College Shorts

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CORNELL ALTERS FINANCIAL AID TO INCREASE RECRUITING

Cornell University made the decision this past November to change the face of its need-based financial aid program in order to enhance their ability to "aggressively recruit" select students - particularly athletes, minorities, and those exhibiting academic excellence. These targeted students are being referred to as "enrollment priorities" by University administrators.

"Some of the students who are selected will be 'college scholars'; the selection of college scholars is done by each college," Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment, wrote in an e-mail. "Other students may be selected because they are an enrollment priority, such as students of color, athletes, and students from farm families -- these are just a few examples."

The University continues to stress that it does not and will not offer merit-based scholarships, but rather merit-based aid to students "in need of financial assistance."

The president of the Cornell Student Assembly (S.A.), Ryan Lavin '09, claims that the school's new program calls for the use of a different need-calculating formula for select students.

"Before [one] would say that the University gives 100 percent need-based aid to all students," Lavin said. "[But] this formula is different for selected students, who seem to now be getting 110 percent of their need."

Administrators are hopeful that the changes to the policy will enhance both athletic recruitment and diversity on campus, as well as allow it to compete with other Ivy League schools who are offering more impressive aid packages to possible recruits.

- Cornell Daily Sun

STUDENTS COMPETE FOR DWINDLING INTERNSHIPS

As the job market continues to shrink, students at Princeton are finding themselves being forced to step outside their niche to secure jobs and internship positions. On Feb. 20, over 150 students gathered to chat with recruiters at the annual Career Services internship fair - jobs that in many cases, were outside the industry they originally considered.

Even finance students, in light of the recent fall of a number of large banking institutions, are finding the hunt to be difficult and extremely competitive.

"There are just fewer opportunities, because so many of the big banks that were once here are now gone," Randy Wang '10 said. "I'm looking more into investment banking, and there's only one investment bank here, and it's a boutique firm."

Securing internships, according to employers who were represented at the fair, will only become increasingly competitive as more companies continue to scale back on both paid and unpaid positions. The shortage of opportunities has coincided with a boost in the number of applicants, many of whom are unconcerned about compensation.

"I noticed last year when we did interviews and said, 'Just to be clear, this is an unpaid internship,' some people were wavering," explained Kai Chan '04, an associate at FG Companies, a small boutique investment bank in New York. "This year, when I explicitly start off the interview saying it's an unpaid internship, they're fine with that, and just say, 'Let's proceed.' "

- The Daily Princetonian