Grad School Admissions News Roundup

According to The Daily Pennsylvania (â€Å"Majority of Class of 2015 a Minority†), minority students comprise a majority of the newly admitted class for the first time ever at the University of Pennsylvania.   The prospective class of 2015 is made up of 52 percent of self-identified minorities, which the Admissions Office defines as Asian, black, Latino and American Indian. Dean of Admissions, Eric Furda, said these percentages â€Å"fit in with the larger goal and aspiration of the University.† Furda also explained: â€Å"the growing diversity of Penn’s applicant pool has made it increasingly important for student hopefuls to elaborate on their cultural background.†Ã‚   In the future, students will have to do more than just â€Å"check a box† in order to define their roots. Visiting a college is one of the best ways to know if a school is a good fit for you.   A column in Unigo (â€Å"Students ask, Experts answer†) teaches prospective students what to look for when visiting potential future colleges. Some of the expert advice includes information about why students should trust their first instinct, and why they should see colleges for the first time without their parents.   Another expert also claims that the best way to truly understand a college is by speaking to current students.   There are many more helpful tips in the column, but one of the most useful ones includes using an evaluation form to help compare the pros and cons of different colleges. In 2010 the job market was still tough, as the world continued to recover from the 2008 financial crisis.   However, an article in BusinessWeek (â€Å"A Graduation Gift for College Seniors: Jobs†) announces that students graduating in 2011 will have the easiest time finding a job since the economic meltdown.   According to the research chief at the National Association of Colleges and Employers, businesses have been thriving and young people will be filling the spots that have been left open for two years.   There will specifically be a lot more hiring in the technology, social media, mobile applications and e-commerce sectors.   As the director of the career development center at Stanford University, Lance Choy, phrased it, Its quite a stunning comeback.† Grad School Admissions News Roundup Graduate Enrollment Dropping- Inside Higher Ed looks at why enrollment in graduate programs dropped 1.1% in 2010, according to the Council of Graduate Schools. While graduate school enrollment usually goes up during an economic downturn, this new data points to the fact that, since the economic downturn, some feel that master’s degrees may no longer pay off. The D.School- The Wall Street Journal examines the success of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design—nicknamed the d.school—at Stanford University. David Kelley, founder of the design firm IDEO, started the non-degree program to teach his design thinking approach to problem solving. The d.school harnesses students’ creativity by giving them a â€Å"design challenge† and encouraging them to meet it through experimentation and comfort with the possibility of failure. Cornell and the Technion Form NYC Tech Campus- Cornell University and the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology announced that they will partner to create a new applied science and engineering campus in New York City on Roosevelt Island.   The new campus will harness Cornell’s focus on entrepreneurship and connection to the city’s tech sector along with the Technion’s specialization in commercialization and technology transfer. Academia is a One Way Street- Inside Higher Ed looks at the limited possibilities open to new PhDs in the humanities. The article points out that, due to tenure, there are not enough academic positions open for graduating PhD’s. Therefore, graduate programs have to prepare their students for alternative job prospects, instead of looking at students who leave academia as failures or sellouts. Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best //