

The Perils of Being Too Cute in Your Application

What students and parents need to know about getting into College.

Second Edition ($10.17)
A must read!

Jon Reider, a former admissions officer at Stanford, longtime counselor at a private high school in San Francisco and a co-author of Admission Matters, cautioned “restraint.”

“I can understand the desire to have a little fun with the application, and some colleges actually invite some playfulness on their application supplements, such as Tufts and the University of Chicago,” wrote Mr. Reider, “But they do it in a serious context, and they are mainly interested in how the student’s mind works when they let themselves use their imagination rather than in their being odd or quirky for its sake.”

Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

Don't Stalk the Admissions Officer

How to Survive the College Admissions Process Without Losing Your Mind.

A funny yet insightful guide that helps students and their parents navigate the college application process while maintaining their sanity and sense of humor.

This indispensable handbook (Random House) has fresh, practical advice for college applicants, covering all of the key steps of admission: choosing between the SAT and ACT, scoring stellar teacher recommendations, acing the interview, and crafting a standout essay.

College-bound students also learn how to determine whether a school is compatible with their personality, handle overly invasive “helicopter” parents, and get the most out of their high school career.

Don’t Stalk the Admissions Officer is packed with insider tips, helpful suggestions, and laugh-out-loud anecdotes from admissions officers, guidance counselors, students, parents, and teachers. Blending insight, humor, and warmth, this book is more than just a go-to guide—it also serves as a refuge and friend to students embarking on this arduous rite of passage.

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com

D+ Looks like a bad grade - but take a closer look!

This picture provided by Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa shows discontinued promotional materials. Drake University hoped a bold, blue "D+" on a direct-mail piece would grab the attention of high school kids inundated with same-old college recruitment material.

What looked like a pretty bad grade was supposed to entice teenagers to take a closer look at the pluses of attending the school in Des Moines, Iowa.

Drake officials didn't anticipate their daring idea getting ridiculed on advertising blogs, angering alumni who complained on Facebook that their degrees had been devalued, or inspiring a local store to market "D+ student" T-shirts to amused Drake students and underachievers alike. Read More

I'm Ron Denaro and thanks for joining College Campus Chatter today!

Ron Denaro is the president of College Campus Trips, a tour company providing high school students with tours of college campuses, nationwide. For more information, call (954) 567-5751 or e-mail: ron@collegecampustrips.com