Fall 2008 Parent Opportunities to Meet College Admission Officers

tokenadult · October 12, 2008, 11:47pm

Report on Harvard Information Session Sunday 28 September 2008 in Edina, Minnesota

This is a report on the Harvard Information Session on Sunday 28 September 2008 at Edina High School in Minnesota. My wife, son, and I attended this session, although I arrived late and my wife had to leave early because of other appointments. The very first regional college information session I ever attended was Harvard's session at Southwest High School in Minneapolis in October 2003. My son and I were invited to that session, back when my son was in sixth grade, when we visited the Harvard booth at the Minnesota National College Fair that year. I was surprised to see Harvard running a booth at that fair, and told the two young men in the booth so, and they replied that Harvard has a booth at the Minnesota National College Fair every year. (That appears to be Harvard's routine practice here in Minnesota, but most other National College Fair events don't have a Harvard representative.) Both the men in the booth were very polite to me and my son, who was then quite young and looked quite young, and when they learned that my son was in an accelerated math program at the University of Minnesota, they invited us to the Harvard information session, which that year was at Southwest High School. In those days I was well aware that colleges visit college fairs and make individual visits to high schools, but when I attended the Harvard information session in 2003, that was a new and fresh experience for me, an evening chock full of information about Harvard. For the next year, I thought about Harvard a LOT, and I realized by the 2004-2005 school year that it was important that I learn about other colleges so that I didn't filter all my thinking about colleges through the experience of the Harvard information session only. So in the fall of 2004, I learned how to do Web searches to find other regional college information sessions, and since then I have attended a few of those every year, put on by most of the colleges that travel to Minnesota.

My wife and son tell me that the Harvard information session this year began with an introduction saying that the Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Club of Minnesota has 400 members. After that the meeting, just like five years ago, began with a video featuring alumni and current students and campus scenes of Harvard, and my son says this year's video had some different content from the one five years ago. The video showed athletics, Yo-yo Ma (who said he felt everyone was smarter than he was at Harvard), historical scenes such as FDR's sink, and MANY extracurricular activities. The video ended with someone reminding students to just apply.

The meeting proper began with admission officer Martha ("Marcy") Homer describing Harvard as a liberal arts school with excellent engineering. There are no undergraduate professional programs. This is an exciting time to go to Harvard. There is a new president of Harvard University, a Civil War historian, and changes in concept, with lots of new initiatives and a renewal of the undergraduate program. Harvard College is changing its school year schedule to start the day after Labor Day. Typically students take four courses each semester. The new innovation will be in general education, with students taking half their courses in their major, one-fourth of their courses in general education, and one-fourth elective courses. The focus of the general education courses will be the modern world, with integration of knowledge. Arts will be integrated with literature and the sciences will be integrated. The initiative will improve pedagogy. Science classes will be very lab-based. There will be summer lab opportunities too. Professors are available to students for undergraduate research.

[I came into the meeting at about this point.]

The undergraduate house system is wonderful. The best thing about Harvard is the other students there. We don't bring students to Harvard to hold their hands. Take initiative to ask help from your proctor [a Harvard staff member who advises undergraduate students through their houses].

The financial aid budget has gone up 130 percent in the last five years. It covers families of incomes up to $180,000 per year with standard assets. The expected family contribution has been cut in half for the upper middle class; for families with incomes below $60,000 there is no expected family contribution. We hope to make offers that equal the cost of attending state flagship universities and offer to all an equal chance to attend Harvard.

It's still very difficult to get in. Because Harvard College is residential, there is a strict limit on the number of students admitted. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Apply.

There is a new dean of Harvard College, Evelynn Hammonds, a historian of science. We are still woefully short of female full professors; there are more of those among the younger faculty. We have been working on this for a long time.

The process of renovating the houses has begun, to enhance the life of the students. They will be fitted with geothermal heat, as part of a big green push at the college, which also includes recycling.

Ms. Homer asked how many students had looked at the Common Application already, and most raised their hands. Harvard's application is the Common Application or Universal College Application, and it is due on a single deadline of January 1st. Harvard has dropped its early action program. We have more financial aid, but early applicants were wealthy and sophisticated about the application process compared to regular decision applicants. We don't have an early program anymore, but we appreciate early contact information for interviews. Start the process by sending in contact information to set up an interview. The interviewer is your advocate.

We read applications in the order in which they are received beginning on the 1st of December. The earlier 250 applications are more exciting to read than the later 1,000. [There were laughs from the audience.] Get to your application as soon as possible.

The most important selection factor in admissions is high school courses and grades. Take good, tough courses. Challenge yourself. We can tell if you're not challenging yourself. Take solid academic courses, and take what's best for you. We want you to study what you want to study, but we need to see good grades.

There are a lot of students with A's, and test scores help us distinguish among them. Standardized tests are comparison tools. The better predictors are SAT II Subject Tests and AP tests. They are more important than the SAT I or the ACT. You may have read that colleges are expressing doubt about standardized tests, but I'll give you a clue: We won't be cutting back on tests. We might require five SAT II tests. Those are less coachable than the SAT I. Working hard as a student is more important than taking tests.

It's always nice to read a well-crafted application essay. Write about what is important to you. Give yourself at least a week to write and rewrite your essay.

The teacher and counselor recommendations are important. Someone who has worked with more than just as a classroom teacher is great. We're looking for students who have contributed to class and asked questions.

The alumni interview will last from a half hour to an hour. Be prepared to talk about something of interest. You might mention, for example, a summer experience. Talk about its effect on you rather than about the event. Or you could talk about a book, or why you do what you do in school.

You figure out who you are in senior year, and that's great whether you get into your first choice college or not. Look at the exciting side rather than the drudgery side of applying to college. Keep an open mind.

Then Ms. Homer took questions from the audience. [My wife left the meeting at this point, to pick up my younger son from his soccer game nearby.]

Parent Q: Can we send in contact information by sending in the first four pages of the Common Application?

A: Yes, you can send it in on paper or online. Once the initial pages are in, you'll get an I.D. number. The booklet [the Harvard viewbook, passed out at this meeting] has good information about this. It also has information about class sizes, which are skewed to the small. The Questions and Answers section at the end of the [viewbook] is good.

Parent Q: Are students encouraged to take internships?

A: "Internship" is a funny term, especially in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where there are many work opportunities for students. There is no credit for internships, but we pay students well for on-campus jobs.

There are tons of research opportunities at Harvard and also in Cambridge.

Student Q: Does taking Postsecondary Enrollment Options [the Minnesota dual-credit program] courses get a student course credit at Harvard?

A: Not exactly. You still have to take four courses per semester at Harvard. You take placement exams. The best placement exam is in math. You can start with higher courses.

Student Q: What is important to Harvard this year? Is it better for graduate students than for undergraduates?

A: The heart and soul of Harvard is the College, as anyone who has been there knows. You can take graduate courses as an undergraduate. It is NOT TRUE that the graduate schools overshadow the College.

Important this year is the change in the curriculum. The new core has eight categories: Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding (formerly literature and arts), Culture and Belief, Empirical Reasoning, Ethical Reasoning, Science of Living Systems, Science of the Physical Universe, Societies of the World, The United States in the World.

Student Q: What needs does Harvard have that it meets as it recruits students?

A: For all students to meet all kinds of people. That ensures a good education for everyone.

Student Q: As Harvard increases socioeconomic diversity, how does that impact the admission process.

A: All things being equal, if there are two students, the tie goes to the poorer kid, but the class is big enough for lots of kinds of students.

A student from a good high school and affluent family will probably do fine anywhere; the first-generation immigrant will find that Harvard has really made a difference.

Students who have self-confidence to find their place and state their point of view will do well. For example, an athlete is somone who knows about practicing for a long time. Similarly a musician has worked a long time to develop talent.

Our efforts at economic diversity are to make everyone feel they have a chance to apply.

Student Q: How many core classes do students take per semester?

A: You have to take eight core classes in all, so about one per semester.

Student Q: What courses should I take in high school?

A: Five per semester is good. Four years of English. Four years of math. Three or four years of history or government. Four years of foreign language. Science every year.

Don't take a light program senior year.

Student Q: How many students are admitted from Minnesota?

A: There are 22 to 30 students admitted per year from Minnesota, with a high yield. The Minnesota Club [the Harvard-Radcliffe Association of Minnesota?] does wonderful things to reach out to students.

Alumnus [Cliff] comment: Marcy, may I say that there will be a reception by the local alumni for applicants?

A: Yes, that's an event organized locally.

Student Q: Are there opportunities for study abroad?

A: We have a lot of study abroad. We have no Harvard branches abroad. Financial aid for study abroad is all need-based.

But we have fewer students go abroad than many colleges. So much is going on on campus. But we believe everyone should have foreign experience at college age.

Scores of 5 on certain AP tests can get you advanced standing, so you could take a year abroad.

Student Q: Is there financial aid for summer study abroad?

A: That's not the same as school-year financial aid, but grant money is available for summer study abroad.

Student Q: Is there advanced standing for IB test scores?

A: Yes, that is described in the [viewbook, on page 34].

Student Q: How easy is it to defer enrollment?

A: That's offered with the offer of admission. No one regrets taking a year off.

Student Q: Do you have a Greek system?

A: No, we don't. We have a house system. It's not at all like the U of Minnesota. Your house is your home base.

There are 6,550 undergraduates, so it's not as big as the U.

Student Q: Can an essay be too long?

A: It tells us you haven't focused enough, or haven't read the directions enough. Two typed pages are fine; three are borderline.

Parent Q: How many applications did you read last year?

A: About 1,200 last year. But I enjoy the last 250 less than the first 250, unless something really sings out. If someone wants to be a writer, and sends in a writing sample, I send it to an English professor; we have a lot of faculty readers.

Student Q: What opportunities are there to be involved in music?

A: About one half of all students are involved in music. The department is theoretically focused. We have way more musicians than music majors.

Attach a CD to your application if you are good in music; put your best performances first on the CD.

If you know you are pretty good at something, send in a supplement.

Student Q: What about the Harvard-New England Conservatory dual curriculum?

A: You have to be admitted to both schools. It's a very small program. It's fairly new.

Student Q: Can I take classes at MIT?

A: Yes, but there are more the other way around. The new schedule will help with cross-registration. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is very individualized; there's not much need to take MIT courses anymore.

Student Q: How common and difficult is double-majoring? Can I study accounting and finance and also major in pre-med?

A: You have a concentration, and you can have a secondary field. Most commonly blended concentrations are already concentration fields. We also have a language citation. It's more common than it used to be.

We don't have accounting or finance as concentrations at Harvard. [My son and I anticipated this answer to this Frequently Asked Question.] You can major in economics and take the courses that are required for admission to medical school.

An alumni representative then noted that there are just under 100 alumni interviewers in Minnesota.

After the meeting was dismissed, my son and I talked to two alumni interviewers. One was a man younger than I, who had studied computer science (then applied mathematics) at Harvard. I mentioned to him that my family is a homeschooling family and that I try to tell other homeschooling families about college information sessions. He asked for my business card so that he could make sure that I got the word out. He noted that the auditorium where the Harvard information session was held this year could hold 600 people, so there was room for more than the perhaps 100 people who attended.

Another alumnus, the man Cliff who had earlier mentioned the alumni reception for students in town, also came over to say hello as we were leaving the auditorium. He saw my son's Ross Mathematics Program T-shirt and began discussing mathematics with him, posing a problem to my son. Sure enough, as we left the auditorium to drive back to my son's dorm at the University of Minnesota, my son was busy with his notebook trying to find a generalized solution to the problem. We both thought the meeting was very informative and it was good to see the intellectual curiosity of the alumni who were there.

tokenadult · October 17, 2008, 7:24pm

This is a report on the MIT information session ("central meeting") at the Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday 4 October 2008.

A big audience came to the second information session MIT has held in the Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis. The parking lot was completely filled by the time I arrived, which was still ten minutes or more before the event was scheduled to begin. People came in through all the doors in that large building, not just the doors where MIT alumni had put up signs directing people to the building's auditorium. My son knew his way in (he had been at the meeting last year with my wife) and led me to the front hallway where MIT alumni had brochures about MIT and MIT ballpoint pens.

We got into the auditorium near the back. There were a lot of people there, well over 100. MIT calls its alumni interviewers "educational counselors," or "ECs" for short, and the regional co-chair of MIT's ECs, Alice Campbell, got on stage to introduce the MIT admission officer. She mentioned she has been interviewing since 1981. MIT admission officer McGreggor Crowley was introduced as the number 2 person in the MIT admissions office. He said, "I direct the admissions process. I travel around the world and talk to amazing kids."

Mr. Crowley asked for a show of hands of how many students in the audience were high school seniors. Almost half of the students there were seniors. Almost as many were juniors, a few were sophomores, and there were one or two "pre-freshmen," students in eighth grade or below. [From here sentences in the first person are Mr. Crowley speaking of himself or of MIT as a whole, unless they are in brackets.] I've been at MIT since 1996. I studied biology and cultural anthropology. I went to medical school and I researched student resilience.

We have your best interests in mind, and MIT's best interests in mind. I grew up in the Philippines and Texas, and never saw MIT before my first day there as a freshman. [He began talking about slides projected on a large screen in the auditorium.] The great dome over Killian Court is a classic view of the MIT campus. Here is an engineering library, where students sleep in the daytime. [laughter from audience] William Barton Rogers was from the University of Virginia. In 1861 he founded the first iteration of MIT. In 1865 MIT built its first building, in Boston.

The urban setting of MIT attracts students and staff who don't regard barriers between disciplines. MIT departments are all interconnected. You can literally run into people from another discipline in the hallways between buildings.

I was in the course 18.01, meaning the first course in the math department. I had had AP calculus. I saw the first problem set--what we call homework at MIT--and I thought I could approach solving the first problem. The other problems looked tougher. You take your problem sets home, and then you meet classmates and work as a group. It's an awesome concept: collaborative homework. Professors ask you to list classmates you work with on homework. They expect you to work with classmates.

The problem sets encourage development of problem-solving. You take something seemingly insurmountable and divide and attack. MIT students take problem-solving skills into their careers. The MIT introductory biology class is taught by Eric Lander. Many students in that class have taken AP biology. He says to the class, "We're going to cover AP biology in the next two lectures." He wants to get into the deep ideas that are central to the subject and build research skills in his students.

MIT President Susan Hockfield has established five initiatives to have MIT tackle important world problems, all of them interrelated. They are on

energy
environment
cancer
poverty
education

The initiatives are well funded and open to all students. They are good opportunities for students interested in helping others.

You attend MIT a full year before you declare a major, which happens in April of your freshman year. About 50 percent of students change their minds about what they want to major in. MIT is organized in five schools--they are NOT stand-alone; they are all highly interrelated. The School of Engineering has the largest number of undergraduates. It is very hands-on. There are capstone courses for seniors. Twenty-one-year-olds get million-dollar budgets to complete their projects. The School of Science is very different from engineering. It provides a broad-based background and significant research, including experience writing grants. The School of Architecture is the nation's oldest architecture school. The Schoo of Management includes one of the most popular double majors. It is highly analytical. There is a new program, a fifth-year finance degree. The School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) includes linguistics, economics, and foreign languages.

To graduate from MIT, you need to be able to swim four laps, take one year of calculus, one year of physics, a semester of chemistry, a semester of biology, and eight HASS courses. Those courses are called the General Institute Requirements, or GIRs. In the GIR courses you cover most of the main pre-law and pre-med requirements. Students do well in graduate school placement because of faculty support and involvement in extracurriculars. Our staff works with any student who wants to become a medical doctor.

The motto of MIT is "Mens et Manus," "mind and hand." Our class ring is called the Brass Rat, or "the angry beaver." MIT has an undergraduate research opportunities program (UROP), started forty years ago. UROP is the biggest employer on campus. You can stay in one lab for all the time you're at MIT or move around, depending on what kind of student you are.

One-third of the students admitted to MIT are in the first generation in their family to attend college. We're a "majority minority" campus, with no predominant ethnic group.

The academic calendar includes an independent activities period in January. You can go home, but there are hundreds of activities; you can form your own student group, such as the "Laboratory of Chocolate Science." The undergraduate activities are run by an undergraduate student.

Athletics at MIT includes intramural teams and forty-one varsity teams, Division III except for crew, cycling, and fencing, which are Division I. The men's soccer team was undefeated as of the time of the Minnesota central meeting. Varsity team members, other students, and all staff members have the SAME access to the up-to-date recreational facilities on campus. There are lots of levels of teams. There are many walk-ons on the national championship fencing and shooting teams.

We look for scholar-athletes and scholar-artists. We have a great music program that would be well suited for a student like one who came to a summer program at MIT last summer who is both profoundly gifted in math and a performer in an orchestra.

All freshmen live on campus, but there are no dorms with only freshmen in them. After the first year, you can go to fraternities or sororities or to independent living groups. As an upperclassman, you can also go to the "other Cambridge," through the MIT United Kingdom exchange program. The MISTY program is a program of MIT students teaching high school students abroad. You can write a grant and get funds for a program you design. You can design new technologies and then test them overseas.

One of the dorms is called the "Sponge Bob" dorm. You get to choose your housing. MIT shatters stereotypes. One dorm builds a roller coaster each year, which even receives a city permit for operation and has elaborate safety precautions. Re-use of old equipment is part of the culture of MIT, so students can alter old computers to monitor washing machines in the dorm. MIT is the only college with cats allowed in college dorms. Random Hall has top mathematics students from around the world.

Hacks are a part of MIT culture. The dome over Killian Court has been dressed up like R2D2, and has had a police car and a fire truck put on top of it.

MIT received 13,400 applications last season and admitted 1500 students; the majority of admitted students came to MIT. We look for the match between the applicant and MIT: who will bring something to MIT and who will take something from it? Who will take advantage of MIT?

Hone in on certain areas to help your applications to colleges. The MIT online application allows saving and editing drafts. Inject your personality into your application. Has anyone here done any baby-sitting? [My son was one of the few students to raise his hand.] PUT THAT ON YOUR APPLICATION. Don't just write down math and science stuff.

An interview is not mandatory but is HIGHLY recommended; take an interview if a college offers an interview, whatever the college. It adds snapshots of the student for the admission committee to consider if you interview. Students who interview with MIT are SIGNIFICANTLY more likely to be admitted.

Admission is not about what you've achieved so far; its about what you are capable of achieving.

We are not regionally based in our admission process.

I downplay standardized testing. We look at both the SAT I and the ACT with writing. We require one SAT Subject Test in a science, and one of the SAT Subject Tests in math. You pick.

The best correlation to test scores is with family income. There is NO correlation between test scores and junior and senior grades in college. What does correlate with those is taking the toughest courses in high school. Most students have a healthy mix of A's and B's.

The admitted students have perseverance. They are students who love to collaborate. They have significant initiative and curiosity. Take challenging courses in high school. Risk-taking and failure are important.

MIT is very hands-on and looks for hands-on students. The humanities letter of recommendation writer can be a good resource; sit down and TALK with your letter writers. We're looking for balance--students who know when to put down their problem sets.

The cost of an MIT education is $80,000 per year, but the sticker price is about $50,000. MIT costs many times what some other colleges cost. MIT's large endowment allows paying much of student tuition; 19 percent of students have no expected family contribution. For families with incomes under $75,000, MIT is tuition-free. Home equity is not considered part of a family's ability to pay. Don't worry about your family income being $75,001; financial aid is awarded on a sliding scale.

MIT has a need-blind admission policy. We guarantee to meet full demonstrated financial need. All financial aid is in the form of grants. There are no merit scholarships. Cost should never prevent you from attending the college you want to attend. Help us understand your context. You can email the director of financial aid.

[The Q & A period began with introductions of the several MIT ECs who attended the Minneapolis central meeting.]

One of the educational counselors took off a formal shirt to reveal a gaudy Hawaiian shirt and said, "BRING YOUR PASSION" to your MIT interview.

Parent Q: How to schedule the interview?

A: Your MyMIT account gives contact information.

Parent Q: I heard that the interviewers mentioned what schools they interview at. I heard a lot of suburban schools mentioned, but does anyone interview students from inner-city schools? [Sabathani Community Center itself is in an inner-city location, near where I used to live when I was last a student, and is built to serve low-income minority students.]

A: All students who want interviews can have interviews. Some schools have many students apply each year, but all students can get an interview.

Student Q: How many Minnesota students are accepted each year?

A: I won't answer that question. We don't have region-based admissions.

[I think I missed a couple of the next questions to answer a cell phone call outside the auditorium.]

Then I asked my own follow-up question: I heard you say that MIT doesn't read applications regionally, so how do the admission officers know the high school context of each applicant?

McGreggor Crowley: There are staff devoted to this. We use your high school profile, even down to how many students get what grade in what courses. All of our admission process is general geographically. Everyone gets files from international applicants.

Alice Campbell: Only educational counselors speak MIT; they can help establish a student's context.

Parent Q: Is there credit for college dual-enrollment study or for AP?

A: On a case-by-case basis. There is some placement for AP scores, received after admission. There are also placement tests.

Courses have different flavors. MIT has several calculus courses. An IMO medalist took the calculus with theory course, the most challenging single-variable calculus class in the United States.

Student Q: How much time do students spend doing research?

A: I spent from noon to 5 or 6:00pm every day for my thesis; it's on a sliding scale, so some students may only do research part-time on Fridays.

Student Q: How to visit campus?

Crowley: Log on to MyMIT and set up an overnight visit. All classes are open. There are lab tours for electrical engineering and computer science. Contact professors ahead of time.

Campbell: Visit during the school year.

Student Q: Can MIT students take Harvard courses?

A: There is cross-registration with Wellesley, Harvard, and the School of Arts of the Museum of Fine Arts. The most common course is Arabic. I took three Harvard Medical School courses as an MIT student.

Student Q: Are you looking for well-rounded students or for more focused students?

A: We're looking for both. Stuart Schmill's essay

[I think that's

MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: "Reflections"

but I could be mistaken]

is good. There is no real modifier for all of our students. It takes a number of different students to make up a class of more than 1,000 students.

Student: Does MIT have ROTC?

Crowley: Yes, thanks for asking. Graduates of MIT usually get their first-choice military assignment.

EC: My husband was an MIT student in ROTC.

Student Q: Are there various flavors of biology like there are various flavors of calculus? Is it possible to take a biology class without dissection?

A: There is no dissection in MIT biology classes. We don't have organismal biology. We have molecular biology.

FindAPlace · October 17, 2008, 9:38pm

TokenAdult: Wow, your fingers must have blisters from writing about all these information sessions. Thank you for your diligence!

tokenadult · October 20, 2008, 1:01am

This is a report on the Yale information session on Sunday 19 October 2008 at the Breck Chapel in Golden Valley, Minnesota.

We walked into the meeting place, familiar to us from other college meetings, and saw a table where picked up brochures about Yale in general and about Yale financial aid. After we sat down in the auditorium, an alumnus passed around sign-in sheets to catch up with the members of the audience who arrived before that was placed on the table in the entryway. There were many people in attendance, nearly all white or east Asian, noticeably different from other college meetings I have seen this year.

When the meeting began alumnus Tony Leung, who with alumnus Malcolm McDonald coordinates interviews in Minnesota and neighboring regions of other states, introduced himself. Then he introduced the speaker, Debra Johns, associate director of admissions. She is new to Yale but very experienced in college admissions.

Ms. Johns thanked the audience for coming to an indoor meeting on a fall day with gorgeous sunny weather and thanked the alumni for setting up the meeting and Breck School for hosting the meeting. She said she had represented Jesuit universities for years, is in her mid-forties, has worked in education for twenty-six years and has sixteens of experience in college admissions at six institutions.

She asked for a show of hands of how many students in the chapel auditorium were juniors. My son and the majority of students raised their hands. There were just a few freshmen and sophomores, and quite a few seniors. Some of the students had been on visits to the Yale campus. [From here first-person statements not in brackets will be those of Ms. Johns, either referring to her individually in the singular or to Yale collectively in the plural.] It's easy to make a trip to visit Yale. I flew here through Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Connecticut, and from there it's an easy two-hour trip.

I encourage students, rather than parents, to ask questions. I'll speak about academic life, the residential college system at Yale, extracurricular activities, and admissions and financial aid, with some breaks in between to let you ask questions.

As for academic life, there are more than 75 majors at Yale College. There are about 5200 undergraduates on campus. There are also thirteen graduate and professional schools in Yale University for a total of about 11,000 students. You will walk among both undergraduate and graduate students at Yale every day of the week.

Many great teachers are available to undergraduates. Twelve undergraduates are taking a course with Tony Blair--you may have heard of him--who is teaching at Yale Divinity School. Hundreds of students applied to study with him.

There are more than 2,000 classes you can take. Usually you take from 36 to 41 classes to graduate, more if you are an engineering student. One-third of the classes are for distribution credits. Yale does not have a hard-core core curriculum because hundreds of courses meet distribution requirements. Students take one-third of their courses in their major. About 13 percent double major. You can also design your own major; there are no minors. One-third of courses are electives (possibly courses for a double major). Your undergraduate thesis is connected to your major subject.

75 percent of the classes have 25 students or fewer. 25 percent have less than ten students. Some courses are just one student and a professor--then you really have to be prepared for class. Less than 2 percent of classes have 100 students or more; if a class has more than 40 students, it splits into discussion groups.

My cousin-in-law studied at Yale in the 1990s. He liked shopping for classes. Yale has a course catalog, called the "Blue Book," and students do "blue-booking" to plan for course shopping. A student might observe five or ten or even twenty classes during the shopping period. Shopping period allows good use of time in choosing classes.

Students get multiple sources of advice for choosing courses. Freshmen counselors, called "fro cos," are very helpful. Residential college deans are also helpful. Three different advisers sign off on your schedule. You might ask, "What if I don't get into a class?" Additional sections can open.

Yale is very student-centered in its academic experience. You can have access to Nobel Prize winners. There are many opportunities to study abroad at Yale with financial aid. Yale has overseas programs in London and Beijing. There are other study abroad programs in many countries [a long list of countries was read].

Yale alumni, Bulldogs, set up internships in many parts of the world. The local Bulldogs can help you find housing as well as arrange an internship. Does anyone know the name of the Yale mascot bulldog. [A student answered, "Handsome Dan."] We want our students to go abroad.

[The first question and answer break was about academic life.]

Student Q: Can you transfer credits from the University of Minnesota? [This is the question that most reliably comes up in EVERY college meeting in Minnesota, as several hundred students in Minnesota study at the state flagship university or other public colleges for part or all of eleventh and twelfth grade.]

A: College credit does not follow you to Yale. AP scores of 4 or 5 on specified tests, or IB scores of 6 or 7, can get you acceleration toward your degree at the end of your stay at Yale. Everyone starts as a first-year freshman. The policy on acceleration is clearly explained on the Yale website. You can graduate early, but most students want to be at Yale for four years.

Student Q: Is shopping period only for freshmen?

A: It's the beginning of every semester.

Student Q: How competitive are Yale students with one another?

A: Once they get to campus, to use a word I learned from students and don't use myself, they are "chill." They are very grounded. My cousin and cousin-in-law who went to Yale are normal, very bright persons who are not obnoxious. Students and alumni are kind. Your Yale grade-point average is not computed until senior year. You get grades for your courses, but the overall G.P.A. isn't calculated till then. Students get along very well. They are confident but humble. It's cool to be smart, but you can also be very different from your classmates. There are students from 50 states, 70 countries, many students of color and many first-generation college students.

Student Q: How many students are there per adviser?

A: Less than ten, typically two to four. Each residential dean has about 400 students in his care, whom he gets to know very well.

As for residential colleges, they confused me at first. Each alumnus says that his residential college is best--is that right? [Agreement from all the alumni in the room.] There are now twelve residential colleges and there will be fourteen in 2013. Yale is not the only university with a residential college system, but it is a very distinctive part of life at Yale. The residential colleges are kind of like Harry Potter but without the sorting hat. The system has been in place more than eighty years. You are assigned to a residential college before you attend Yale. The best letter you get from Yale is the offer of admission, but you will also be very excited to receive the letter telling you what residential college you belong to. You will be received and helped to move in by members of your residential college when you arrive at Yale.

Ten out of twelve residential colleges are on the Old Campus. Each college is a community of about 400 students. Only about 10 to 12 percent of Yale students live off campus. You eat at your residential college all four years.

Yale has some planned social events. This year's theme event is Screw Decision 2008, with references to the presidential or congressional elections.

Master's teas in each residential college invite in famous speakers like Meryl Streep or Donna Dubinsky--do you know who she is? She developed the Palm Pilot.

Intramural sports are played through the residential college system. The Tyng Cup is a great honor.

Each residential college is a microcosm of Yale as a whole, with the full diversity of all the students.

[The second question and answer break was about the residential college system.]

Student Q: Is assignment to the residential colleges random?

A: For diversity, it is not wholly random. If you are the child of alumni, you can request to be in the same residential college as your ancestor.

Student Q: What's the advantage of the residential college system?

A: Feeling part of a community, having a group of students you can relate to right away.

Student Q: Does each residential college have its own exercise area and dining?

A: Yes. And 40 percent of food at Yale is organic now. It's really quite good. There is a sustainable food project. The dining areas look like dining rooms, with small tables, more than they look like dormitory cafeterias.

Student Q: Can you visit other residential colleges?

A: Yes, you can. I'm not sure how the I.D. card access, part of Yale security, works for that. You can have lunch at any residential college. There is also a dining area called The Commons, which looks like Hogwarts.

Student Q: Can you keep the same roommate all four years?

A: It's up to you. You can keep the roommate with you in a suite all four years.

Student Q: How are students assigned to housing?

A: There is an extensive questionnaire. Take the survey seriously.

Student Q: Is there access to kitchens?

A: Yes, usually in the "buttery" of a residential college, which is like a snack bar. Each residential college has its own unique sandwich. Some of them have rather improbable combinations of ingredients, but the students like them because those sandwiches are their own.

Student Q: How many people live together?

A: A suite typically has five to seven students; it could be more. Each residential college has a website to show suite configurations.

As for extracurricular activities, there are more than 300 clubs. I won't list them all now. The students at Yale are very active. There are many clubs related to arts and culture.

The half-time show by the Yale marching band is like a play. For example, one half time had a play based on "The Three Little Pigs" about the Three Lehmann Brothers. There is a snippet of a different Yale marching band act on the Yale website.

There are many singing groups. There is beautiful visual art in the Yale art gallery. The Yale Peabody Museum is a great museum of natural history.

There are thirty different publications to write for. The Yale Daily News is the oldest college daily in the country. Read the Yale Daily News for the heartbeat of Yale.

There are 47 club sports and 33 Division I varsity sports. There are great facilities, including the largest college gym in the United States.

[The third question and answer break was about extracurricular activities.]

Student Q: How are the libraries and computer labs?

A: There are twenty-two to twenty-six libraries, with three large ones. Sterling Library looks like a cathedral. Each residential college has its own library. Meinecke Rare Manuscript Library has a great collection. You can touch original documents. Cole Porter was a Yale grad, and there are great collections of music.

Parent Q: Are there fraternities and sororities?

A: They exist but are not active. They are off campus. About 10 percent of students participate. They don't make or break your experience.

Student Q: Is Yale a wireless campus?

A: Yes. I'm still not sure about outdoor access.

[Ms. Johns advised everyone, especially seniors, to take a deep breath before discussing admissions.]

Here's what you should know about Yale: we will look at you holistically; we will look at everything in your application. The transcript is very important--how much challenge you have provided yourself. Your context is always important. Some students have a family situation such that most of their activities are in their family. Standardized testing is the least important.

I loved the 4-H kids when I was at Marquette, or the FFA kids.

There are two ways to apply:

Single-choice early action (SCEA) with a deadline of November 1st. This precludes all other early applications except for the University of Michigan and rolling admissions with decision notification after January 1st.

Regular decision deadline is December 31st.

SCEA results are admit, defer to the regular round, or deny.

The regular decision deadline is December 31st, and the decision notification is April 1st, with results of admit, wait list, or deny. If waitlisted, don't close that option. Yale admitted from the waitlist last year.

You let us know your choice of where to enroll by May 1st.

Admissions is an art but not a science. Have faith in yourself. We could choose two or three good classes of students to enroll in Yale from the applicants we see. Two numbers are important for applicants to Yale: There are 22,000 applicants for being one of the 1,320 students who enroll in a new class at Yale. Students tend to choose Yale if they are admitted. Last year 69 percent of those admitted chose Yale, the highest among the Ivies. Since so many admitted students enroll at Yale, the admission rate was 8.6 percent.

Things work out for a reason. Lots of students forget their first choice college after enrolling in the college they chose from those who did admit them.

[The fourth question and answer break was devoted to admissions.]

Parent Q: Is there a possibility of being inundated with applications in the SCEA round? Do you have to put a cap on the number of students admitted in that round?

A: There were 4,000 SCEA applications last year. We are very careful not to overadmit in SCEA, because there are many great applicants in the regular round.

We did an exhaustive study of SCEA. Students and counselors told us to keep it so students could show that they really like Yale.

Student Q: Do we send in the SAT or the ACT?

A: Either one; the ACT has to be with writing. We take your best section scores on the SAT, and your best composite score on the ACT--we don't "superscore" the ACT.

Student Q: Do we have to send in AP test scores?

A: You don't need to send them on an official report until after you enroll. You should self-report them on your application.

Parent Q: What are the admissions statistics from Minnesota?

Johns: I don't have them at hand. There were about 100 to 150 applicants from Minnesota.

Tony Leung: There are about 150 to 200 applicants from Minnesota, western Wisconsin, eastern South Dakota, and North Dakota, our alumni interviewing region. The admission rate is like the national average. We have a strong yield.

As for financial aid, take the financial aid guide brochure; it explains financial aid.

I was at a meeting on campus where a financial aid officer said "Yale" should be spelled Y-I-A for "Yale Is Affordable." Last year we added $24 million to the financial aid budget. For families with a family income below $60,000, there is no expected family contribution. For families with incomes from $60,000 to $120,000, the EFC on average is about 5 percent of income. For families with incomes from $120,000 to $200,000, the EFC is on average about 10 percent of income. This year's financial aid budget is $86 million. 56 percent of the students are on financial aid. There are 800 students in the range below $60,000. 15 percent of the students are eligible for Pell grants.

Yale's affordability brought me to Yale. The financial aid website has an online calculator to estimate your family's financial aid, if you fill it out based on your most recent tax return. Or you can call or email the financial aid office. There are no merit scholarships at Yale. The average grant (we call our grant aid "scholarships") is $37,000.

[There were a few final questions.]

Student Q: If we use an online application, how do our teachers do letters of recommendation?

A: We have instructions for how to mail them in; online letters of recommendation are possible if the teacher does ALL letters of recommendation that way.

Student Q: Do the libraries have leisure reading?

A: They do.

[Ms. Johns made a few final comments.]

Trust your instincts. Find the college that's a good fit.

Yalies are diverse and curious, passionate about issues and very active on campus.

[Afterward my son and I waited for a turn to ask an individual question of Ms. Johns. My son asked about math research for undergraduates. Then we said hello to each of the alumni interview coordinators out in the entry hallway. It was a day of gorgeous weather, but we were glad to visit the Yale information session.]

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