Just like Blair on Gossip Girl has dreamed of going to Yale since childhood, many students simply won’t be happy unless they are accepted to an Ivy League school. Some are driven since birth to maintain a perfect educational reputation, and some will do whatever it takes to attend the school of their dreams. In the end, is it worth the extreme hard work and dedication? After all, what’s in a name, as long as you get a top education and don’t owe more than what your parent’s house is worth when it is all said and done.

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Notre Dame senior Greer Hannan plans to protest President Obama's attendance at her graduation Sunday because of his support of abortion rights. Via USA Today.

I don’t know about you, but I think the speaker at any graduation ceremony is very important. That person will hopefully give the graduates and their families some new, deep, thought-provoking words to contemplate on their special day. And, seriously, how cool would it be to have the President of the United States of America speak at your graduation? The most powerful man in the free world, telling you what he thinks you should know before you enter the “grown-up” world. Pretty sweet in my opinion! This year, Obama will be speaking at three universities during the commencement ceremonies. And at two of those three universities, the students are not too happy about it.

Greer Hannan, a senior at Notre Dame, plans to have a cross and a pair of baby feet printed on her mortar board. She is doing this to protest Obama’s pro-choice stance on abortion. Read the rest of this entry »

Getting in to the college of your choice is harder than ever these days. Competition is stiff, and space is limited. Colleges have the difficult job of hand selecting their prospective freshman classes, and unfortunately have to reject thousands of talented and bright students. The result? A mass number of rejection letters, often hitting kids harder than a break-up.

Rejected: photo via WSJ.com

“Even with impressive test scores and grades, abundant extracurricular activities, good recommendations and an admission essay into which ‘I poured myself heart and soul,’ Daniel Beresford, 18, netted 14 rejection letters from 17 applications.” Beresford was denied by Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago. (He’s bound for one of his top choices, Pepperdine.)

Here are some of the cruelest and kindest rejection letters from colleges and universities. Read the rest of this entry »

Fueled by endowment gains and tuition increases, universities in recent years have gone on a building, faculty and program expansion spree. I have personally seen it in the law school realm. Instead of the historical 12-credit loads, the norm over the past few years in law schools has trended towards nine to ten credits. This allowed for more research, but also meant that the faculty needed to expand to continue offering the same course levels. Salaries also rose as law schools and other areas of universities competed for top talent.

But the same forces buffeting the general economy are affecting the university.

Yale recently froze all faculty salaries for employees paid more than $75,000, and Harvard froze all faculty salaries at its arts and sciences school. The big private, elite universities appear to be particularly at risk. To understand why, let’s take a look at the Harvard endowment.

Read more at New York Times

Harvard University

During a summer job when I was in college, I was chatting with a fellow college student.  I asked her where she went to school.

“At a school in Connecticut,” she said.

“Where at?” I asked.

“New Haven,” she said, sort of blushing.

“Oh, you go to Yale!” I said, “How cool is that?”

I wonder how many other Ivy League students out there answer the question “where do you go to school?” with such an evasive response.  Perhaps she thought that others would think she was a snob, or that they would think that she was bragging, if she answered the question directly.  I, for one, certainly didn’t think less of her, quite the opposite.

But isn’t this a shame?  On the one hand, Americans admire Ivy League educations, and because of this, the names on their transcripts can open some doors.  On the other hand, there’s a powerful undercurrent of distrust of intellectualism in America.  Whether it’s high school students mocking the smart kids, or college girls playing down their intelligence in class, or Fox News accusing Barack Obama of being an “elite” because he went to Columbia and Harvard, people are a little distrustful of those who have brains, an education, and the desire to work hard in their studies.  Read the rest of this entry »