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Overview
These notes are meant to accompany the WWW Student Activity Unit called “Applying to US Colleges”. As the name implies, this unit is meant for students interested in, or considering the possibility of, or in the process of, applying to US colleges and universities.
The process of applying to college is complex and highly personal. No one can tell another person how or where to apply for college. The goal of this unit is to make information available to potential applicants, and to allow them to practice the kind of information gathering and form filling out which are part and parcel of the application process.
The unit uses two basic resources; for finding good schools and gathering information it uses the annual rankings of US colleges and graduate schools found in “US News and World Reports”, which allows students to find lists of the best overall, best liberal arts, best public colleges, best schools in each state and geographic region, and the best grad schools in a number of fields. The second is the Universal Application Form, a standard electronic form accepted at over 1,000 US colleges and universities, and included in this unit so students can practice filling out a real college application.
Specific objectives of the unit are:
1) To expose student to the steps necessary to investigate and apply to US institutions of higher education.
2) To make students aware that information on all US schools is available on the WWW, and that most US colleges allow students to apply over the WWW.
3) To show students how to collect information from the US News and World Reports rankings of US colleges and graduate schools, and how to use that information to evaluate schools and programs.
4) To develop vocabulary and idiomatic skills involved in this evaluation and application process
5) To practice the skill of filling out a detailed form, with information on family, academics, testing and extracurricular activities
Time Requirements
Each section can be done independently in one or two computer lab sessions. Much of the prep work and discussion can be done in a regular classroom. The introduction can be combined with any of the individual sections to fill one or two 60-90 minute labs. For example, the unit on College Rankings can be divided into seperate sessions on undergraduate rankings and grad school rankings. Each section involves discussion and exploration, as well as 30 information questions on the rankings themselves. On the other hand if your students are only interested in one level or the other, there is no need to do them both.
The section on applying on-line contains four seperate section of the Universal On-line Application form, which can be completed on-line or printed out and complete later; although some of the advanced features of the electronic form, like the pull-down menus, will not print out.
Since there is much more material here than can be covered in a single lab session, we recommend that the teacher explore the unit beforehand and select the areas and activities which will be most appropriate for their groups.
Sections
This unit consists of six general sections; the introduction, a section on applying to Boston University (where these materials were developed); the US News and World Report rankings, a section on applying to colleges through the WWW, direct links to colleges, and a section on TOEFL links (not ready as of 3/98). It is suggested that these sections be done sequentially, as they build on each other, but different teachers and students may find other effective methods of using these same materials. I would like to briefly discuss each section and how I use them in the lab.
Preparatory Activities
This unit is best prepped with a general discussion of American higher education and the process of applying to US colleges and universities. You may want to define and explain terms like “college” “university” “undergraduate” “graduate school” “public vs. private”, acceptance, enrollment and graduation rates, etc. which are used in the unit. Obviously, this unit is most appropriate for students interested or actually involved in applying to US schools.
The introduction outlines some of the basic ideas behind the unit. On this page, and throughout the unit, there is a button bar at the left of the page which offers instant access to the various segments of the unit.
The next section concerns applying to Boston University. It takes the students to the BU Admissions department, where they can find out all about BU and the application process, download the actual application form, or even apply on-line. This is intended as a general introduction to the process of electronic application.
Next, the College Ranking section takes students to a tremendous resource, provided by US News and World Reports. Before looking at the rankings themselves, it is a good idea to discuss what rankings are and the criteria used to create them in this case. These thins are explained in a clear Methodology Q & A format at the site. Please explore this resource before using it with students; it can be tricky but is extremely powerful and useful.
I have divided this section into four parts; the rankings of Undergraduate programs and a question set based on them, and the rankings of Graduate programs and a question set based on them. I recommend that they be done in this order as well.
First take the students to the undergraduate rankings page. You will see a number of different groups of information; the top 25 national universities, the top schools in each region, the top public colleges and universities, and specialty schools, for example. Depending on the time of day and the serendipity of cyberspace, some of these lists may not come through. Don’t get discouraged; there is more than enough information to go around.
Note that there is a search box on the left hand margin where you can go instantly to the information about any specific school by entering its name.
After allowing students time to explore the undergraduate rankings, take them to the Questions based on Undergraduate programs. There are 10 questions about Boston University, 10 about the top 25 national schools and 10 more about the top Public Colleges and Universities.
Note that when you click on the link for one of the question sets (the pictures of the open books) they open up in a separate window. This is to allow the student to move back and forth between the questions and the ranking lists they need to answer them. The ability to have multiple windows open on the desktop simultaneously and to move between them by clicking the mouse or using the “Window” menus is one of the preexisting skills needed to get the most out of this unit.
The same process of exploring the rankings and then answering the questions sets can then be used for the graduate school rankings and questions.
The next section, Apply On-line, contains links to sites where students can actually apply to over 1,000 colleges and universities. To help students prepare for the process of filling out application forms, either electronic forms or hard copy, this section contains the complete Universal Application form, which is accepted by over 800 schools, including BU. It is divided into five sections; General Info, Family Info, Academic info, Testing Info and Extracurricular Act ivies. Have students practice filling out these forms, and then if the want, show them how to register with Petersons in order to send the real things.
The following section Direct Links to Colleges contains hundreds of direct links to the homepages and admissions offices of American colleges and universities.
Finally, there will be a section on the many on-line resources to help foreign student prepare for the TOEFL. As of 3/1/98 this section was still under construction.
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