Admissions & Student Aid: A new special report from the editors of The Chronicle of Higher Education

Read on to learn what's in the issue and how you can get a copy right away.

This 32-page report, just published, focuses on recent trends that affect everyone involved in the college-admissions and student-aid process -- students, counselors, parents, and admissions professionals. Here are some of the incisive articles you will want to read and share with others:

• WHEN A 'SAFETY' LOOKS GOOD: Some students end up in an admissions nightmare: They're rejected by the colleges they most wanted to attend and sometimes by all of the colleges to which they applied.
• 'HELICOPTER DEANS': When their own children begin to apply to colleges, admissions officers hover just like other parents  — and say they learn vital lessons from the experience.
• COLLEGE ISN'T ALWAYS THE ANSWER: America needs a portfolio of postsecondary options that truly respond to students' interests and society's needs, writes a high-school principal and former professor.
• AUTHOR! AUTHOR! Colleges are adopting new strategies to try to ascertain whether their applicants got too much assistance with their essays. Meanwhile, fueled by the Internet, more and more hired coaches are offering their services.
• LOWER COSTS, MORE TRADITION: A growing number of Americans are enrolling in British institutions.
• INFLUENTIAL VOICES: Profiles of 10 top admissions officials who are making a mark on their profession.
• LENDING A HAND: A program started at the U. of Virginia sends recent graduates into schools across the state to help students from low-income families deal with the admissions process.
• SQUEEZE AT THE TOP: Despite its large endowment, Cornell U. cannot meet all financial aid with grants, unlike some of its even richer peers. The university's provost explains why.
• HOW MANY AP's IS TOO MANY? The president of Pomona College sees dangers in students' rush to take more and more Advanced Placement courses.
• ELECTRONIC OVERLOAD: Why don't colleges realize that teenagers pay little attention to e-mail messages from admissions offices (particularly the many messages that are only a step above spam).
• HOW THEY CHOSE: Four students talk about the factors that influenced their decisions about which college to attend.
• 'MY MOM MADE MY APPLY': A college sophomore reveals what he wishes he had written in his admissions essays.
• 'IF YOU WERE A VEGETABLE ...' : Probing answers to four top essay questions.

If you are a Chronicle subscriber, you can read the complete report online right now.

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