Applying to US Universities

We explore some of the academic affiliations and qualifications of the president and his family which our readers may find interesting.

Barack Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles then transferred to Columbia University where is completed his B.A. degree in Political Science in 1983. He was admitted to Harvard Law School in 1988. In 1990, he was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991. He taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

First lady Michelle Obama obtained her B.A. degree in 1985 with a major in sociology and minor in African American studies at Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude. She obtained her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. She is the third First Lady with a graduate degree, following Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. In 1996, Mrs. Obama served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals and held the position of Vice President for Community and External Affairs till 2008.

President Obama’s father, Barack Hussein Obama, attended University of Hawaii and Harvard University as an international student from Kenya. He obtained M.A. degree in economics from Harvard University. His mother attended University of Hawaii at Manoa and obtained her PhD in Anthropology. her Ph.D. dissertation was titled, “Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving and thriving against all odds”.

Barack Obama was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents. Against many odds, he worked his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans. Mrs. Obama’s father was a pump worker at the City of Chicago water plant. He worked hard all his life despite facing various health problems. Education is the key to advancement in America and nobody exemplifies it better than Barack Obama. Yes, you also can.

Reference:

www.whitehouse.gov, wikipedia

The ranking methodology: Using an online salary database, SmartMoney took the salaries that graduates were earning 3 and 15 years after graduation, then divided those salaries by the cost of a degree obtained in 2005 and 1993, respectively.

According to Dr. Elsa Murano, President of Texas A&M University, “We are obviously pleased—but certainly not surprised — to have Texas A&M acknowledged as a national leader in the financial return on investment in a college education. We take special pride in providing our students a high-quality education at the most affordable cost within our means, in keeping with our high standards as one of the nation’s top research universities. We don’t necessarily strive to be the least expensive; our goal is to provide the best overall value for a university that offers a world-class educational experience.”

The overall ranking (with payback ratio):

1. Texas A&M University (315%)

2. University of Texas, Austin (306%)

3. Georgia Tech (263%)

4. University of Georgia (239%)

5. University of Washington (225%)



The winners in the Liberal Arts category:

1. Washington and Lee (165%)

2. University of Richmond (130%)

3. Lafayette College (115%)

4. College of the Holy Cross (114%)

5. Bucknell (114%)



The top five Ivies:

1. Princeton (132%)

2. Dartmouth (131%)

3. Yale (127%)

4. Harvard (124%)

5. University of Pennsylvania (124%)

app2us.com analysis: This ranking is very significant because it puts the worth of the degree in perspective. In simple language, it means that if you get a degree from Texas A&M University or The University of Texas at Austin, your return on investment is the best. Even if you forget the fee and costs, these are anyway one of the best Engineering Universities and well ranked for other fields like Management. It is interesting to note that these are both public Universities of Texas. At 3 and 4 are public Universities of Georgia. According to this ranking, public Universities have beaten private and Ivy League by some margin. As you can see, Ivy league schools do not have an attractive return on investment.Although the rankings are specific for undergraduate education but the trends for graduate degrees is likely to be on a similar pattern. If you are an international applicant (and not tied to a particular state for in-state benefits), we recommend you to consider these rankings before making your final list of universities to apply to.

Reference: SmartMoney.com, Colleges that pay off


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The advantage of this policy is that the student will not be penalized for one bad day during the test. However the disadvantages are many. It is not easy to take the test multiple times for those with limited financial resources. But rich kids can take the test over and over again till they get a decent score. The College Board claims that the new rule is designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience. It will potentially increase the stress for those who know due to financial reason it is their first and last chance, while others can retake if they mess up. Also by taking the test multiple times a test taker can get unfair advantage. The practice and experience of the real test helps the next time. Whether or not the new system will help the admission process and its various stakeholders remains to be seen.