Ingram Publishing

Pre-Med’s New Priorities: Heart and Soul and Social Science

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Can the MCAT identify that ethereal mix of scientist, humanist and spiritualist that makes a good doctor?

Graphic: Examining the Would-Be Doctor: By Major, Grades, Test Scores

A Second Opinion: The Post-Baccalaureate

By CECILIA CAPUZZI SIMON

For older students, post-bac programs can resuscitate, or initiate, dreams of practicing medicine. But medical training is a long, risky journey.

In his college application, George Desdunes wrote of the sacrifices his mother made “to help me achieve something with my life.”

When a Hazing Goes Very Wrong

By MICHAEL WINERIP

“The purpose is to tie up the brother and get him drunk,” said George Desdunes’s roommate at Cornell. “It was meant to be fun,” said one of the pledges. Then lives were destroyed.

Jared Dangerfield, left, and Michael Chiromo, missionaries in Kampala, pay a visit to potential converts.

At Age 19, From Utah to Uganda

By JOSH KRON

For many Mormon college students, there’s a different rite of passage: spreading the word, cut off from home and virtually all earthly pleasures.

Slide Show: Study Abroad, Mormon Style

Robert Williams, who teaches German at Fairfax High School in Virginia, says students come in with negative images of Germany, and Mandarin is encroaching.

German in a Multicultural World

By SAM DILLON

The study of German language in this country has declined. Educators point to interest in Mandarin and a lack of interest among minority students.

Truly Food for Thought

By JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL

Colleges and universities have come to realize that the classic food disciplines simply will not do anymore.

Berea College students like Samantha Kindred, a junior studying agriculture and natural resources, have worked to make their hog farm more profitable, while improving grazing conditions.

Selling the Campus Farm

By KYLE SPENCER

Students are developing product lines for high-end tastes, and trying to turn their campus acreage into profit centers.

Departments

Spending

When the Calculator Says 1 + 1 = 4

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER

The new “net price calculators” are supposed to tell you what college will really cost. But like all things in their infancy, there are growing pains.

Data

The Bottom Lines

“Net price” is the new catch phrase in discussions of college cost. Find out which colleges, public and private, have the highest average net price and which have the lowest.

The Choice

Whose Offer Is Sweetest?

By TANYA CALDWELL

Expert advice on comparing financial aid award letters.

Grad School

James Franco was given a D in a class he attended only twice. But, he says,

Failure Is Not an Option

By ABBY ELLIN

Maybe because they’re older or they’re given a slide, few graduate students flunk out.

Do Grades Matter?

Tech

Apps for Navigating Campus Life

By LAURA PAPPANO

How do I get to LC101 from here? Where can I get food right now?

Strategy

Find associations and think in chunks. Here, four groupings are easier to remember than 12 unrelated letters.

How to Be a Better Test-Taker

By ANNIE MURPHY PAUL

Don’t choke on those final exams. Tips to free up working memory when you’re caught in the grips of test anxiety.

Q & A

Where Your Money Goes

By TAMAR LEWIN

Jane Wellman, a college-cost oracle, talks about tuition, salaries and college vs. prison.

Notebook

Nick Roberts, a sophomore, finds focus in the author’s yoga class at Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the country.

Upward-Facing Soldier

By LAUREN K. WALKER

Students at a military college learn to breathe deep, and how to remain calm in the face of chaos and war and the death of a buddy.

Pop Quiz

Interactive Feature: The New MCAT

In February, the Association of American Medical Colleges approved an overhaul of the MCAT, due in 2015. New sections will stress the psychological and social dimensions of medicine.