The UK and Australia provde direct entry to a major unlike say the USA, Canada and Scotland (although you can certainly start building your major immediately). One often wonders which method is better. I have always argue it depends on the student. But a new study actually suggest that committing too soon is not a [...]

Apparently although more women apply to college, at selective universities they seem to be admitted more or less at the same rate. Are girls being denied just because they are girls?
Many think so and this has caused an investigation to be launched by the Human Rights Commission:
Commission Investigating Role Of Gender In College Admissions
The U.S. [...]

From CNN
1. How do you feel about Wednesday?(University of Chicago, 2002)
This topic was inspired by a student. However, it was optional. Students did not have to share their thoughts on Wednesday if they did not feel comfortable doing so.
2. What outrages you? (Wake Forest, 2009)
For most students? Questions like this one. We think admissions officers are [...]

Times are tough all over:
The UC Board of Regents, meeting at UCLA, approved a two-phase increase that will boost the average undergraduate fee $2,500 by next fall. That would bring the average annual cost to about $10,300 — a threefold increase in a decade.
This represent a 32% increase! It is unclear if out of state students [...]

The number of early applications to Yale College decreased by 5.2 percent this year, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeff Brenzel said Monday.
Source: Yale Daily news

And so they come rolling in:
This year, 5,583 students applied to Stanford University during the restrictive early action round, representing an approximate four percent increase from the previous year.
Source: Mathacle Blog: Early action apps up four percent at Stanford for the Class of 2014
Early-decision applications at Duke University skyrocketed for the class of 2014. The [...]

Campus Grotto has published their annual list of the 100 most expensive colleges by total cost for the 2009-2010 school year.
Read the original article: Most Expensive Colleges for 2009-2010
Total Cost = Tuition + Room and Board

College
Cost

1. Sarah Lawrence College
$54,410

2. New York University
$51,991

3. The George Washington University
$51,730

4. Bates College
$51,300

5. Skidmore College
$51,196

6. Johns Hopkins University
$51,190

7. Georgetown University
$51,122

8. [...]

Helpful ideas from a veteran counselor:

Steven Henry Madoff, who is senior critic at the Yale University School of Art, has a new book,  Art School (Propositions for the 21st Century) (MIT Press). The book contains essays, questionnaire interviews, and transcripts of conversations by and among prominent artists and art educators, all of them addressing the mission and means of the art [...]