University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin, informally UT Austin, UT, University of Texas, or Texas in sports contexts, is a public research university and the flagship institution of The University of Texas System.

The University of Texas at Austin is one of the most selective universities in the region. Relative to other universities in the state of Texas, UT Austin is second to Rice University in selectivity according to a Business Journal study weighing acceptance rates and the mid-range of the SAT and ACT. UT Austin was ranked as the 18th most selective in the South. As a state public university, UT Austin was subject to Texas House Bill 588, which guaranteed graduating Texas high school seniors in the top 10% of their class admission to any public Texas university. A new state law granting UT (but no other state university) a partial exemption from the top 10% rule, Senate Bill 175, was passed by the 81st Legislature in 2009. It modified this admissions policy by limiting automatically admitted freshmen to 75% of the entering in-state freshman class, starting in 2011. The university will admit the top one percent, the top two percent and so forth until the cap is reached; the university expects to automatically admit students in the top 8% of their graduating class for 2011. Furthermore, students admitted under Texas House Bill 588 are not guaranteed their choice of college or major, but rather only guaranteed admission to the university as a whole. Many colleges, such as the Cockrell School of Engineering, have secondary requirements that must be met for admission.

For others who go through the traditional application process, selectivity is deemed "more selective" according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and by U.S. News & World Report. For Fall 2014, 38,785 applied and 15,381 were accepted (39.7%), and of those accepted, 47.4% enrolled. Among freshman students who enrolled in Fall 2014, SAT scores for the middle 50% ranged from 570-680 for critical reading, 600-710 for math, and 560-680 for writing. ACT composite scores for the middle 50% ranged from 26-31. In terms of class rank, 69.4% of enrolled freshmen were in the top 10% of their high school classes and 90.3% ranked in the top quarter.

UT Austin is consistently ranked as one of the top public universities in the country. Nationally, UT Austin was ranked tied for 52nd among all universities, and tied for 16th place among public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2016 rankings. Internationally, UT Austin was ranked tied for 30th in the 2016 "Best Global Universities" ranking by U.S. News & World Report, 37th in the world by Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2015, 46th worldwide by Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2015–16), and 77th globally by QS World University Rankings (2015-16).

UT Austin is considered to be a "Public Ivy" – a public university that provides an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price, having been ranked in virtually every list of "Public Ivies" since Richard Moll coined the term in his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities. The seven other "Public Ivy" universities, according to Moll, were The College of William & Mary, Miami University, The University of California, The University of Michigan, The University of North Carolina, The University of Vermont, and The University of Virginia.

Read More

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley (also referred to as Berkeley, UC Berkeley, California or simply Cal)  is a public research university located in Berkeley, California. It is the flagship campus of the University of California system, one of three parts in the state's public higher education plan, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges System.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2015–2016 ranks Berkeley 13th in the world for academics and 6th in the world for reputation. In its 2016 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked Berkeley 3rd in their "Best Global University Rankings". In 2015, Berkeley was ranked 4th in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)  and 26th in the QS World University Rankings. The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) ranked the university 7th in the world based on quality of education, alumni employment, quality of faculty, publications, influence, citations, broad impact, and patents in 2015.

The 2016 U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" report ranked Berkeley first among public universities and 20th among national universities. The Washington Monthly ranked Berkeley fourth among national universities in 2015, with criteria based on research, community service, and social mobility.  The Money Magazine Best Colleges ranking for 2015 ranked Berkeley 9th in the United States based on educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings.  For 2015 Kiplinger ranked Berkeley the 4th best-value public university in the nation for in-state students, and 6th for out-of-state students.  The 2015 Forbes America's Top Colleges report ranked Berkeley 35th among all universities and liberal arts colleges in the United States.

In 2014, The Daily Beast's Best Colleges report ranked Berkeley 11th in the country.  The 2013 Top American Research Universities report by the Center for Measuring University Performance ranked Berkeley 8th over-all, 5th in resources, faculty, and education, 9th in resources and education, and 1st in education.   Berkeley was listed as a "Public Ivy" in Richard Mull's 1985 Public Ivies.

Read More

COURSES IN BATES

Courses

   The Bates academic year follows a 4-4-1 calendar.Students take four courses (the normal course load) during the fall and winter semesters,and for at least two of the four years take  five week long intensive course during the spring.This session called Short Term,allows professors to have more freedom and creativity in designing each courses and in many cases allows the class to leave the campus to study a subject by touching it and seeing it rather than just reading about it.Short Term courses allows geologists to study geologic history from inside a kayak in the Inter coastal waterways of Malne; biologists study evolution by learning about the finches of the Galapagos Islands,as Darwin did from the Beagle.

The Harvard Center for Community Partnership

           The Harvard Center for Community Partnership leads Bates efforts in community involvement,including strong programs in services learning,community volunteerism,and environmental stewardship.The center aims to work with community partners to meet community needs and in the process, to integrate civic engagement with the Bates educational experience.The center offers short-and long-term grants to faculty,staff,and students,and provides summer support to pursue community-based research and work-study.The Harvard Center works with more than 125 partners,from schools and cultural Institutions to grassroots community groups.

*Academically-Based-Service-Learning

               The Harvard Center supports sources and projects that activate liberal learning to make a difference in the world,From oral history projects to pollution monitoring of the Androgenic River to literacy research with local immigrants,some fifty percent of Bates students incorporate community work into their studies.

*Community Volunteerism

             The center coordinates Bates community volunteer programs.Led by a term of undergraduate Volunteer Fellows,the program enables Bates students to serve as school mentors or tutors,to work in senior centers or environmental conservation areas,even to plant community gardens and build ski trails.Each years,two thirds of the students on campus take part in volunteer services.

*Environmental Stewardship

          Committed to environmental stewardship,the Harvard center for Community Partnership oversees the Bates-Morse Mountain Conversation area,a six-hundred acre coastal preserve that protects rare salt marsh and dune beach ecologies for research and public use.

Degrees

     Bachlor's degrees are fulfilled after completion of thirty-two courses and two Short-Term units.A degree can be conferred after three years.this accelerated program requires completion of thirty courses and three short-term units.

Read More

General Education Requirements of BATES College

General Education Requirements of BATES College

                             Bates College emphasizes a broad-based liberal arts education,encompassing the social sciences,humanities,mathmatics,sciences and the arts.There are no core courses required of all students;however,there is astructured menu of options allowing students to extend,focus,and connect areas of interest.

             Students enroll in two General Education Concentrations (GECs) outside their major,exposing students to a variety of disciplines.A GEC is a group of four linked courses.A GEC may focus on one topic or area of inquiry,with courses coming from different disciplines,or aGEC may focus on atopic within a single department,program,or major.The faculty is developing an array of GECs.Some interdisciplinary examples being considered are:Sound,Hearing and Music; Legal studies;Coastal and Watershed Systems;Architectural Studies:Urbanism and Constructed Spaces;Diasporas;Evidence:Documentation and Reality;Indigenous Responses to Globalization;and Sports,Competition and culture.
                            Three goals serve the larger liberal arts objectives:

1. Teach every student how academic disciplines complement one another,providing a sophisticatied perspective on how to pursue knowledge.

2. Teach every student to write correctly and persuasively.

3. Give students college-level instruction in the methods and findings of the sciences and in quantitative analysis.

SOCIAL LIFE AND ACTIVITIES OF BATES COLLEGE

Sports:

           While students are conscientious about their work,there are very few who dont have several extracurricular activites keeping them busy.Bates supports thirsty varsity teams and twelve club sports teams.\for many students,athletics are a very important part of the Bates experience.Two-thirds of the current student population participated in varsity and club sports.Bates athletic teams compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).Without a doubt,the most intense rivalries are between Bates and Bowdoin and Colby,referred to as the BBC.One of the goals of every team is to become champs of this "mini-conference" for bragging of Maine.

Clubs/Activity Groups

Bates also supports more than seventy activity groups on campus,including art,chess,choir,dance,drama,gay-lesbian-bisexual alliance,international,jazz band,newspaper,orchestra,political,radio and tv,religious,social,and student government.Students can also start a group.One examples is the Bates Aviators Club,which was started by a student who came to Bates already experienced in piloting.Closely entwined with Bates history is its debate society.Bates was the first American college to engage in International debate.It has produced such eminent Americans as stateman Edmund Muskie and civil right ploneer Benjamin Mays.

Social Life

              The social life at Bates is definitely "alive" social activities are primarly on campus due to the fact that ninety percent of students live on campus.Students can take study breaks at the Den or meet with classmates at the Ronj,an entirely student run coffee house where students perform music and read poetry.Some like to play pool or Ping-Pong in Chase Hall.During the weekend,campus-wide parties,film club movies,and dance and theater productions give the students almost too many choices.The chase Hall Committee,a student run activities group,does a great job of getting big name bands to come and play on campus;past groups include counting crows,Trey Anastaslo of Phish,eminent singer-songwriter Ellis Paul and Edie Carey,Guster,and perennial alt-facorites,Yo La Tengo.

Off-campus Activities

                Being in the metropolitian area of Lewiston-Auburn also provides students with a number of options.Several multi-screen cinemas,shopping malls,and restaurants,accessible by student-run shuttle vans throughout the weekend,give students an off campus release when needed.Add in the fact that the Maine coastline,Portland's Old Port,andhiking and skiing are all lessthan an hour away,and one recognizes the opportunities students have  to enrichtheir Bates experience.

Read More

SOCIAL LIFE AND ACTIVITIES IN CARNEGIE MELLON

The Campus              

     

                Carnegie Mellon is technically in a city. The campus is self-contained and surprisingly open for a city campus. There is grass and tree and (if you are in the right dorm) you never have to cross the street. The campus is also fairly safe. Pittsburgh's crime rate is relatively low compared to the national average. With relative security and other culture benefits, Pittsburgh has continually been named one of the country's most livable cities. Because the Carnegie Mellon campus is so self-contained, it is even safer.

           

                The university has about fifty security employees. About half are sworn police officers who have the power to make arrests; the other half are security guards. These guards and officers patrol the campus (on foot, bike, and in cars) twenty-four hours a day. If something does happen on campus police will hang up "crime reports" on all of the bulletin boards and in all of the dorms to keep everybody informed.

                 In addition to the campus police, there are many students run safety organizations. There is an escort shuttle bus (driven by students) that runs within two miles of the campus and will bring you home if  you don’t want to walk off campus alone. If you feel unsafe walking across campus alone, you can all safe walk and two students will come and walk you wherever you need to go.

UNWINDING

                 Although the academic environment can get fairly intense, Carnegie Mellon students definitely know how to unwind. After a full week of classes and schoolwork, everybody's ready to relax and have some fun. A common stereotype of Carnegie Mellon student is that they can never tear themselves away from their computers. While everybody here has probably has a few weekends when they spent much of it working, it is much more common for students to find other, non work related things to do.

Read More

ACADEMIC LIFE OF CARNEGIE MELLON

ACADEMIC LIFE

            The students of Carnegie Mellon come from a number of different backgrounds. The one thing that everyone has in common is that they have worked hard to get here. Most of the students come from the top of their high school classes. At first, many of them are surprised that they are not necessarily in the same position here; however, they are surrounded by people and situations that challenge them and inspire them to work harder.

            Nobody ever said that being a student at Carnegie Mellon was easy, but it is certainly not impossible. You may be working hard and studying more than you'd expected, but so is everybody else. People understand what their colleagues are going through and they help each other.

            Although Carnegie Mellon is an extremely competitive school, students learn early that they need to help and support each other to succeed. People are willing to explain a difficult concept or give constructive criticism because they know that at some point they will probably need the same favor.

           For every class there is a study session offered before a test. In many cases, the professor or a teaching assistant will organize a review session to help members of the class. In addition to this, many students take it upon themselves to start their own study groups. In addition to helping and being helped by their peers, many students find this to be a good way to get to know people in their classes.

CLASSES AND FACULTY

             The faculty/student ratio is ten to one; the average class size is between twenty-five and thirty-five students. This also takes into consideration the larger lectures. The largest lecture hall on campus seats 250, which is relatively small compared to other universities. Most of the classes that have lectures this size are introductory classes that many students are required to take. In classes with this size, there is always a recitation offered with lecture. The recitation is a smaller group (ten to twenty people) led by a teaching assistant (TA) or graduate student who discusses the concepts and subjects covered in the lecture. In all cases, the TA and professor will always have office hours for people who may need extra help, and in most cases, they will also give the class members (no matter how many) their office (and sometimes home) telephone number and e-mail address. Some professors even host social gatherings to become better acquainted with their students.

              The course load and the kind of work you do depends on what college you're in and what you're majoring in. Computer science majors will obviously spend a lot of time at their computers, while architecture majors will spend a lot of time in their studios. While one person is working on problem sets every night, another will be writing a long paper. Everyone will say that his or her work is the hardest, but the truth is that everyone is doing the kind of work they enjoy (or they should be). It's impossible to classify the class work here into one category. Every class has its own pattern.

              No matter what a person's major is he, or she will have a few classes in other areas. For example, computer science majors are required to take non-computer related electives (such as an English class), people in the humanities are required to take a math class and two science classes and every freshman is required to take a computer skills workshop course. Introduction to World History and Introductory English class. 

COMPUTERS

           Any student at Carnegie Mellon would tell you that this is a very computer oriented campus. Almost everything from communicating with professors to signing up for classes is done over the Internet. One or the first things students are taught when they come here is how to use the campus network, Andrew. Every freshman is required to pass a class called Computer Skills Workshop (CSW), which covers everything from e-mail to ethics. Almost everything is announced over the Internet. Most classes and student organization have their own electronic bulletin boards to make announcements and have discussions.

            Students aren't required to have their own computers but many have them. There are computer clusters in many of the dorms and in every academic building. Every dorm room has Ethernet hookups in case the students do have a computer of their own, so they have access to the Internet from their rooms. Carnegie Mellon was the first university campus to offer wireless networking in all administrative and academic buildings. Wireless Andrew, the largest installation of its type anywhere, connects over 5,000 students, faculty and staff across campus and that number is growing. The wireless network is now available in all administrative, academic, and residential buildings across campus. The network is also accessible from outdoor areas on campus due to wireless leakage around buildings and through access points mounted on the exterior of some buildings. Users are able to access Wireless Andrew by purchasing a WaveLan card from the campus computer store and inserting it into their laptop or portable computer. The need for a computer depends on the major. Some people, who have a lot of work to do on computers, find it convenient to not have to leave their room to get their work done. Others, who don’t do a lot of work with computers, don’t have any need for them. Your best bet is to wait until you get to school and figure it out then (if you don’t already have one).  

Read More

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS AT CARNEGIE MELLON

          What does it take to get into Carnegie Mellon? The Office of Admission looks at a lot of different elements when choosing who gets in. Basically, the admissions counselors are trying to get a feel of who you are and what you've done. Unlike many people think, it isn't only your transcript that admissions counselors look at. Of course, high school grades are important, but they are definitely not everything. The Office of Admission also looks at your standardized test scores (SATs or ACTs) and SAT Subject Tests, your essay, activities you've been involved in, personal recommendations, a portfolio or audition depending on your major interest and your interview (recommended not required).
           
         There is no set formula for how people get accepted. In some cases, one element (like test scores) may not be as strong as you'd like, but something else (like extracurricular activities) will make up for it. What admissions counselors look at also depends heavily on what your intended major is. For example, if you are applying to be a math major, they will concentrate on your math grades and scores more than on other things.

        However, what they are looking for is a well-rounded student who will take full advantage of the opportunity to come here. Your best bet is to do your best in everything and, above all, get involved! Most Carnegie Mellon students are involved in much more than just class work the admissions counselors want to find people who will be willing to take part in other things. This doesn't moan just sports or clubs. Your activities can be interests or hobbies.

         There is no grade or score that will get you in or keep you out of Carnegie Mellon. The decision comes from a number of different considerations that the counselors use to decide whether Carnegie Mellon is right for you.

        To apply to Carnegie Mellon, you can call or write and request an application for admission. You can also submit the Common Application online. Once you're on the mailing list, the university will send you all the information you meed. When you apply, you must indicate which college within the university you'd like to apply to. If you're still not sure what you want to major in (which college), you can apply to more than one college for no additional charge. Keep in mind that it is possible to be admitted to one college and rejected from another.

Read More