Applying for college, while exciting, can also be incredibly stressful, tedious, and frustrating. Many students feel an intense pressure to attempt to get into the “best” school that they possibly can and, in the process, begin to miss the point. While all schools are certainly not of equal quality, it’s important to remember: there are no objectively “best” schools. Those schools that are touted as the “best” are, more accurately, the most famous and universally renowned. From the perspective of an incoming undergraduate student this should be a very important distinction, because the fame and renown that the “best” schools enjoy does not always come solely from their undergraduate teaching but from their graduate programs, research, and publishing. Read the rest of this entry »
The Case for Smaller Schools
October 17th, 2010EdTech News Roundup: Tech and Teachers, Common Myths Dispelled, and a $10 Million Gift
October 17th, 2010This week’s EdTech Roundup starts with a question that always springs to mind when people talk about “technology” in the classroom. If the technology advances far enough, will teachers end up obsolete?
1. Can Computers Take the Place of Teachers?
This CNN article discusses observations from an experiment done in India to see how students learned from computers and the Internet.
2. Research Dispels Common Ed-Tech Myths Read the rest of this entry »
A Yale Law grad on law school, the Constitution, and whether you should really get that J.D. (Part I)
October 16th, 2010Nick Pederson is a graduate of Yale Law School. He was gracious enough to answer some of our questions about law school, the legal field, and his current work. Look out for Part II of the interview next week!
Why did you choose Yale Law School?
The truth is Yale was never my dream school. I’m from Atlanta, I like sunshine, and after getting deeply annoyed that virtually every top law school in the United States was in a terrible climate, I decided I wanted to go to Stanford. But in the end I was drawn to Yale for what I think are the right kinds of reasons… I had gotten really into constitutional history and theory. Yale is really strong on these fronts, with many of the very best names in the field — names that were on the books I’d been reading. Now that I’d gotten in, I wanted to go take classes with these guys.
What was your favorite law school experience? Read the rest of this entry »
Top 10 GMAT Problem Solving Tips
October 15th, 2010The Problem Solving (PS) section of the GMAT may not be as quirky as the Data Sufficiency section of the test – but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to study for it! PS questions require more “straight math” than Data Sufficiency questions; in other words, they’ll probably be more like the questions you’re used to seeing on high school and college math tests. The best way to study? Master the basic concepts from geometry, algebra, statistics, and arithmetic — then check out these 10 helpful tips!
1. Make sure your fundamentals are strong.
Knewton Challenge Discussion – GMAT Sentence Correction (Peristaltic Pumps)
October 15th, 2010This is a Sentence Correction question from SC 3, Extra Practice HW (Parallelism and Comparisons). So far, almost 45% of Knewton students have missed it. How would you approach it?
Try it out, then share your answers, questions, and thought processes in the comments below. Remember, if you’re in our GMAT class now, add your teacher name and session to your comment (e.g., Zwelling, MW 1:30).
In addition to relieving stress and building strength, certain yoga poses instigate the onset of peristaltic pulses in the small intestine, just as peristaltic pumps do, and these have a purgative effect like a laxative’s.
[A] certain yoga poses instigate the onset of peristaltic pulses in the small intestine, just as peristaltic pumps do, and these have a purgative effect like a laxative’s
[B] certain yoga poses instigate the onset of peristaltic pulses in the small intestine, like a peristaltic pump, and they have a purgative effect that is like a laxative
[C] certain yoga poses and peristaltic pumps both instigate the onset of peristaltic pulses in the small intestine, and they have a purgative effect like a laxative
[D] the onset of peristaltic pulses in the small intestine is instigated both by certain yoga poses and peristaltic pumps, and they have a purgative effect like a laxative’s
[E] the onset of peristaltic pulses in the small intestine is instigated by certain yoga poses, just as with peristaltic pumps, and these have a purgative effect like that of a laxative
Law School News Roundup – Religion and Law School, Dorm Life, and Applying Early
October 15th, 2010This week’s roundup features articles on whether or not a school’s religious affiliation should dictate what relationships it has with other companies and organizations, how applying early may not be the right choice for everyone, and the importance of personal reputation.
1. Linkage of Catholic Law Schools to Planned Parenthood is an ‘Embarassment’
How much should a law school’s religious affiliation affect students’ work opportunities? Read more about this situation at Boston College Law School in this Spero News article.
2. The Truth About Dorm Living Read the rest of this entry »
The College Admissions Essay: What not to do
October 14th, 2010This week’s college admissions tip comes from Dan Stern, founder of College Essay Organizer. His product is designed to streamline the essay process, and so will his tips below.
Over the years of advising on the college essay process, we’ve seen every trick in the book: the gimmick essay, the avant-garde essay, the comedy essay. (About this last one – how funny is it? Are you sure?) But there are a few very common pitfalls that we know you’re considering and we want you to avoid. Here’s what not to do with your college essay:
1. The down-and-dirty essay.
We all know how desperate you can feel. But addressing the admissions officer like he’s your bro can give you more headaches than easy ins. Try not to tell the awesome party story, try not to mention the police, try not to begin paragraphs with the single-word sentence, “Look.” I know you dress to impress, but let’s maintain some semblance of formality here. The person reading your essay is likely wearing a tie.
2. An essay about how awesome you are.
This piece of advice may seem like a trick. Even, perchance, a snarky bit of round-a-bout. All essays are implicitly about how awesome you are. Of course. But if you say things like “I don’t want to sound arrogant,” you are. You really, really are. Find a way to slip in how incredibly awesome you are by describing what you doare. rather than how you
3. Bribes.
We’ve all heard the stories of the kid who stapled the twenty (or the hundred) to his application and waltzed in. Generally speaking, your spot is worth a whole lot more than you can afford. Don’t try to buy your way in, unless you’re ready to have the school build a library with your name on it. Save your paper route money and think about upping the ante with your essays rather than with your ante.
The college essay can be a bit of a minefield so keep plugging along, and remember, this ought to be the first piece of writing you do ten drafts on. Then, after you’ve wrapped out draft no. 10, you have finally figured out what the essay is about. Now you can begin.
October 2010 SAT results
October 14th, 2010It’s that time of year: when a young student’s fancy turns to thoughts of…standardized testing. Yes, the SAT is back! Many Knewton students woke up bright and early on October 9 to brave the test. After it was over, they filled us in on the test day experience.
A full 72.7% of students surveyed said that the test went “better than expected.” The rest of the students felt they had done “as expected.” No one thought s/he had done worse than expected. See — we told you the SAT doesn’t bite! Reading offered some hurdles this time around, winning for most difficult section, with 45.5% of the vote. Math and Writing tied with 27.3% apiece. The majority of students (72.7%) felt best prepared for Math. The rest (27.3%) said they were most prepared for Writing. Let’s take a look at the breakdown in more detail:
Timing:
• Math posed the most timing issues, but over half (54.6%) said they were able to answer every question. Reading and Writing were slightly less rushed, with 63.7% able to tackle everything on Reading, and 72.7% getting to every question on the Writing.
Math:
• 45.5% said they had done “better than expected” on the Math. 36.4% reported doing “as expected.” Only 18.2% felt they had done “worse than expected.”
• Strategy definitely helped for math, with 81.8% saying they approached the problems with a combination of strategy and general math concepts. 54.5% said the strategies helped them “a lot!”
Reading:
• As with Math, 45.5% reported doing “better than expected.” An equal 45.5% said they performed “as expected.”
• Strategy definitely helped for this “toughest” section — 91% of students used and loved such Knewton techniques as “zoning” passages.
Writing:
• 63.6% of students said they had performed “better than expected,” while 27.3% reported doing “as expected.”
• The Essay proved to be the Writing section’s biggest challenge — 45% of students voted it “most difficult.” Improving Sentences came in second with 27.3% of the vote. Identifying Sentence Errors was third (18.2%) and Improving Paragraphs came in a distant fourth (9.1%).
• 100% of students surveyed were glad to have Knewton’s Writing section strategies in their SAT tool kit.
Conclusions:
• While Reading was the trickiest section overall and Math offered the most timing issues, the majority of Knewton students left the test feeling that it went pretty darn well. And Knewton strategies were definitely put to good use!
• When asked: “How well did Knewton prepare you for the SAT?” 100% of students said that Knewton really helped them come test day (and 36.4% actually said they couldn’t imagine being more prepared).
• 100% said they’d recommend Knewton to a friend. Aww shucks!
You survived the SAT – congratulations! And please keep in touch 
October 2010 LSAT results
October 14th, 2010After its three month summer hiatus, the LSAT is back! Many Knewton students tackled the first test of autumn this past Saturday, and then filled us in on their experience.
The test seemed to pose more hurdles this time around (more on that in a moment), but 46.9% reported it went “as expected.” And 12.5% said it was “better than expected.” 34.4% felt it went “worse than expected.” Now here’s the breakdown:
Overall
• Analytical Reasoning (a.k.a: Logic Games – the section we love to hate) won for most difficult, with 43.8% of the vote. Reading Comprehension came in second (31.3%) and Logical Reasoning was third (25%).
• 65% of students felt best-prepared for Logical Reasoning, while 28.1% were most ready to tackle Logic Games. Only 6.3% said they were best-prepared for Reading Comprehension.
• Timing wasn’t too much of an issue, with 87.5% of students managing to get to most or all of the questions.
Logic Games
• Students were split evenly on their Logic Games performance. 48.4% said it went “as expected,” while another 48.4% felt it went “worse than expected.” A small percent (3.2%) said it went “better than expected.”
• Regardless of how they felt about their performance, 100% of students said that Knewton’s strategies definitely helped on this section.
Logical Reasoning
• This section was a little less painful — 54.8% said it went “as expected.” 22.6% reported it going “better than expected.” Another 22.6% felt it was “worse than expected.”
• Parallel Reasoning won for most difficult question type, with 43.3% of the vote. Assumption came in a distant second with 20%.
• Almost everyone (96.8%) reported that Knewton’s strategies were useful for tackling this section.
Reading Comprehension
• On this second-most-difficult section, 48.4% of respondents said they had performed “as expected.” For 22.6% it went “better than expected,” while 29% felt they did “worse than expected.”
• Most difficult passage type? Natural Science, according to 44.8% of you. Social Science was second, with 27.6% of the vote; Humanities got 20.7%. And Law was a distant fourth, with only 6.9% voting it “most difficult.”
• Strategy was, overall, less crucial on Reading Comprehension, although 67.8% of students still put it to good use.
Conclusions
• Logic Games is the perennial favorite for “most difficult,” but students felt pretty well-prepared for it — and for the test as a whole. Almost all students — 96.8%, to be exact — said that Knewton had definitely helped prepare them for the LSAT. And 90% would recommend Knewton to a friend. Thanks guys!
Good luck with those Law School applications!
The top 5 MBA admissions myths
October 14th, 2010Anyone that’s applying to business school knows that there is a plethora of information about the admissions process floating around — some of it true, some false. MBA admissions expert Walter Hutchinson (founder of ApplicationAdvantage.com and MBAdashboard.com) was kind enough to speak with Knewton about the 5 most persistent myths about the b-school admissions process. Stay tuned next week for two myths specific to the 2010-11 admissions season!
Without further ado, the top 5 recurring MBA admissions myths:
1) A recommendation from a VIP, C-level executive or business school alum will make me stand out Read the rest of this entry »
