- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is adopting a new way of presenting a student’s achievements through what’s called “contextualized transcripts.” According to a Chronicle of Higher Education article on the subject, “To Give Clearer Picture of Achievement, University Adds More Data to Student Transcript,” these new transcripts will include “information about the median grade in each course a student takes, along with students’ rankings by percentile against their peers in every class.” “This can only help students as an aggregate, because it makes grading information more objective and nonbiased,” said Andrew J. Perrin, associate professor of sociology and chair of the new transcript committee. “There are less incentives for students to take courses that they’re not interested in just in order to change their GPA’s, which we know is a very common practice.”
- Undergraduate business students have garnered a reputation for being apathetic. According to a recent National Survey of Student Engagement, these students are spending more energy on networking and getting internships than they are on studying. Wharton students, however, feel that this trend doesn’t apply to them. A Daily Pennsylvanian article, “Wharton students fight ‘apathy’ trend,” discusses how Wharton undergrads are actually working harder today than they did 15 years ago, and many are pursuing dual degrees with other schools in the college. Furthermore, the trend of focusing heavily on networking and jobs doesn’t apply just to business students, but to students throughout the college. Georgette Phillips, Vice Dean of Wharton’s Undergraduate Division, concludes the article by saying: “You’re really going to tell me that Wharton students aren’t intellectually motivated? Please.”
- Another recent Daily Pennsylvanian article discusses the topic of unpaid internships (”Some interns content with unpaid work“). It should come as no surprise that the prevalence of unpaid internships increases as the economy worsens. The article explains how many of these internships are actually illegal, but because the student and employer both benefit from it (the student gets work experience and the employer receives free labor), these instances are rarely reported. Last summer, 18% of college students had unpaid internships, compared to 65% who held paid positions. The more glamorous and competitive a field is, the more likely it will offer unpaid internships. For more information on paid and unpaid internships, see the Inside Higher Ed article, “Intern Nation.”
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Read the full article: College Admissions News Update: Transcripts, Apathy, and Internships
