For the 2009-2010 academic year, the School enrolled 815 boarding and day students, who come from 33 states and 33 countries. As of June 30, 2009, its endowment stood at $215 million. Lawrenceville received 1,778 formal applications for entrance in fall 2009, of which 245 were enrolled.

One of the oldest prep schools in the U.S., Lawrenceville was founded in 1810 as the Maidenhead Academy. As early as 1828, the school attracted students from Cuba and England, as well as from the Choctaw Nations. It went by several subsequent names, including the Lawrenceville Classical and Commercial High School, the Lawrenceville Academy, and the Lawrenceville Classical Academy, before the school’s current name, “The Lawrenceville School,” was set during its refounding in 1883. An 18 acre area of the campus built then, including numerous buildings, has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark District, known as Lawrenceville School National Historic Landmark. A newer portion of the campus, not intruding into that district, was built in the 1920s.

Fix #1 was bringing in lots and lots of foreign students, who would presumably come with fists full of cash.  But also, with problems.

I yield to no one in my appreciation of UC Berkeley’s traditional international flavor. I vividly remember the first time I approached Sather Gate. A woman wearing a sari was coming out as I went in, and I thought to myself that I was—finally—a true citizen of the world, privy to all its delights and entertainment. Among the international friends I made as an undergraduate were a Kurd, (from an ethnic group I’d only encountered in books) a Chilean Socialist (two firsts there), an Israeli woman who thought I was an Indian because of the sound of my name, and my whole rooming-house full of women physics students from Taiwan, who taught me how to cut up a chicken with a few swift strokes of a cleaver without removing any fingers by mistake. And they were all amazing people, brilliant high-achievers, admitted because of their outstanding abilities—not, however, including their ability to pay big bucks for tuition.

There’s a real danger that today’s international students will become nothing more than cash cows. There’s the possibility that the student body will be overloaded with the privileged offspring of the ruling classes who couldn’t cut the mustard back home, and that merit will go out the window.

It doesn’t have to happen that way, but the risk is there. The same caveat applies to out-of-state American students, who will also be paying those lucrative higher tuition fees.

Overall, the percentage of these special categories is jumping from 6% to 8% of the student body in the whole UC system, with UC Berkeley getting the biggest increase. Berkeley continues to be a very saleable brand in brand-conscious Asia, with much more cachet than Los Angeles or Riverside.

A major difficulty with embarking on the mission of educating the world, even if we get nothing but the cream of the crop, is that these students are not nearly as likely as they used to be to stick around after they graduate. India and China in particular are developing their own industries which will employ their own top graduates. This might leave California, high-tech California in particular, short of top talent, having educated too few Californians and too many people who just go home after they graduate.

The diverse student body at the school comes from 40 states and 38 foreign countries. With over 223 courses, Hotchkiss offers a large-school academic experience with a small-school feeling. The average class size is 12, and facilities include: an 87,000 item library, a visual arts center, two theatres, new state-of-the-art athletic and music complexes, a golf course, and tennis courts, all on a 810-acre campus. Over 36% of students receive need based aid from a financial aid budget of over $7.2 million.

Boarding Grades: 9-12,

Enrollment:
Boys: 299
Girls: 296
Boarding: 543
Day: 52
States: 40
Countries: 38
Courses: 223

• Demonstrated experience in an international business environment
• Applicants who have made an impact
• Rising stars, recognized by senior management
• Leaders, managers, and mentors to others
• Passionate, directed people
• Community activists
• Applicants who understand why they need an MBA from an American institution
• Communicators who ace the interview

When Rebeca Ponce signed up for summer classes at UC Berkeley through her university in Mexico, she knew she was in for an experience that would broaden her view of the world.

She had no idea.

The 20-year-old business administration student from the Tecnológico de Monterrey soon found herself sitting in a classroom where she and students from India, Germany, China, South Korea, Australia, her own country and countless others are the overwhelming demographic.

“Studying at UC Berkeley has been a really rewarding experience. I have made many friends from different countries,” she said. “I wish there would have been more U.S. students to get to know more about Berkeley’s lifestyle, but I loved interacting with people from all over the world, learn from their cultures … and see life from other perspectives.”

The result of a concerted outreach effort, the number of foreign students attending classes in UC Berkeley’s summer program this year has climbed 50 percent over last year. The 2,356 international students make up 16 percent of the 15,000 total students enrolled, said UC Berkeley summer sessions director Rick Russo.

The infusion of international students is evident in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution course Ponce is taking. About 98 percent of students in the class are from abroad, said Haas School of Business Professor Eli Kass, adding that such diversity cultivates a classroom dynamic distinct from what students would find during the regular school year… Read more here

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What is driving the application frenzy?

One college counselor colorfully exclaimed, “We know the devil and it’s 3 faces: Moody’s, US News and World Report, and the Common Application.”

Moody’s

Moody’s, the first branch of the demonic trifecta, penalizes colleges and universities by degrading their bond ratings if their SATs, selectivity or yield drop. And bond ratings are nothing to sneeze at. When a university needs to borrow money for capital improvements or renovations, its bond rating determines the interest rate at which it can borrow funds. The Board of Trustees will put heavy pressure on an admissions office to maintain the institution’s AAA bond rating.

Private High Schools are locked into a similar set of rules determined by Moody’s. Their bond ratings are tied to their matriculation lists, SAT scores, National Merit and AP scores. To keep their boards happy, college counselors must attend to the selectivity of the colleges on their “matric” lists.

US News and World Report

By now, most of you are aware of Mephistopheles’ favorite publication, the US News and World Report. The US News annual rankings are responsible for narrowing the collective gaze of millions of high school students onto a handful of schools and rewarding these schools for rejecting as many students and being as “selective” as possible… continue reading.

Harvard, Yale and Stanford Business Schools all accept the PTE.

Format
Computer-based test measures all four language areas: Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing,

Content
Authentic academic test content from a variety of international contexts and scenarios

Duration
Approximately three hours

Availability
During the launch period PTE Academic will be available in 37 territories including China, India, the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the UK, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Canada.

Registration
Register online and schedule a test using a flexible ‘choose and book’ system

Scores
Available online within five business days of taking the test Secure online results service