Science Competition Nets Smart Students Big Bucks!

Imagine having $100,000 for college, and not even being enrolled yet? Meet Dmitry Vaintrob, Oregon high school senior and lucky recipient of a $100,000 scholarship from the Siemens Foundation. The scholarship, the Siemans Competition in Math, Science, and Technology (also known as the Siemans Westinghouse Scholarship) is one of the foremost science scholarships for high school students. It was awarded to Dmitry for his research in an innovative area of mathematics called string topology, which may provide progress in understanding electricity, magnetism, and gravity.

“His work is at the Ph.D. level, publishable and already attracting the attention of researchers,” said competition judge Michael Hopkins, a professor of mathematics at Harvard.

Several other students and teams of students also won prizes in the science competition, ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.

More About the Scholarship and How to Apply

Started in 1998, the Siemans science competition was geared towards providing scholarship money to the brightest (high school) minds in science and technology. Every year, Siemans awards almost $2 million in scholarships making them a valuable resource for students considering science fields. From their website:

“By supporting outstanding students today, and recognizing the teachers and schools that inspire their excellence, the Foundation helps nurture tomorrow’s scientists and engineers.”

The scholarship has reached such a high profile, that even the US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings attending this year’s award ceremony at NYU. Interested in seeing the ceremony yourself? You can watch the webcast here.

Siemans’ has an online calendar that marks important dates in the scholarship application process. As the 2006-2007 competition has just come to a close, the dates have passed for this year but will be updated for next year’s deadlines soon. The competition process passes through three phases, according to the guidelines. The initial phase includes applications to the Educational Testing Service to outline their science project, abstract, and supporting documents. Three hundred projects are selected by judges, as semi-finalists who proceed onto the second phase: the regional finalists. At this level, students present their projects as a poster presentation to a panel of judges, followed by a question and answer session. These winners advance to the final phase as national finalists, who are then intensively judged. Those whose projects reflect the highest scientific merit are awarded the scholarships.

Not bad for a science fair project. In my day, all we got was a blue ribbon at best!

In a move that may affect the lives and education of millions of Americans, The Washington Times reported today that the US Supreme Court will examine whether race can be used in school admissions decisions. More specifically, they will determine whether the Constitution’s promise of equality implicitly allows for affirmative action in admissions. And the court’s decision may depend on the newest member of the court—Justice Samuel Alito, Jr.—to provide a tiebreaker vote. It has been more than 50 years since the US Supreme Court first outlawed segregation in public schools, but the cases to be argued Monday will address questions left unanswered by Brown vs. Board of Education: Now that official segregation has ended, why have racial divides in education persisted? And what should the US government’s role be?

America Has Mixed Feelings About Affirmative Action

Civil activists are pitted against an administration that is decidedly against using racial ‘quotas’ in the admissions process. Most of America is divided over this issue. One the one hand, most people agree that a diverse nation should be reflected in a diverse education. However, one of the core principles of the American dream is “the best person for the job.” It will be a difficult task for the Supreme Court to reconcile these two ideals.

“The new [affirmative action] cases “put on the table, in a very clear way, the question of how far society, how far government, should go in terms of trying to promote diversity in education in America,” said Ellis Cose, the author of a study on affirmative action.
“The core issue of whether the government should be in the business of helping to promote diversity in some way in education is at the heart of all these cases,” he said.
The Bush administration is siding with parents against the school districts, arguing the policies are an unconstitutional, albeit well-meaning, “racial balancing” without a compelling justification.
“A well-intentioned quota is still a quota,” the administration said in a brief submitted on the Kentucky case.
Civil rights advocates said a ruling that bars schools from taking race into account would deal a devastating blow to the promotion of diversity in schools.”

The Stakes Are High

A lot is riding on the results of these cases. If the highest court in America issues a decree as to the unconstitutionality of quotas, a fundamental change would occur in admissions decisions that would not longer be able to weigh the issue of race in attempting to promote diversity on campus. Traditionally, “race-neutral” admissions often end up segregating schools and lowering the percentages of minorities in higher education. Currently, about 400 of America’s 15,000 school districts “are under court orders to de-segregate.” However, the Leadership on Civil Rights points out that if race could no longer be considered in admissions, it may be impossible for schools to de-segregate as they had been formerly ordered to do.

How Segregated Are Modern Schools, Really?

The Civil Rights Project at Harvard released a report in 2003 which described the lingering presence of “racial separation” in public schools, despite segregation being knocked down long ago. They reported that while whites comprised 58% of America’s public school enrollment, the average white student attended a school that was almost 80% white. The same held true for black students: they comprise 17% of all enrollment, but the average black student attended a school that was 58% black. However, it is difficult to achieve diversity in education when even the government isn’t so sure it’s the best thing for the students. Just last week the US Commission on Civil Rights, appointed by President Bush, said that they saw “little evidence that racial and ethnic diversity in elementary and secondary schools results in significant improvements in academic performance.”

The US Supreme Court vs. Bush

There is some reason to hope that the Supreme Court will defy the Bush Administration’s wishes and support racial quotas in school admissions. Three years ago the court decided 5-4 that that an applicant’s race was one of several criteria a public university could consider in admissions, so perhaps they will apply the same logic to elementary and secondary schools. However, one of the key pro-affirmative action judges, Sandra Day O’Connor, has been replaced with a more conservative justice, Justice Alito. Alito has been quoted as saying he’s particularly proud of his work against, “racial and ethic quotas.” The ruling should be decided by June (yes, these court decisions really DO take that long!), so stay tuned.

Up to Our Necks in Debt

Paying back student loans is a daunting task, and if you recently graduated in 2006 you are facing this reality very soon. Student loans usually have a 6 month grace period before payments begin, and it has been about 6 months since graduation. Today’s college graduates have more debt than previous generations, but they also have more options, knowledge, and tools at their disposal.

USAToday’s Six Week Series on Debt

For example, check this out. USAToday and ABC News is currently in week two of a six week series called “Young and in Debt,” which tackles the increasing debt load that recent college grads are faced with. The series pairs ‘twentysomethings’ with members of the Financial Planning Association who can give sound lending advice. Already, the site (youngdebt.usatoday.com) is chock-full of useful tools and resources to help grads weigh their lending and repayment options.

One useful tool is an interactive state-by-state map, illustrating the average debt of graduating seniors at 4-year colleges in 2006. A few highlights?

• Debt of Michigan graduates from public colleges: $18,526 and private colleges: $21,020
• Debt of Florida graduates from public colleges: $16,402 and private colleges: $21,282
• Debt of Iowa graduates from public colleges: $23,198 and private colleges: $22,184

Check the map for more info on the rest of the states.

Other tools include a debt-consolidation calculator, to help you decide if that option is for you, and what it will take to pay off lines of credit, depending on your interest rate and payments.

Take Advantage of Financial Planning Experts

The site also hosts an interview with USAToday’s personal finance columnist, Sandra Block, which tackles questions like “What should borrowers do if they can’t afford their monthly loan payments?” and “What are some ways to reduce the interest rate on my loans?” The beauty of the internet is that expert advice that may have once been costly to acquire is now freely distributed, if you know how to find it. Take advantage of the experience of expert financial planners, by submitting your own questions to a certified financial planner.

Follow the entire six week series on USA Today for more valuable information on loans, debt, repayment, and how to plan for a smart financial future.

Who could have ever guessed that getting good grades could be a bad thing? Well, actually, it isn’t—the problem is that so many students are getting excellent grades, college admission boards are having trouble using them as a “measuring stick for applicants.” The recent trend is called grade inflation, which refers to the gradually rising GPAs nationwide. The graph below shows the rise in GPA over time in a representative set of public and private universities (from www.gradeinflation.com).

What is causing it? A valid question to ask is whether teachers and schools have relaxed their standards (and awarding undeserved high marks), or if high school students are really improving academically. But, the bottom line is that students applying to college may have to revise their strategy to make sure they stand out in the applicant pool.

The End of Traditional Academics

This is just another nail in the coffin of what you might call “traditional academics,” where getting into college used to be as easy as getting good grades. Now colleges seek well-rounded applicants who, in addition to academic excellence, exhibit other qualities such as community involvement, special talents, volunteer work, and extra-curricular activities. More and more, colleges are phrasing admissions decisions as “What can this student bring to the learning environment?” rather than just “Can he or she learn and perform well on tests?” Often the admissions essays are an opportunity for applicants to shine, and to show all the facets of their personality. While a well-written essay has always been of value, as traditional measures like grades mean less to admissions committees, essays will be weighed more heavily in decisions. This also holds true for letters of recommendation. Admissions committees facing tough choices may turn to what was said by other educators to “make or break” the decision. Standardized test scores, such as the SAT and ACT, might also assume more weight, so prepping for these tests is essential.

Why Might Grade Inflation Be Occurring?

Many high schools, including the one I attended, awarded extra GPA points for Advanced Placement (AP) courses. As AP classes have become more prevalent, and more students are taking them, GPAs on average will rise.

“Extra credit for AP courses, parental lobbying and genuine hard work by the most competitive students have combined to shatter any semblance of a Bell curve, one in which ‘A’s are reserved only for the very best. For example, of the 47,317 applications the University of California, Los Angeles, received for this fall’s freshman class, nearly 21,000 had GPAs of 4.0 or above.”

Honestly, I believe that grade inflation is also the result of:

1) Parents and students realizing the immense competition for college, and investing more time in studying and more money in tutors,

and

2) Teachers and high school officials being put under pressure not only to help students be competitive for college, but to make the grade for federal incentives (e.g. No Child Left Behind).

One way to tell if students deserve the inflated grades is to compare academic grades with objective test scores. Teachers are rarely 100% objective, as they work with the students on a daily basis. Standardized tests like the ACT and SAT, on the other hand, are purely objective tests of the student’s comprehension. Although test scores have also increased over time, GPAs have risen higher and at a much faster rate than standardized test scores. This suggests that the inflation is not merely due to an increase in academic excellence.

The Bottom Line?

Having good grades should only be part of your strategy, but an all A’s record will always be an asset. It is important to cultivate interests, talents, and hobbies outside of school to provide colleges with a well-rounded applicant with a unique personality, confidence, and drive to succeed. Also, make sure the people you have write your letters of recommendation will only have the most glowing things to say about you. Finally, take many practice tests for the SAT or ACT, which have been proven to improve your final score. All these things together, and presented well in an application, will make you stand out among the tough competition.