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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 26, 2024 12:57:55 GMT -5
Now we're talking real money. It has been announced that Dr. Ruth Gottesman is making a $1billion donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. The money is earmarked for free tuition. She is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Einstein. Absolutely breathtaking. I'm sure there are a relatively small group of heavy hitters who could come close to making a similar donation to HC. Maybe make our case to some disaffected Harvard/Yale alums. This would be in addition to the campaign. HC needs to up its finances for it to successfully compete and provide an even better learning experience. Either move forward or slide back. Standing still is not an option. Imagine big! She is a physician. Her late husband was a financier associated with the Wizard of Omaha.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 24, 2024 8:35:01 GMT -5
The Fauci integrated science complex involves multiple buildings, so that could qualify. This is what VR said to the editors of The Spire This occurred over semester break, so very few students on campus.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 24, 2024 8:21:54 GMT -5
Any indication when that is kicking off and the target? Later this year is my guess. Rule of thumb is that you have raised half the campaign $ goal at the time you go public with the campaign. BC announced its new campaign a few months ago, but announced it had already raised $1.15 billion. This is less than a third of the campaign goal. BC also does not have intercollegiate athletics as a campaign funding priority. Also can't find an end date for the BC campaign.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 22:37:09 GMT -5
Might be doable if UMass could join football only, but the state legislature is never going to subsidize the cost of an all-sports affiliation. Athletic departments are very good at working the numbers, such as.... 1. CUSA media rights are about $500K more than the A-10. That helps cover the cost of travel to scenic places like Las Cruces, Huntsville, and Murfreesboro. 2. Only 12 of UMass' 21 sports are sponsored by CUSA so they could federate the others closer to home. 3. UMass already travels a lot for football, the marginal gain in travel costs would be limited. None of these on its own makes the case, but legislators tend to gloss over the details anyway. Once upon a time, I flew non-stop on B-727s into Huntsville. Some of these locations would require charter flights, and if one didn't go charter, I think, for example, to fly to Huntsville, you would need to change planes in Atlanta. Early practice for when you're headed to heaven or hell. Direct flights to Huntsville tend to be high-priced, because most travelers (not originating in Atlanta) are people working for Uncle Sam or defense/aerospace contractors. www.recorder.com/UMass-athletic-director-Ryan-Bamford-says-finding-a-conference-for-football-program-remains-a-priority-53283340^^^ It's all about football.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 19:38:14 GMT -5
A scale tests for who is the heaviest and lightest, the SAT tests for who has the best aptitude for college and the Achievement Exams (do they still have those?) test who has learned the most in high school (or from parents who might be history buffs or other learning opportunities) in a particular subject. It's not rocket science, although the Math SAT would help select good candidates to study that in college. Back in the day, IIRC, HC required pre-med applicants to take the SAT IIs in biology and chemistry. And scores in these tests were a significant factor when it came to admission. The AP exams have replaced the SAT IIs. apstudents.collegeboard.org/course-index-page
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 19:24:48 GMT -5
Might be doable if UMass could join football only, but the state legislature is never going to subsidize the cost of an all-sports affiliation.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 19:13:39 GMT -5
A week or so before the threat, the Libs of Tiktok account started posting about Professor Isaacs and his videos. The reaction was what you'd expect, so Id at least guess the threat was directed towards him. VR said that they had to sweep several buildings on campus. For Isaacs, you would only need to sweep one: Fauci., as his labs, office, and classrooms are there. My thought was another professor who presence on campus is more widely-spread, and who has a tangential association to an individual unaffiliated with HC who is front and center in present-day, volatile headlines. I am not going to name him, because I don't know which buildings were swept. My assumption is that these were in different areas of the campus. For example, how many buildings would you need to sweep if it was a Jesuit member of the teaching faculty?
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 13:07:42 GMT -5
PS will the master plan EVER be released? I’ve almost given up. I wonder if the mysterious west side of College St activity either needs to be kept low profile for PR/community relations purposes and/or the activity, acquisitions etc are just not complete yet. It’s interesting that Brooks is relabeled Loyola in the master plan image from the video. I wonder what then becomes of Loyola? And does that mean Brooks bldg stays? Would seem incongruous with all new upper campus housing. I really hope Hogan gets more than a face lift. It’s a substandard facility IMO and subjectively unattractive. Our peer set far outpaces us with campus centers/commons. Yes, you can tell I wanted to be an architect (still do!) at one point. VR said they started making some changes to Hogan over semester break, and more changes will be undertaken over the summer. I inferred from his comments that they have started making changes in O'Kane, now that theater / performance arts has moved to Prior. I expect much more of the master plan will be made public in the context of the upcoming capital campaign.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 13:01:24 GMT -5
VR, in his Feb interview with the editors of The Spire, said the threat was directed at a specific faculty member. The faculty member was quickly taken to a safe area. The WPD and WFD then began sweeps of various buildings. So, a targeted threat. not a generic threat against the College, writ large.
VR also said the incident was a valuable learning experience, including identifying areas/steps where changes need to be made in the response to future, similar threats.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 22, 2024 14:40:27 GMT -5
I like balancing FBS gamesm have a non P4 game like a Buffalo or Northern Illinois followed by BC then back to a non P4 and back to someone like a Syracuse, Pitt, UVA. I like the idea of academic FBS schools like Vandy, UVA, Duke, Rice, Tulane, California, Stanford (who visited for women's lax- how did we pull that schedule off?) IIRC, Stanford had another game scheduled in the Boston area.. They didn't fly east just to play HC.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 22, 2024 7:30:51 GMT -5
You’re right - it’s a great peer list. Good mix of LACs and Unis, good geographic diversity and types of schools too. That is a list you want to be on. Good company. Surprised Georgetown missing. Questbridge was a hard "no" at Georgetown. The key selling point to schools with Crossbridge is a curated group of high-achieving first-generation kids that may not be aware of some schools otherwise and the tradeoff is a four year full ride. Georgetown gets a lot of first-gen kids on its own, so recruitment is not the problem. But as Georgetown requires an EFC (expected family contribution) and doesn't offer a full four year ride to anyone, the requirements for a Questbridge match would not be met without it. I suspect the latter also holds true at Harvard. Re: Harvard Harvard was not sued for 'price-fixing' financial aid. Neither was Princeton. www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/01/24/colleges-price-fixing-financial-aid-settlement/#:~:text=Nearly%20a%20half%2Ddozen%20of,to%20a%20Tuesday%20court%20filing Harvard with respect to parent contribution (and full ride)
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 21, 2024 19:12:40 GMT -5
No reason to think Harvard is ending after 2024; since they've created that future schedules site, they've never had much listed for the Johnnies/Crimson whichever-you-prefer. Then again, the new coach has no ties to the HC/Harvard series specifically or Holy Cross in general. Harvard and Holy Cross traditionally play each other in multiple sports each year. It is convenient for both schools given the travel distance and time. IMO, Rougeau will push for Harvard because it helps HC's position in national branding. VR is BIG on the national branding, and getting HC to be more known outside the Northeast. (See discussion on Questbridge in the class of 2028 thread). If HC schedules FBS, I think the strong preference would be a decent $$$ guarantee game. I'll see if I can get a little birdie to flutter down to Chestnut Hill and inquire about BC.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 21, 2024 18:42:51 GMT -5
I participated in this campaign, but I never saw where I could select how to direct my gift. Chu, For next time, go to: give.holycross.edu/campaigns/2662/donations/new?a=1aOn the right side of the screen, you will see a query: How would you like to designate your gift? Make your selections You will see a rectangular dialogue box saying If not designated your gift will Click on it. The border of the dialogue box will turn blue. A long list of designation boxes appear Scroll down Football (The Gridiron Club) will appear Click on it You will get the opportunity to add another designation Before you make another designation, you should first enter the donation amount for football. I do not know how this works or appears on a smartphone.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 21, 2024 16:15:11 GMT -5
The two other Catholic schools are Notre Dame and BC. Villanova is likely the next one on this list. Harvard is the only IL school that is not a partner. I think becoming a partner school is a bilateral decision by both Questbridge and the prospective partner school. Holy Cross joined under Boroughs, and it was tied to the College seeking to become more national in its outreach. I think there is a two-year transition between when a school becomes a partner, and when it can start participating in the "match". There is a strong emphasis on the National LACs. 23 of the 50+ partner schools are LACs. Looking at the USN&WR Top 25 list, if one subtracts the USNA, USMA, and USAFA, HC would probably hold position 21 or 22 on the USN&WR Top 25 list, if it were a ranking of Questbridge partners. IMO, HC was/is certainly on the cusp of 'getting in', and was possibly helped by the Agnes Williams financial aid initiative. On an endowment per student basis, HC is near the very bottom but above BC and BU. Of the Claremont colleges, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, and Scripps are partners. Harvey Mudd (science and engineering) and Pitzer (business) are not. The other three are liberal arts.. The matches seem to be similar to the process used by hospitals to match medical school students with residency programs. For residencies, the soon to be med school graduate ranks his/her preferred hospital choices from 1-20. For Questbridge, the student ranks schools 1-15. For Questbridge, students who are not matched go to the regular admissions pool. About 40 percent of Questbridge students are admitted regular admissions. It is possible, but, IMO, probably unlikely that HC could admit additional Questbridge students in the regular admissions cycle.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 21, 2024 11:03:02 GMT -5
The schools we should be in conversation with when speaking of our peers. Amen! These Questbridge students must be doing well at their matriculating colleges. Otherwise, colleges wouldn't keep returning to this source if students were struggling academically.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 21, 2024 7:54:22 GMT -5
It might be interesting to see if there is any overlap in the 46 with Athletic Dpt recruiting. The 46 are all full rides, no loans. But they would be counters in football and hoops.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 21, 2024 7:30:24 GMT -5
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 20, 2024 19:33:32 GMT -5
From an interview that VR had with the editors of The Spire several weeks ago.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 20, 2024 19:30:21 GMT -5
Why would Tufts have so many more applications than Bowdoin? Bigger school... Undergraduate enrollment is about 3x higher than Bowdoin's. Plus it has an engineering program.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 20, 2024 19:17:05 GMT -5
Tufts 34, 400 total applications Brown 48,881 down 5 percent from last year Bowdoin 13,200 highest ever.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 18, 2024 7:51:07 GMT -5
Crazy how many schools kids apply to these days. I have to imagine that is in part what is driving the sheer number of applicants up. The Common App is responsible for much of it.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 17, 2024 18:39:07 GMT -5
Any early reads on stats? Admission rate, etc? The class has not been fully admitted yet. Only EDs. No data on total number of applicants. Only a few schools have released info on total number of applicants. Bowdoin 13,200, up 20 percent, and a record Marquette 18,000, up 20 percent. There is more info on Early Decision / Early Action applicants, but HC is not included in the list of 25 or schools that have released these statistics.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 15, 2024 8:26:46 GMT -5
Checking the cams this morning, a third Hogan cam is now off-line. This cam is the view of the Hoval. Only cam that is on-line is the Dinand cam looking at O'Kane.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 15, 2024 8:17:17 GMT -5
I will note that I very recently read or heard that less than 0.1 percent of the HC endowment is restricted to athletics; i.e., the value cited was under $1 million.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 14, 2024 11:10:14 GMT -5
A composite score under 600 would be in the bottom 1% of all test takers. I cannot imagine that any HC student would have such a score and I’d have to guess that any such student would struggle even with grade school classes Composite score 400-599: 0.9% of the enrolling class of 800+ Composite score 600-799: 4.9 % Composite score 800-999: 2.2% This distribution is not what I expect to see, which makes me suspect there were issues/problems in how the test was administered. during the peak of the COVID epidemic. Another guess is that foreign students perhaps took the SAT instead of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Occasionally, I have seen Common Data Sets that are subsequently updated / corrected. I can't believe at this stage if these values were entered in error, that this would not have been caught and corrected by now.
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