From the Director's Chair

We are entering my most favorite phase of the admissions process: scholarship selection.  For the past several weeks, faculty and staff have reviewed hundreds of applications from some of the best scholars from around the Palmetto State and from around the country.  I am amazed at the talents and accomplishments of these outstanding students!  We're in the final round of making offers of admission to the South Carolina Honors College--which is tough because over 1400 students applied but we can only accommodate about three hundred students. 

Even more competitive are the Carolina Scholar and McNair Scholar competitions.  The very best Honors College candidates are screened for these, our two top awards, and once we name those finalists, we begin the chair reaction of awarding all our other scholarships, so the coming weeks will be exhilarating for some, disappointing for others, and stressful for all as tough decisions have to be made.

The ball is now rolling. we just named 41 McNair Scholar finalists today, Friday, January 25 at 4:00pm, and I cannot leave the office until I sign each offer letter.  For you, our future class of outstanding McNair Finalists and Scholars, I have some advice:  you may want to hang around the house tomorrow, just in case the FEDEX truck comes rumbling down your street.   Good news sometimes comes in a thin, cardboard envelope! 

And, for you Carolina Scholar candidates, please be patient, it won't be much longer for you, either!

Posted by Scott at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

For the past week and a half, Columbia, South Carolina has been descended on by  hundreds of large, white panel trucks with huge satelite dishes on the roof.  It seems like on every street corner there is a reporter with a camera asking students their opinion on the presidential race.   Election time is upon us, and for a few weeks, South Carolina is the center of the policitcal universe.  Last Saturday was the Republican party primary and tomorrow is the Democratic party Primary, and the University of South Carolina is right in the middle of the action. 

In fact, Fred Thompson's headquarters leading up to the Republican primary was on campus in the Russell House, Mike Huckabee held a rally at Williams-Brice Stadium, there was a GOP debate in the Koger Center, which is where Barack Obama is holding an open forum tonight.  Yesterday, Mrs. Obama was on campus as well, promoting reading initiatives.  Over the summer, the College Democrats held their national convention here at USC, which was visited by all the major democratic candidates, including Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.  Needless to say, this is the place to be if you are interested in the political process!

Posted by Scott at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We seem to be obsessed in this country with ranking things.  We want to know which is "the best", and nothing else seems to matter.  There are plenty of guidebooks,  magazines, websites, and other experts ready to "help" students and families make an informed college choice by ranking colleges and universities on different combinations of factors that the publisher or other self-proclaimed "expert" deems important. 

Personally, I am torn when it comes to rankings.  On one hand, the more information the better, provided that information is accurate, objecitve and relevant.  As a consumer, just like anyone else, I want an outside expert opinion so that I don't have to sort through all the data myself.  I would never buy a TV without Consumer Reports, CNet, and Crutchfield sharing this burden with me.  So, how can college rankings be bad, right?

But, on the other hand, using rankings is only part of the discernment process, and relying exclusively on rankings has many pitfalls.  One of the biggest dangers, in my opinion, is that we tend to focus on the very top in a given ranking system, and unfairly discount the lower scorers, even if the difference between number 1 and number 100 is insignificant. 

In the higher education market, applying the various rankings out there to your college choice can be helpful, but consider these questions when doing so:

1)  What is the ranking system actually measuring?  Are they measuring criteria that are important to you?  Why are these criteria important to you?

2)  How does a particular college's performance on a given ranking translate into the experience you will have at that school, if you choose to attend?  

3) How much does a particular ranking system differentiate the schools being ranked? 

For instance, consider two schools, ranked #1 and #2 on graduation rates.  School #1 reports a 90 percent graduate rate, and school #2 reports an 89.98 percent rate.   Obviously, they both have excellent and almost indistinguishable graduate rates.  But consider school #95 in the list, with an 88.5% graduation rate.  Also excellent and nearly the same rate as the others.  If you just look at the rank, #95 may not sound impressive, but if you just compare the actual graduate rates of all three schools, this measure is meaningless in differentiating the schools because they are all excellent on this criteria.

 There is one big factor missing from college rankings: YOU.  Your abilities, interests and motivation are critical factors in the kind of education you will obtain at your college, and no ranking system can measure that.  It is entirely conceivable for one  to attend one of the nation's best universities, only to coast through, not apply oneself, and graduate with little more knowledge and education that what one started with.  Likewise, a great education can be obtained at an open admissions community college.  It all depends on the individual's motivation and drive to learn.

I am not suggesting that you should not aspire to attend the "best" school possible.  Not at all.  In fact, I recommend attending the best school you can get in and reasonably afford, assuming the schools you are considering are good fits to begin with.     Use rankings to help you define your list, but don't discount a school just because it does not have a good ranking in a magazine you never read but pop culture leads you to believe it knows what it is talking about.  Keep rankings in perspective--rather than being so concerned about "the best", make sure you find "the best fit" for you.

Oh, and one last thing. If you do look at rankings, don't just use one ranking service, consider several.  One that I particularly find useful is Kiplinger's Personal Finance's Best 100 Public Universities.  The 2008 rankings have just come out and can be found at the following link. http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/  The University of South Carolina, for example, is ranked #35 in in-state value, and #59 for out-of-state value.  Considering that there are over 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States, we are certainly pleased with our ranking.

The thing I like about Kiplinger's is that they consider academic quality, costs, and financial aid to determine value.  For any ranking system, always examine their ranking methodology to learn more about how the service ranks schools.

Posted by Scott at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)