USA Today College: “Be careful what you post. It might just get you rejected from your dream school”
Also: Pre-Law Students Are Eager to Run, but Cautious
about Expressing Political Beliefs in Law School Application
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)
Press Contact: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanLSATPrep
New York, NY (February 22, 2017) – Fresh off an historic presidential election that has fueled increased political activism on both sides of the aisle, a new Kaplan Test Prep survey shows a jump in the percentage of pre-law students interested in politics*. Over half (53%) of the over 500 students surveyed say they would consider running for political office, up from 38% in 2012, the last time Kaplan surveyed on this topic. This 53% nearly ties the all-time high of 54% who said they would consider running for office when Kaplan first surveyed students shortly after President Obama was elected in 2008.
Approximately 35 percent of all members of Congress (both in the House of Representatives and Senate) are lawyers, the largest identified profession in the current Congress, though markedly down from a post-World War II high of 59% in 1965. Additionally, about half of all current U.S. governors graduated law school.
Despite many pre-law students’ passion for politics, many are apprehensive about putting their beliefs into words in the admissions process. When asked, “In general, do you think it’s better for applicants to avoid discussing their political beliefs in their law school application personal statement?”, nearly half (46%) say yes; 16% say no; 29% say it depends; and the remaining 10% don’t know.
But a separate Kaplan survey of law schools finds that admissions officers don’t necessarily think it’s a bad idea for applicants to discuss their political beliefs**. When asked the same question, 42% disagreed with the statement “it would be better for applicants to not discuss their political beliefs in their personal statement.” Of the remaining respondents, 28% agreed that politics should be avoided in law school application personal statements; 26% say it depends; and 4% don’t know.
“Law school has long been a bullpen of aspiring politicians, and we think the recent election showed many pre-law students of all political persuasions how important it is stay involved and stand up for what you believe,” said Jeff Thomas, executive director of pre-law programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “When it comes to expressing political beliefs in your law school personal statement, we advise applicants to do it only when you can do a good job of weaving together your personal narrative and career goals. For instance, if you want to go into public interest law, by all means, talk about your college internship in the governor’s office or your canvassing job for an advocacy group. But just to spout your political opinions with no larger goal may alienate admissions officers who don’t agree with you or who think you didn’t use your personal statement wisely. It can show poor judgement.”
For a short video illustrating the survey’s findings, click here.
* Kaplan Test Prep e-surveyed 514 of its LSAT® students between December 2016 and February 2017.
** For the 2016 Kaplan Test Prep survey, 98 of the 205 American Bar Association-accredited law schools were polled by telephone between August and September 2016. Included among the 98 are 28 of the top 50 law schools, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council, which neither sponsors nor endorses this product.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 100 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.
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2 CommentsNote to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)
Press Contact: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanGMATPrep
New York, NY (February 15, 2017) – As global brands increase their hiring of graduates with in-demand tech skills, Kaplan Test Prep’s most recent business school admissions officers survey finds that MBA programs across the United States are integrating data science, big data and coding courses into their curriculum*. Of the 209 business schools who participated in Kaplan’s annual survey, 72 percent say they offer courses in either data science or big data; 13 percent say they don’t currently offer it, but are considering offering it; and 15 percent don’t currently offer it and have no plans to offer it. The survey also found that 28 percent of business schools currently offer courses in software development or coding; 9 percent say they don’t currently offer it, but are considering offering it; and 63 percent don’t currently offer it and have no plans to offer it, indicating that many business schools don’t currently see coding as a necessary skill for workforce-bound MBAs.
According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, the organization that writes the GMAT® test, 72 percent of the companies they surveyed in 2016 said they planned to hire recent business school graduates to fill data analytics positions. This is roughly the same percentage who planned to hire graduates for positions in marketing and finance, which are historically more traditional MBA areas. The report also says that employers are looking to hire workers who have strong skill sets in SQL and R, two programs frequently used in data science.
Bain & Company, a consulting company long at the top of many MBA graduates’ employer wish lists, is among the businesses that see the importance of their employees holding a strong data skill set. “We have been aggressive in hiring in that space. We are building a team of champions with specific technology expertise,” Elizabeth Spaulding, a partner at Bain & Company and head of the firm’s global digital practice, recently said in a BusinessBecause.com article.
“What companies are saying is that many of their current employees, who graduated a decade ago or more, don’t necessarily have these skills, and they’re looking to a new generation of business school graduates who do. Our survey finds that many business schools are rising to the challenge to meet this demand,” says Brian Carlidge, executive director of pre-business and pre-graduate programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “Employees who both understand a company’s business goals and understand the data to help them reach those goals will be highly desirable to recruit and hire in the technology-driven workforce.”
*The survey was conducted between August 2016 and October 2016 of admissions officers at 209 business schools in the United States. Among the 209 business schools are 17 of the top 50, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council™. Kaplan materials do not contain actual GMAT items and are neither endorsed by nor affiliated in any way with GMAC.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 100 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services. Additionally, through its Metis and Dev Bootcamp brands, Kaplan offers new economy skills training (NEST) programs and resources in data science and coding to build skills that are in high demand in today’s job market and prepare participants for hire.
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Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)
Press contact: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews @KaplanSATACT
New York, NY (February 10, 2017) – Kaplan Test Prep’s latest survey of more than 350 college admissions officers from across the United States finds that while the percentage of admissions officers who check applicants’ social media profiles has dipped (35% versus 40% last year), a greater percentage of those who do check say social media has influenced their views on applicants*. Of the 35% of admissions officers who say they check social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more about applicants, 47% say that what they found has had a positive impact on prospective students — up from 37% last year. On the flip side, 42% say that what they found had a negative impact, up from 37% last year. Kaplan’s survey also found that of the admissions officers who use social media to help them make decisions, 25% do so “often” — more than double the 11% who said they did it “often” in last year’s survey.
What exactly are the kinds of things admissions officers say they have found that positively impacted applicants’ admissions chances? It ranged from community building to winning awards:
Some of the things college admissions officers found that negatively impacted applicants’ admissions chances ranged from bigotry to illegal activity.
“To be clear, the large majority of admissions officers do not visit applicants’ social media sites. However, a meaningful number do, as many note that social media can provide a more authentic and holistic view of applicants beyond the polished applications. And in fact, past Kaplan surveys have shown that a majority of students themselves consider their social networking sites to be ‘fair game’ for admissions officers,” said Yariv Alpher, executive director of research, Kaplan Test Prep. “That said, college applicants need to be aware of what others can find about them on social networks and make sure it reflects well on them. For better or worse, social media has become an established factor in college admissions, and it’s more important than ever for applicants to make wise decisions. If you’re not sure what to post, ask a parent or high school counselor. If you’re still not sure, then the best course of action might be to not post it at all.”
For a short video illustrating the survey’s findings, click here. And to read a blog post on Kaplan’s college admissions blog College: Admission Possible, visit here.
For more information about Kaplan Test Prep’s survey, please contact Russell Schaffer at 212.453.7538 or russell.schaffer@kaplan.com.
*For the survey, 365 admissions officers from the nation’s top national, regional and liberal arts colleges and universities – as compiled from U.S. News & World Report – were polled by telephone between July and August 2016.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 100 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.
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