Test 2

I missed this yesterday, but luckily the fine folks at IGN were there to record it.

Very cool. Now the entire island is covered in ice and snow. Downside: you have to contend with all of the new "ice monsters" (a callback from the "cube monsters" earlier this year).

Old Main, on Penn State's University Park campus

According to a recent article at Bloomberg, we are seeing fewer students taking advantage of higher education in the United States:

New foreign student enrollment in the U.S. dropped by 6.6 percent in the 2017-18 academic year, double the previous year’s rate of decline, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). While the total number of international students in the U.S. grew slightly, the drop in new enrollees is the biggest since 9/11, said Rachel Banks, public policy director at NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The decline seems to be continuing this year, she said.

The report attributed the drop to multiple factors, including visa delays and denials, the “social and political” environment and the cost of attending a U.S. school. The administration’s hard-right immigration policies, such as banning people from Muslim-majority countries and separating children from their parents at the border, make prospective students and their parents feel “that we’re not a welcoming country,” Banks said.

The number of F-1 visas, the kind issued to foreign students going to school full-time in the U.S., dropped from about 644,000 in fiscal 2015 to about 394,000 in fiscal 2017, according to data from the U.S. State Department. Vanessa Andrade, associate director of international partnerships and program development at California State University, Northridge, said safety is always the biggest concern.

I'm not trying to get too political on you, but there is certainly a correlation between the Trump administration's rhetoric and the downward trend in international enrollments at colleges and university in the United States. I'm guessing that many people don't realize that other countries are major consumers of higher education in our country:

The more than 1 million foreign students in the U.S. contributed $39 billion and supported more than 455,000 jobs during the 2017-18 academic year, according to an analysis by NAFSA. The largest spending benefits went to California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Pennsylvania. NAFSA said education is one of the country’s biggest services exports.

“Education—particularly higher education—is a major American export,” University of California, Santa Barbara economics professor Dick Startz wrote in a Brookings Institution blog post in 2017. “When we provide a service that leads to foreigners sending money into the U.S., that’s an export with exactly the same economic effects as when we sell soybeans or coal abroad.”

So this is going to quickly become an economic issue as much as it is a diplomatic one.

And, like with domestic recruitment, institutions of higher education will be recruiting from a dwindling pool of international students.

So gang, I think that we may have an issue with hawks nesting near the Shields Building here at University Park. You can read about our previous adventures with hawks (aka, Iowa's mascot) here.

As I was walking into the office yesterday morning, I noticed a couple of students on the sidewalk gawking and taking pictures of something in the grass. Naturally, my attention was drawn there...
[click any image to embiggen it]

Yes, that is a hawk that is clearly being interrupted during his breakfast (or perhaps a morning snack) of a small bunny rabbit.

If you've ever been on a suburban-to-rural college campus, you'll know that the small woodland creatures that make campus their home eventually become relatively tame. Squirrels are notorious for this here at Penn State's University Park campus. Once the work day started, a group of us were discussing the bird in a meeting. Someone raised the point that it is surprising that we don't see more birds like this swooping in and scooping up rabbits and squirrels on Old Main lawn (and elsewhere on campus). I think that's a great point!

Animal control and our Office of Plant Operations have been notified. But, I have to say, I think that it's pretty cool that we have a bird-of-prey that has taken up a home nearby. It's almost like it wants to be a normal part of the campus community...

I'm a huge fan of the John Wick movies (the first is the best - but both were excellent), and it appears that chapter 3 will not be a disappointment. From io9:

After being excommunicated from the Continental for violating the High Table’s rules by killing another assassin on neutral ground, the worldwide hit has been placed on Wick (Keanu Reeves), and the professional must fight to escape New York City if there’s any chance of saving his hide. With the bounty on his head, most everyone John’s ever worked with and might have considered an ally now sees him as a target too valuable to give up—except for Sofia (Halle Berry), who might end up having some ulterior motives of her own.

Looks like fun!

I'm a huge fan of the John Wick movies (the first is the best - but both were excellent), and it appears that chapter 3 will not be a disappointment. From io9:

After being excommunicated from the Continental for violating the High Table’s rules by killing another assassin on neutral ground, the worldwide hit has been placed on Wick (Keanu Reeves), and the professional must fight to escape New York City if there’s any chance of saving his hide. With the bounty on his head, most everyone John’s ever worked with and might have considered an ally now sees him as a target too valuable to give up—except for Sofia (Halle Berry), who might end up having some ulterior motives of her own.

Looks like fun!

#TNHTW. Love it.

Recently our Executive Director shot an email out to the staff that included a link to this post at the Georgia Tech Admissions blog. Totally worth your time, especially if you’re an Admissions Dude like me. My favorite part though:

Appealing an admission decision

“My son is amazing! Didn’t you see his test scores? And we know someone who got in who is not as good. How do we appeal?” Well… first, it’s very nice to talk to you ma’am. Not being admitted to a school that you really want to attend stings. There is just no easy way to say it. And at most selective schools, denied and waitlisted students can easily make a case for why they would be great students on campus. However, applications have been read multiple times in a holistic process and ultimately are made in line with achieving institutional priorities. I see how you could read that as the party line but it’s actually just confidence in our decisions.

A couple of things to know here: first, we want to talk to the applicant in these cases. Not someone who does a good voice imitation of the student, and not someone who really loves the student. Honestly, our first thought when we speak to a parent or connected alum about an appeals is, “does the student really want to come?” If so, it seems like they’d be the one to pick up the phone, send the email, or complete the appeal form.

Second, we explain on our website what makes a valid appeal. It varies from school to school, so check their information. Our reasons for a valid appeal normally include medical information, significant life circumstances, or academic details that were not correct on the transcript initially. We also list some of the invalid reasons for appeal. You’ll notice among others that pictures as an infant on campus, a really strong desire to come, or “it’s the only school I applied to” don’t fall into the valid category. #TNHIW

I could go on about how score ranges don’t guarantee admission or how we don’t have quotas of admits by school, or how the recruited athlete didn’t really take your spot, or the fact that deadline really means deadline, or how remnant shampoo doesn’t really wash your body, but I think we’re on the same page now, right?

My emphases.

Good grief, I just want to HUG the person/team that wrote this post.

As an admissions professional, this is something with which I struggle nearly every day; at what point do I drop the notion of being friendly with our “customers” (students and their families), and start getting real? The issue with which we are faced is explaining to students (read: parents) why the admission decision they received is not necessarily that which they wanted.

The applicant to Penn State that pens an appeal letter arguing that they should be admitted because they have been season ticket holders for the football program since 1986 when D.J. Dozier led the Nittany Lions to a national championship should not get a second glance. Never mind that any applicant making that argument had not yet been born in 1986. And yet, when that appeal arrives on my desk (or one of my colleague's desks), I am obligated to investigate the student’s record. And respond.

About 18 months ago I attended the College Board Forum in New York City. While I was there, I had an enlightening conversation with a colleague from Columbia University. She said that Columbia does not entertain appeals. The decision you get, is your decision. Final decision. Period. End of story.

I suppose that I should look at it from a student-centric point-of-view: our process of appealing an admission decision helps students to find the right fit for them, even if there is a lot of blood, sweat & tears in the process.

I use Strava for measuring my cycling outdoors. Each year they crunch my data and produce a slick lil' video that shows my progress.

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the number days that I was actually on the bike - only 74? Ugh.

I'll have to remedy that this year.

I use Strava for measuring my cycling outdoors. Each year they crunch my data and produce a slick lil' video that shows my progress.

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the number days that I was actually on the bike - only 74? Ugh.

I'll have to remedy that this year.

Guys, you need to pick up your bird.

So this morning I was walking into the Undergraduate Admissions Office here at Penn State, and I saw a colleague standing on the steps with her cell phone pointed towards the flowers beside the building. “Ingrid”, I said, “what are you taking a picture of?”

Then I looked where she was pointing her phone:

That is one serious bird!

It’s been great to be a Terp for the last few days! The University of Maryland staff have been fantastic hosts, and I’m really looking forward to seeing Northwestern next year!

(But, it will be nice to be back HOME in Happy Valley!)