May 29th, 2010
Full article available at USNews.com
By Brian Burnsed
Posted May 28, 2010
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is the standardized test most used by business schools across the country and it’s an integral part in the business school admissions process. Though it seems a business-focused exam would be heavy on math, the GMAT is designed to test your overall academic aptitude—verbal and written communication are just as important in the business world as your ability to put in long hours crunching numbers.
Like the SAT and GRE, the GMAT consists of sections that will test your verbal, mathematical, and writing proficiency. Test takers are allotted three-and-a-half hours to complete the three-section test. The analytical writing section allots 30 minutes apiece for the completion of two separate essays: an analysis of an issue and an analysis of an argument. The quantitative section, which is comprised of 37 multiple-choice questions that concern data sufficiency and problem solving, follows. Students have up to 75 minutes to finish the questions. The test concludes with the verbal section. Again, students have 75 minutes to complete the 41 questions in the section, which focus on critical reasoning, sentence correction, and reading comprehension. Unlike the SAT and GRE, the score you receive is cumulative and not broken down by section. The analytical writing section does not factor into the final score, which is on a 200-to-800 point scale.
1. Take it early, take it often. You saw most of the math covered in the GMAT in high school. Rather than waiting to take the GMAT after you’ve graduated college or even well into your working life, it’s best to take the test in your sophomore or junior year of college, says Shadna Wise, executive director of graduate programs for the Princeton Review. By taking it earlier, the concepts you learned in high school, which may or may not have been revisited in an intro math class in college, are fresher in your mind and should lead you to a better score than if you are forced to relearn the material. Taking it during your years as an undergraduate is not detrimental, even though many B-schools require applicants to have a few years of work experience before applying. Your GMAT scores remain active for five years, so even if you take the test as a junior, you have a three-year window after graduating to garner the work experience that schools value before your GMAT score expires. “It’s smart for someone, knowing the GMAT is going to cover those basic math principles—algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and statistics—to actually take the GMAT while you’re still in school,” says Wise.
2. Take economics and statistics in college….
Tags: GMAT, gmat math, gmat score, gmat test, GMAT Tutoring
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May 29th, 2010
Saturday, May 29th 2010
Read the Full Article at nydailynews.com
The battle for education reform in New York scored a major victory with passage of legislation that will open charter schools and the promise of higher learning to thousands of children.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stood tall in the end – on the side of the kids rather than in league with teachers unions. He deserves – and gets – high praise for authorizing expansion of an alternative form of schooling he has long resisted.
His decision was both good politics and good policy. Charter schools – publicly funded and privately operated – have been a smashing success in New York, delivering achievement to poor and minority students and attracting applications from tens of thousands of parents.
Giving charters a go is also key to New York’s application for as much as $700 million in federal Race to the Top funding. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan unceremoniously skunked our first pitch for the cash largely because of what was then the Legislature’s anti-charter stand.
My, how things have changed for the better.
The legislation, also passed by the Senate, allows the creation of 460 charter schools statewide, up from a limit of 200. The number in the city will be able to climb from 100 to 214.
Happily, the bill placed only a few restrictions on charters. Some were worthy, such as requiring the Education Department to spruce up traditional school buildings when charters share space and make improvements. Some were needless sops to the unions, such as barring sponsors from hiring profit-making firms to run schools.
Tags: New York Education, private education new york
Posted in New York Education, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
May 29th, 2010
By Statehouse Bureau Staff
May 28, 2010, 5:05AM
TRENTON, NJ – In a rare accord between two warring factions, the state’s largest teachers union has joined Gov. Chris Christie’s administration in supporting an application for a federal grant that could bring up to $400 million to New Jersey’s public schools.
The New Jersey Education Association refused to endorse the state’s first Race to the Top application, but relented after both sides compromised on what had been the biggest sticking points — merit pay, teacher seniority, evaluations and tenure.
“We are extremely pleased that the 200,000-member NJEA has agreed to endorse our application and its bold reform agenda designed to improve education in New Jersey,” Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said in a statement.
Administration officials would not say whether the agreements reached for this application represented a long-term policy shift from goals Christie has been pushing since he took office in January.
Read the full article at nj.com
Tags: new jersey, new jersey teachers, new jersey tutors
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May 4th, 2010
By Kerry Grens
President Obama has selected the president of the University of Pennsylvania to serve as the chair of his bioethics commission.
Amy Gutmann, the president of Penn, received an unexpected phone call from the White House.
Gutmann: Asking if I would be willing to serve as the chair of the president’s commission, and I said I would be honored to do so.
Gutmann describes herself as a scholar of public policy and ethics and a political philosopher. She says she thinks she was chosen because of her expertise in so-called “democratic deliberation,” which may come in handy while leading a diverse panel of scientists, lawyers, a Franciscan monk and others.
Read the full article at whyy.org
Tags: Philadelphia, tutoring, upenn
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April 10th, 2010
by Maura Walz
Last month, New York’s Race to the Top delegation traveled to Washington, D.C. to pitch its case for why the state deserved a slice of the $4.3 billion competitive federal grant pool. We already know the result, of course: New York was second-to-last among finalists, and was one of just three states that lost points after the interview round.
But today the U.S. Department of Education posted full videos of the presentation and the subsequent question-and-answer session, so we can now see precisely how the judges framed their questions and how the state defended itself. Many of the judges’ concerns are likely to drive how the state revises its application for the next round of competition.
Many of the questions revolve around how the state plans to build local support for its reforms, and particularly how the state can resolve disagreements between school districts trying to change how teachers are evaluated and teachers unions resisting those changes.
“I actually think it’s great that you are being serious about engaging stakeholders at those local-level conversations, but there will be a point where those conversations get difficult,” one review said. “And the question is, what’s the state going to do then?”
Senior Deputy Chancellor John King responded to one thing the state can do is require that districts use student data as one element in evaluations. Districts and unions would then bargain how heavily the test scores would be weighted.
full article available at gothamschools.org
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April 10th, 2010
By Lynn O’Shaughnessy | Apr 9, 2010
If you’re offered a spot on a wait list, the college hasn’t rejected you, but it certainly hasn’t embraced you either. You are stuck waiting to learn in the months ahead if a college is going to ultimately accept you.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the number of college applicants on wait lists has climbed this year. According to The New York Times, Stanford and Yale offered nearly 1,000 students a spot on their waiting lists. Duke extended its wait list offer to more than 3,000 students.
One reason for the wait list surge is because students who applied to elite colleges this year clogged the system with ever more college applications. Consequently, colleges aren’t sure how many students they did accept will attend.
The odds are stacked against students, who hope to successfully get off a wait list. One survey suggests that less than 30% of students on waiting lists eventually are accepted. If you’re on a waiting list, here are five things you can do:
Write a letter. Contact the school and find out where you should send a letter. In the letter, you should explain why you want to go to this college. Be specific. Colleges aren’t going to be impressed if it looks like you want to attend because of its name brand. Mention specifically how you could contribute to the school. I’d send the letter priority or express mail.
You can read the rest of Lynn’s tips at moneywatch.bnet.com…
Tags: college applicants, duke, stanford, yale
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April 10th, 2010
By Lisa McLaughlin
This year is being touted as the most competitive in history for college admissions. And we shouldn’t be surprised. While it’s true that the economy is wreaking havoc on colleges across the country, this isn’t the sole reason behind the dramatic decrease in acceptance rates.
We have ourselves to blame for much of this. The discourse on college admissions is too focused on rankings and name-dropping. Too many kids are vying for precious spots, and there’s a skewed understanding of which schools are really “good.”
By far, the most common question from parents of college-bound students is “What can you do to get my child into a ‘good’ school?”
I simply ask, “How do you define a ‘good’ school?”
The responses vary, but many parents equate a “good” school to one with prestige and a solid reputation. Some parents think certain colleges just look better on bumper stickers.
They also see a good school as one that will guarantee post-graduate employment. They believe that more-prestigious schools increase their student’s chance of admission to medical school, law school and other post-baccalaureate degrees.
You can read the rest of this article at the dailypilot.com…
Tags: chance of admission, college admissions, prestigious schools
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April 10th, 2010
By Kim Clark
April 16, 2008
Surveys of admissions officers show that fewer than 30 percent of the students who agree to stay on a college’s wait list are eventually accepted. At many elite schools, the chances are even slimmer. In recent years, for example, Massachusetts Institute of Technology has accepted anywhere between none and 40 students from its wait list of several hundred.
But admissions officers say there are a few steps students can take to ease the anxiety and improve their chances:
• Choose among the colleges you have been accepted to, and send a deposit and commitment by the May 1 deadline. At the very least, you should arrange to enroll in a local community college. Admissions officers say the single most important action for all wait-listed students is to be realistic about the low acceptance rates for those on the wait list and make sure they have some other college alternative lined up.
• Don’t automatically ask to stay on a college’s wait list. Colleges typically ask wait-listed students to mail a card or letter stating their continued interest in getting a shot at admission in May, June, or even later. “If they are happy with their other choices, please don’t say, ‘Yes’ to the wait list,” says Eric Kaplan, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. “They could effectively be taking somebody else’s spot.”
Tags: admissions officers, get into college
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April 10th, 2010
By Zach Miners
April 9, 2010
Nobody likes being strung along. But if you’re one of the roughly 10 percent of college applicants today who find themselves on a waiting list—the basic equivalent of purgatory when it comes to admissions—that’s pretty much what it feels like. “Students on the waiting list anguish over whether or not they have a chance at being admitted,” says Cheryl Brown, director of undergraduate admissions at Binghamton University in New York.
Click here to find out more!
If you’re being wait-listed by a college or university high on your list, the uncertainty is even worse. But the situation is not entirely out of your hands. Two years ago, we took a look at what strategies savvy students could use to turn that confounding “maybe” into a solid “yes.”
You can read the rest of this article at usnews.com
Tags: college applicants, college wait list
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
March 14th, 2010
By DORIE TURNER (AP)
ATLANTA — President Barack Obama is promising parents and their kids that with his administration’s help they will have better teachers in improved schools so U.S. students can make up for academic ground lost against youngsters in other countries.
A plan to overhaul the 2002 education law championed by President George W. Bush was unveiled by the Obama administration Saturday in hopes of replacing a system that in the last decade has tagged more than a third of schools as failing and created a hodgepodge of sometimes weak academic standards among states.
“Unless we take action — unless we step up — there are countless children who will never realize their full talent and potential,” Obama said during a video address on Saturday. “I don’t accept that future for them. And I don’t accept that future for the United States of America.”
In the proposed dismantling of the No Child Left Behind law, education officials would move away from punishing schools that don’t meet benchmarks and focus on rewarding schools for progress, particularly with poor and minority students. Obama intends to send a rewrite to Congress on Monday of the law.
The proposed changes call for states to adopt standards that ensure students are ready for college or a career rather than grade-level proficiency — the focus of the current law.
The blueprint also would allow states to use subjects other than reading and mathematics as part of their measurements for meeting federal goals, pleasing many education groups that have said No Child Left Behind encouraged teachers not to focus on history, art, science, social studies and other important subjects.
And, for the first time in 45 years, the White House is proposing a $4 billion increase in federal education spending, most of which would go to increase the competition among states for grant money and move away from formula-based funding.
Read the article in full at freerepublic.com
Tags: Atlanta, education spending
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