<p>No college admission office operates as a profit center. All admission offices spend MUCH more on recruitment than they receive in the form of application fees. And a lot of colleges simply spend too much. </p>
<p>[Maguire</a> Associates - Services - EMPOWR: Optimizing Student Recruitment](<a href=“http://www.maguireassoc.com/services/empowr.html]Maguire”>http://www.maguireassoc.com/services/empowr.html)</p>
<p>I don’t expect they would make a profit but rather it seems that, like you said, some colleges simply spend too much and it seems to me that some schools are especially unwise about it. </p>
<p>Having worked in non-profit, I always find the data about what works with mailings to be very interesting. I would like to see the data in this process as well but I’m sure that is kept very hush-hush.</p>
<p>
There was an interesting article a while back about a white guy who chose to go to a historically black college. It was a good experience for him. [White</a> valedictorian: A first for historically black Morehouse - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/16/white.valedictorian/index.html]White”>White valedictorian: A first for historically black Morehouse - CNN.com) Mind you his childhood experiences made Morehouse less unusual than it might be fore the average white guy.</p>
<p>mathmom - I remember that story, but I’m planning to re-read it - thanks for posting it.</p>
<p>Keilexandra - I’ve found some of the mail from Carleton interesting too - but it’s completely off my DD’s radar. Good for you for keeping it in mind. Have you been getting mail from U of Chicago as well? Their mailings are my favorites - but DD isn’t interested in going that far from home.</p>
<p>pugmadkate - I agree with you - some schools do spend way too much on the mailings. That’s especially true in the case of my D, since she doesn’t look at any of it…lol.</p>
<p>Mathmom:</p>
<p>Great article - a very interesting story.</p>
<p>scualum:</p>
<p>Phew, you made our hearts skip a beat and scurry to the HS course description manual. Photo I/II at our HS does meet with UC F-Visual and Performing Arts requirement ONLY, whereas the next level Photo III/IV can be used as G-Elective Courses. There’s also a digital photography class offered through the ROP (Regional Occupational Program) which does NOT meet the UC requirement. Based on the description of the class I’m not sure why it doesn’t meet the requirement, but whatever.</p>
<p>S was taking pictures for a calendar, so he needed 13 pictures of different kinds of a group of animals. He settled on hoofed animals, since the LA Zoo has so many different kinds. Ever see a Tadjik Markhor before? (Try Google Images.) They live in the mountain regions of Afghanistan, Uzibekistan, etc. The little long necked Gerenuks, as is their wont, posed so cutely they may make the cover.</p>
<p>S just told me something he found out on Friday. He is in the 11% of his class. I told him that was great, because it is. But I must secretly confess a bit of frustration. This kid scores 99% on standardized tests, always has, and I do worry that his grades, while very good, are going to be seen as failing to live up to that potential.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2: Chicago’s Life of the Mind booklet made me reconsider it, too, but I can’t deal with its Core. Also, I find their postcards a little TOO wacky (whereas Carleton’s makes me laugh–not quite sure what the difference in “quirkiness” is, but it’s there).</p>
<p>Keilexandra, my boys also thought the Chicago postcards were a bit over the top, and their older brother is a grad student there. That’s why Chicago applicants are a “self-regulating” population. :)</p>
<p>I know what you mean about the postcards, Keilexandra - but yes, I was thinking of the “Life of the Mind” booklet when I mentioned U of Chicago. I only skimmed through it, but really liked what I saw. D isn’t even considering leaving the east coast at the moment.</p>
<p>We don’t get their postcards. Which is too bad, because I think it would be a good fit for S2, if they’ll forgive his less than tippy top grades.</p>
<p>We haven’t seen any U of Chicago postcards yet, just a regular info letter. They sound interesting, though I don’t see the “Life of the Mind” approach being something that clicks with my S.</p>
<p>D likes the Chicago postcards. She also talked to the rep last fall when they visited her school. We just recently got a card for a Junior preview day on May 11. It is during AP weeks, but is after APUSH and she should be well enough prepared for Latin the following Fri that we are thinking of attending. Anyone else? It is a full day of stuff and so might be good to take in this day if we can and then do an alumi interview later.</p>
<p>This is the only school outside of the NE she is currently seriously considering.</p>
<p>SNOW DAY TOMORROW! Kids are very excited! Can’t remember the last time we had one.</p>
<p>So far, D isn’t considering any schools outside of the NE, but there are a few I’d like her to consider. Probably not Chicago, as I dont’ really think it’s the school for her - but but some others, maybe in the south.</p>
<p>S2 is considering Chicago, loves the post cards, and his summer there was the best academic experience of his life, but… the cold, the cold is a major issue with him. His brother attends so he gets up-to-date winter reports. </p>
<p>We recently visited some southern CA schools, hard to beat the weather. Visited USC, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, Occidental (surprisingly nice), and Claremont McKenna College. Of the group he liked CMC and UCSB the most. UCSD and Oxy next, did not like USC (too much school spirit, thought it was a little creepy) or UCLA. None of them really clicked in the sense of “this is it, this is my dream school.” All seem to fall short of Chicago in terms of academics and opportunity even with the nice weather. We head south and east in early April to visit Rice and Tulane, and perhaps Vanderbilt. He loves Jazz, wants to continue (plays in one of the best HS Jazz bands in the country) and his Jazz band leader is from N.O., so perhaps Tulane will have the magic. Later we will head east and drop in on some LACs, Duke, Emory, and a couple of Ivy’s. He’s spent time at Harvard and didn’t like it at all, so no angst about not getting in there. 
(I’m secretly pulling for Tulane, but if I were to say that…) So far he is going to at least apply to Chicago, CMC, and UCSB. UCSB has a party reputation (I told him any place you house a few thousand 18-22 y/o kids, you will have a party or two), but the students we met there were among the most interesting, articulate, and spontaneously communicative about their courses and academics.</p>
<p>idad, visit those southern CA schools in high smog season when the temps are 104 and the Santa Anas are blowing. I loved southern CA, but the weather isn’t perfect! And lets not even talk about mudslide season.</p>
<p>Coming back to the number of hrs of sleep, this is a real issue for my D. She does work very hard but she also spends some time on youtube/facebook etc. On some nights she only sleeps 3-4 hrs. It is not at all unusual for me to wake up at 2 or 3 am and find her still awake, working. Do I like it? No. Is she being the most efficient? Probably not. Can I do anything about it? I’m not sure. I don’t want to nag, and I don’t feel like I should micromanage her too much. After all, when she is in college I won’t be able to control her hours or restrict how much time she spends on youtube. Sometimes she makes up for her sleep deficit by taking a nap in the afternoon right after she gets back from school. And she does sleep more on weekends. I have come to think that she (maybe we all) just needs a certain amount of sleep in a week and it doesn’t matter too much how she accrues those hours. At least I hope that is the case.</p>
<p>Mathmom:</p>
<p>Shall I take my CA daughter and have her visit NY schools tomorrow? :)</p>
<p>Couldn’t resist…</p>
<p>scualum- how about Maine schools? They had power outages/ice/snow etc a week ago and hadn’t cleaned up from that… and they are getting hit again now with another foot!</p>
<p>vicariousparent - we have nights like that here too - but for the most part, my D likes to get a good night’s sleep - for her, that’s 5-6 hours/night. I tend to agree with you about letting high school juniors manage their own time - but 3 or 4 hours of sleep really isn’t enough, even with afternoon naps and catch-up sleep on weekends. I think it’s unavoidable at times, but that shouldn’t be the norm. Of course, 5-6 hours/night isn’t the best either, but it’s the only way she can continue with her ECs and keep up with her work.</p>