education

For most high-school students, applying for college is a daunting process best left to the bravest of scholars. To apply to a top-tier school is an even nobler task.

To ease that fear and debunk some rumors, we sat down with Harvard College Admissions and Financial Aid Officer Sophia Meas for an inside look at the admissions process:

What makes a winning college admissions essay? Poynter Institute faculty member Kelly McBride knows.

She coaches students at Poynter and has talked to admissions officers and studied up on the topic.

The stakes are high, she says. A great essay can pave the way for admission, even if a student's grades and SAT score aren't the best.

Some parents might decide the time has come to help their kids with homework a bit more diligently. But what to do might elude them.

Tracey Holloway, owner of Club Z In-Home Tutoring of St. Petersburg, Fla., offered some ways to help.

Q: What advice do you have for them when they see their report cards to ensure that they do well in school from here on out?

In Andover, Kan., just outside Wichita, families are forking over $100 per student this year for the privilege of riding the bus, the best solution a panel of community leaders could think of to cover holes in the school budget.

In Gainesville, Fla., no student within two miles of school is getting bus service for the second year in a row.

Which fork to use with which entree and foods to avoid during a business lunch are good to know, but not an education staple on most college campuses.
Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio, decided to change that recently when more than a dozen students learned those dining etiquette tips.

Tuesday was a day of drama for high school students who applied to the nation's most exclusive private colleges.
At 2 p.m. they logged on to Ivy League and other college Web sites and learned: Yes, no or maybe.

Students in a lecture class at Carnegie Mellon University were packing up to leave when Elliott Curtis, their instructor, called them back to their seats, saying he'd forgotten a key part of the lesson.
It was time for them to come forward and show their sneakers.

As private colleges nationwide worry that the recession may drive students away to lower-priced public schools, one West Virginia campus is trying out a novel approach.
It's matching public campus prices.

Melanie Pickens picks up a coaster-sized circle of deep purple yarn, inspecting it to see if it will lie flat against a table.
"This is too lumpy," 9-year-old Melanie told her teacher, Roberta Konefal-Shaer, of the crocheted disc that will someday become a hat. "What do you think I should do now? Do you think I should do a double stitch?"

The way Connie Decker sees it, she's not competing with high school guidance counselors, but working with them.
"All counselors would do what I do if they could," she said. "Many refer students to me."
Decker and Deren Finks, both based in Riverside, Calif., are independent educational consultants in the Inland area.