Top 15 – Lowest Acceptance Rate

School	Fall 2010 acceptance rate
Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA	4%
Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, KY	7%
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA	7%
Stanford University, Stanford, CA	7%
Cooper Union, New York, NY	8%
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD	8%
Yale University, New Haven, CT	8%
Brown University, Providence, RI	9%
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ	9%
College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, MO	10%
Columbia University, New York, NY	10%
Florida Memorial University, Miami, FL	10%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA	10%
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH	12%
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA	13%

(http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate)

Activity II: Helpful Vocabulary

1. Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right.

college application college counselor college tour freshman GPA (grade point average) junior letter of acceptance letter of rejection major SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) senior sophomore

a letter offering an applicant admission to college/university a student in the first year of high school or university the main subject that a student studies at college or university a student in the year before the final year of high school or college someone whose job is to provide guidance to help students understand what needs to be done for a successful college application the average of a student's marks over a period of time in the US education system an examination that American high school students take before they go to college a student in their last year of high school or university a student who is in their second year of study at a college or high school a letter notifying an applicant of his/her not being admitted to college/university a visit to a college campus which gives you an opportunity to find out what a college is really like a formal, usually written, request for a place at university

2. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate idiom or phrasal verb in the correct form (from the list below). Then translate the sentences.

to come up against (sth) a crash course to turn out to stink

to learn the hard way to set one’s sights on (sth) to pull one’s hair out

everything from soup to nuts

1. James __________ on a law degree (regarded a law degree as his goal).

2. I took _________ in ballroom dancing so we wouldn’t look stupid on the dance floor (a short and intensive training course).

3. After it was all over, it ___________ that both of us were pleased with the bargain (resulted).

4. I ___________ that it’s difficult to work and go to school at the same time (learnt by unpleasant experience).

5. I have _______________ in my briefcase (almost everything one can think of).

6. His acting ___________ but he looks good, so he’s offered lots of movie roles (is worthless).

7. She’s got a test tomorrow and she _______________ (is worried and frustrated).

8. They ______________ a lot of opposition to their plans for an out-of-town supermarket development (have faced).

Listening Comprehension Activities

1. Listen to the radio program in which Andrew Ferguson, a senior editor at the Weekly Standard, talks about his new book, Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College. Make notes about his attitude to the problem of applying to college.

2. Listen again and write (T) true or F (false) in front of each of the sentences.

1. Most middle-class parents aim at getting their kids into Harvard or Yale.

2. Mr. Ferguson began to get his son ready for college application when his son was in his last high school year. He felt he should have started earlier.

3. Mr. Ferguson consulted a woman who provides an A to Z college preparation program for children who are in their freshman or sophomore year in high school. The course costs $14,000.

4. Many parents start to compile the so-called “brag sheets” when their children are in elementary school. The “brag sheets” usually include all kinds of their children’s accomplishments like videos of athletic performances, tapes of music recitals and mentions in local papers.

5. Mr. Ferguson believes it is impossible to get into college without a great SAT score and a great GPA as they are the most important requirements for admission to college.

6. Mr. Ferguson says that the hardest part of college application is writing an application essay as the questions given usually appeal to your emotions, not reason. He admits he could not help his son to learn to write such essays.

7. When Mr. Ferguson met a college counselor, she recommended his son to take a SAT prep course.

8. Mr. Ferguson’s advice to all parents whose kids are going to apply for college is to stop worrying too much.

9. When Mr. Ferguson’s son was asked by his college counselor to describe college he would like to study at, he said that he wanted a school where he could go to a football game, paint his chest in school colors and major in beer. Mr. Ferguson did not like that joke.

After Listening Activities

Activity I: Discussing the Issues and Comparing

1. What do you think makes selective and highly selective colleges so attractive?

2. Read the following excerpt from the article “Prestige Versus Education” written by Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Do you agree or disagree with his opinion? Do prestigious universities and colleges really give you better education?

Academic prestige is based mostly on the research achievements of the faculty. Places like Harvard or Stanford have many professors who are among the leading experts in their respective fields, including some who have won Nobel Prizes. Good for them. But is it good for you, if you are a student at Prestige U.? Big-name professors are unlikely to be teaching you freshman English or introductory math. Some may not be teaching you anything at all, unless and until you go on to postgraduate study. In other words, the people who generated the prestige which attracted you to the college may be seen walking about the campus but are less likely to be seen standing in front of your classroom when you begin your college education. <…>

By contrast, at a small college without the prestige of big-name research universities, the introductory courses which provide a foundation for higher courses are more likely to be taught by experienced professors who are teachers more so than researchers. Maybe that is why graduates of such colleges often go on to do better than the graduates of big-name research universities. You may never have heard of Harvey Mudd College but a higher percentage of its graduates go on to get Ph.D.s than do the graduates of Harvard, Yale, Stanford or M.I.T. So do the graduates of Grinnell, Reed, and various other small colleges. Of the chief executive officers of the 50 largest American corporations surveyed in 2006, only four had Ivy League degrees. Some – including Michael Dell of Dell computers and Bill Gates of Microsoft – had no degree at all (abridged from http://www.creators.com/conservative/thomas-sowell/prestige-versus-education.html).

3. Is there any gradation of universities in Russia? What universities can be considered selective or highly selective?

ACTIVE READING

Read the following information and find differences and similarities between American and Russian institutions of higher education. Write out all the words relating to education.