The Avid Learner

The 2009 USAMO will be held on April 28 and 29. For a list of local qualifers and their schools, please visit 2009 USAMO Qualifiers from Orange County.

16 OC Students Advanced to 2009 Chemistry Olympiad Semifinal

The 2009 USA Chemistry Olympiad local exam was held at Santa Ana College organized by American Chemistry Society, Orange County Sections on March 28, 2009. Approximately 25 local schools sent as many as 4 students to take the exam. The students were nominated by their Chemistry teachers who are members of the American Chemistry Society. The students took a 60-question multiple choice exam with top scorers advance to national semifinal round.

Valencia High School had the best results this year with all of its four participants advanced. For a complete list of Orange County qualifiers, please visit 2009 USA Chemistry Olympiad National Exam qualifiers from Orange County.

Colleges Report Record Low Admission Rates

Most of the seniors have received their college application results. This year, there is a sharp increase in applications to the Ivies and other top colleges. The admission rates at some of the elite colleges are at historic lows:

Harvard: 7%
Stanford: 7.6%
Yale: 7.5%
Columbia: 8.92%
Princeton: 9.8%
MIT: 10.2%
Brown: 10.8%
Dartmouth: 12%
Duke: 17%
UPenn: 17.1%
Cornell: 19%

For more information, please visit: Colleges Report Low Admission Rates.

	UC Admission Rates Drop
It is harder to get into University of California's nine campuses this year with a record increase in applications. UCLA had the most applications and the toughest admission rate, just 21.4% for California residents. The average GPA was 4.17 and SAT was 1,992. For more information, please read LA Times report: UC makes it official: Fewer freshmen get in for fall.

College Tuition Increases Less than Expected

Private schools plan relatively modest tuition increases, averaging about 4%, for the 2009-2010 school year. USC will have a 3.9% increase and Pepperdine University a 2.9%. Nationally, schools such as Duke and UPenn all reported less than 4% increase in tuitions.

In addition to modest tuition increases, a national survey found that schools are boosting financial aids funds by 9.2%, making colleges more affordable.

On the other hand, facing low tax revenue and budget deficit, public universities will have bigger tuition increases. The University of California system plans to raise its tuition 9% while California State University plans a 10% increase.

For more information, please read LA Time report: College tuition hikes lower than expected.

With Finance Disgraced, Which Career will be King?

Before the current recession and Wall Street meltdown, finance is one of the top career choices of top students. At Harvard, for example, about 40% of the students took the most lucrative corporate jobs like financing and management consulting. The "students who would have been part of the Ive League pipeline to Wall Street in the past considering very different career paths" observed Lawrence Katz, a Harvard professor. In addition to finance, the current recession also saw large number of lawyers laid-off and journalism reeling from the inability of newspapers and magazines.

In the Depression, smart college students flocked into civil engineering. In the Sputnik era, students poured into the sciences. Today, a new pattern of occupational choice seems to be emerging. Public service, government, science and even teaching look to be winners. Graduate schools of government and public policy are seeing a surge of applications.

For an in-depth discussion of the emerging career trends, please read New York Time article: With Finance Disgraced, Which Career Will Be King?

I hope you enjoyed the information provided in this newsletter. Thank you for supporting gifted education in Southern California. If you have comments to improve our newsletters or would like to share articles, resources and ideas with our community, please email me at Dr.Li@AvidAcademy.com.

Sincerely,

James Li, Ph.D.

Executive Director
Avid Academy for Gifted Youth