Category: Yale University

Posted on

7 Surprising College Application Essay Prompts

With the 2019-2020 application season winding down, here are seven surprising and thought-provoking college application essay or short answer prompts (in random order):

  1. “What is the most compelling thing you have ever read, and how has it changed you or inspired you to take action now, in the past, or in the future? This could be an entire book, a passage or chapter, a poem, an article, graffiti- anything written.” George Mason University Honors prompt 
  2.  “Seattle has a rich musical history and SU students love discovering new Seattle music. Tell us: what five songs would be the soundtrack to your perfect college experience? (two to three sentences for each song is appropriate)” Seattle University prompt
  3.  “At USC Viterbi, we endeavor to engineer a better world for all humanity. This vision goes hand-in-hand with the objectives of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and their 14 Grand Challenges. Engineers and Computer Scientists are challenged to solve these problems in order to improve life on the planet. Learn more about the NAE Grand Challenges at http://engineeringchallenges.org and tell us which challenge is most important to you, and why.” University of Southern California prompt
  4. “There are approximately 171,476 words in the English dictionary. Pick your favorite word and tell us why you picked it.” Brandeis University prompt
  5. “What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?” Stanford University prompt
  6. “Who does Sally sell her seashells to? How much wood can a woodchuck really chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Pick a favorite tongue twister (either originally in English or translated from another language) and consider a resolution to its conundrum using the method of your choice. Math, philosophy, linguistics… it’s all up to you (or your woodchuck).—Inspired by Blessing Nnate, Class of 2024” University of Chicago prompt 
  7. “Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask?” Yale University prompt 

Which of these prompts do you think is the most challenging? The most creative?

What prompt did you encounter that you consider thought-provoking?

 

Posted on

What’s New At Six Northeast Colleges

Rider

Last week I attended a NJACAC panel discussion with admissions representatives from six colleges: Rutgers, Villanova, NYU, Yale, TCNJ and Rider. Each representative shared news from their campus.

Rutgers –  
  1. Rutgers had a record-breaking class of 7033 freshmen this fall with an average SAT score of 1300 and an average GPA of 3.7.  The top 100 students in the freshman class had an SAT score above 1440. 
  2. This spring marks the first graduating class of the Rutgers Honors College. The average SAT score in the Honors College was 1480.
  3. In 2020, Rutgers will open a one-stop building to house the registrar, bursar and financial aid offices.
  4. A new engineering building and a new chemical/chemical biology building opened this year. A new arts building will open on 2019.
  5. There will be $10 million dollars in new engineering scholarships.


Villanova – 
  1. Villanova has six new residence halls and they have upgraded the gymnasium.
  2. In January 2020 a new performing arts building will open.
  3. Fifteen students in the graduating class were awarded Fulbright scholarships.
  4. The college has a 96% retention rate (freshman to sophomore year).
  5. Villanova will host the largest student-run Special Olympics.
  6. The school’s Carnegie classification was changed to Doctoral Universities: Moderate Research Activity.


NYU –
  1. NYU is adding residence hall space.
  2. They are focusing on improving student retention by adding a new early warning system.  
  3. They just opened a one-stop building to house the registrar, bursar and financial aid offices.  
  4. NYU is adding more Saturday programs and summer programs for high school students.


Yale –
  1.  Yale had 35507 applicants for a class of 1578 students.
  2. They admitted 110 students from New Jersey from 1200 applicants.
  3. A new student center and a new science building will open in 2020.
  4. Neuroscience and data science are new majors. Neuroscience is the third most popular major.  
  5. Yale does not require the optional essay on the SAT or ACT. The SAT Subject test is not required.


TCNJ –
  1. The college president retired.
  2. TCNJ is opening a new STEM building  and renovated the Student Center.
  3. They have added a BA in Biology in addition to the current BS in Biology. They also added a Health major, are starting an Audiology major and will be adding an MBA soon.


Rider –
  1. Rider has renovated the Bart Luedeke Center, upgraded two residence halls, made improvements to the Business Building, and upgraded the Science and Technology Center. A $20 million addition to the Science and Technology Center will start in 18 months.
  2. There is a new dining service partner and the dining facility will be renovated next year.
  3. Rider has 920 freshmen with an average high school GPA of 3.35 and average test score of 1120 on the SAT or 23 on the ACT. The school offers test optional admissions for all except homeschooled students, and students who want to be considered for the Honors programs or full-tuition scholarships. To qualify for a full-tuition scholarship, students must apply Early Action, submit the scholarship essay, have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and an SAT score of 1310 or an ACT score of 28 or higher, complete an audition if one is needed for their major, and participate in an on-campus interview.
  4. A new Business Analytics major started in January 2018. The Actuarial Science major has been restarted. There is a new Technical Theatre concentration. The school added a BA in Musical Theatre; this is in addition to the very popular BFA program in Musical Theatre.

Posted on

Yale University

My visit to Yale University was out of the ordinary.  We went to the University’s Battell Chapel, on a Sunday in mid-January, for a memorial service of a family friend.  He was a Yale alum (Class of 2008) in his late 20s who clearly loved Yale and was loved by his classmates.  His friends and family came out in full force to celebrate his life.  His former Yale classmates spoke beautifully and eloquently about their friend and their time together.  They sang a cappella, as they had with him in Yale’s Society of Orpheus and Bacchus (SOBs), the second-longest-running a cappella group in the nation… or, as they prefer to put it, 20 male friends who love to sing and have fun together.  I could see and feel how these Yale students built strong, lasting friendships while working hard and playing hard at Yale.
Before the memorial service, we took the self-guided tour of Yale and visited the Yale Art Museum.  Here are some photos from our tour.