Like any other field, that of college admissions is big barrel of lingo. If you're just getting into the game, you might find yourself overwhelmed by the jargon, from those acronyms (PSAT, SAT, ACT) to admissions types (early decision, early action, rolling, regular).
We're here to help. In this article, we demystify one category: college resources. What, exactly, are US News and the College Board?
US News and World Report
The US News and World Report, which celebrated its 60th birthday last year, is most famous for its college rankings. Every year, US News publishes long lists of schools, ranked in categories including location, subject area, acceptance rate, and financial aid offerings. Traditionally, the US News and World Report has published college rankings of only US schools; this year, the magazine debuted its “World's Best Colleges and Universities” rankings. US News has also expanded to include rankings of high schools and graduate schools.
The well-known “America's Best Colleges” list is based on data, usually provided by the colleges, “for up to 15 indicators of academic excellence.” Each of these factors—which include assessment by top academics, retention rate, faculty resources, selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate, and alumni giving rate—is given a different weight. US News and World Report's “World's Best Colleges and Universities” list considers another set of factors, including assessment by top academics, assessment by employers, student-to-faculty ratio, citations per faculty member, and percentage of international students and faculty at the school.
The US News and World Report's college rankings systems are considered a helpful starting point for high school students beginning the college search process. But some contend that reducing college experiences to a set of numbers isn't useful, and that US News feeds the inherent stress of the college application process.
The College Board
The College Board is a nonprofit that manages several major standardized tests, including the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT, and the AP tests. Lots of letters.
The SAT Reasoning Test, which in previous lives was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the Scholastic Assessment Test, has three components—critical reading, mathematics, and writing—and is required for admission to many colleges. The PSAT/NMSQT, or Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test—also produced by the College Board—is a practice version of the SAT administered to high school sophomores and juniors. And the AP tests, part of the College Board's Advanced Placement program, are administered to high schoolers at the end of college-level courses offered at their schools. (Many colleges allow students who have received certain scores on their AP tests to place out of corresponding college courses.)
In response to criticism that the SAT does not reflect what is learned in the classroom, the College Board has revamped the SAT. In 2002, the College Board began the process of incorporating a writing section into the test, which previously tested students on only critical reading and math.
The College Board's score choice policy allows students to take the SAT and accompanying subject tests multiple times, then select the scores they send to colleges. This system favors students who can afford to take the tests many times. Though the College Board does offer a fee-waiver program, available via guidance counselors, a number of colleges, including Cornell and Stanford, have rejected the score choice policy and require students to submit all their SAT scores. In recent years, the ACT Test, which rivals the SAT, has gained prominence: as of 2007, all four-year colleges accept the ACT.
Unigo.com
April 23 2010 | news | No Comments »
I’m sure most of us have witnessed the epic battle between the alien and the predator few years back, for taking over our earth but only to find themselves on the loser’s side against humans. Well, Now both the species our back! But don’t worry this time they are harmless as they have been reincarnated from junk that definitely makes themselves a part of the Steampunk vogue.
The Model as per athens_springer’s, comprises of the Predator with his weapon that is piercing right through the alien’s neck which for sure brings back the classic experience which the movie (Alien Vs Predator) was able to deliver through it’s much praised special effects. The Predator as well as its prey alien both are made from metal scraps, metal plates, bicycle chains and all various other elements that make it Steampunk in style. They definitely look as terrifying and as scary as the original beasts , why wouldn’t they when every bit of them is so intricately detailed? and one of the key features of this creation is that it is completely portable, so display your work wherever you want without much difficulty.
If your looking for some more crazy stuff like this try the cool Predator Motorcycle or the Alien Toy for your study table or the scary Recycled Alien Queen!
Tags: Alien, alien monster, alien sculpture, predator, predator monster, steampunk, steampunk alien, steampunk art, steampunk predator
If you’ve had the opportunity to attend the annual Bay Area Maker Faire, you’ve likely encountered Russell the Electric Giraffe. Modeled after a small Tamiya walking toy scaled up to the height of an actual giraffe, Russell was created by [Lindsay Lawlor] in 2005 originally as an “art car” providing a better vantage point from which to enjoy the Burning Man arts festival. In the intervening five years, the Electric Giraffe has enjoyed face time in dozens of parades, trade shows, magazines and television appearances.
Scattered about living room floor at the moment are the giraffe’s dismantled steel skull and several massive Torxis servos (the red boxes in the photo above) — Russell is being upgraded. One of goals in returning to Maker Faire each year is that he not simply present the same exhibit time and time again; the robot is continually evolving. Initially it was little more than a framework and drivetrain, and had to be steered by bodily shoving the entire 1,700 pound beast. Improvements to the steering and power train followed, along with a “skin” of hundreds of addressable LEDs, cosmetic improvements such as a new paint job, and technological upgrades like interactivity, radio control and speech. His goal this year is to bring expressive animatronic movement to the giraffe’s head and jaw, hence the servos, push rods and custom-machined bits currently strewn through his living space-cum-laboratory.
, 46, is a lifelong “maker,” with a gamut of talents from electronics to optics to mechanical engineering. Aside from creating this giant walking machine, he restores motorcycles, installs high-rise fire safety systems and has built his own laser light show projectors. And perhaps surprisingly, he’s managed all this without a degree or other formal education, just an intense curiosity and unstoppable drive. We posed to him one of the most common questions we receive at Ask HackADay, as to how one can get started in electronics and building the sorts of creative projects regularly featured on Hack a Day:
Don’t be afraid of failure, it’s a crucial part of the learning process. Get your hands dirty and start building projects that interest you — build a model airplane, restore a motorcycle. By tearing it apart and putting it back together, you learn to see what makes it tick. Someone who’s brave enough or sometimes lucky enough to acquire the means to build something, they end up with a vast amount of practical knowledge about what they’re interested in. Textbooks alone can’t provide that.
Seek a lot of advice from people who’ve worked on this stuff before. Respect them by following through…don’t just talk about your grand plans. Go to Burning Man or Maker Faire or hang out with artistic people. This will bring crazy ideas to the forefront. The amount of influence you receive from showing up at a place like that is incredible. It’s unstoppable, a really powerful force.
April 23 2010 | power sports | No Comments »