Johnson and Wales University Update

In March 2018, I attended Johnson and Wales University (JWU) brunch for NJ counselors and educators. I wanted to hear what had changed since I visited the Rhode Island campus in 2014. The highlights were:

• The culinary classes have been reworked based on industry input and now look at market segments like chef-driven corporate dining and chef-concept restaurants, in addition to fine dining.
• The College of Health and Wellness was opened in 2016 offering a B.S. in Health Science, a B.S. in Public Health and a B.S. in Dietetics and Health Nutrition. On the graduate level the school has a Physician’s Assistant program in which they hold 12 seats for JWU graduates.
•  In the College of Engineering and Design, the hottest program is the two-year old Cyber Threat Intelligence & Defense program. A new major in Digital Marketing and Social Media starts in Fall 2018.
•  A new building, the Center for Science and Innovation opened just over a year ago.
•  Early action admission was offered for the first time in Fall 2017.

My earlier JWU posts are one from December 2013 and another from January 2014.

Will I get accepted to my dream college?

Princeton University (photo by Rana Slosberg)

High school students often worry whether they will get into their first choice college or university. One way to assess their chance for admission is to use Naviance scattergrams as described in this Forbes article.

Here are three additional considerations when using Naviance scattergrams. If:

• Very few or no students from your high school have attended the college you are interested in, there won't be a scattergram for you to use. Don't let that discourage you from applying. You can still assess your chances for admission by looking at data like acceptance rate, GPA distribution, and mid-50% ACT or SAT scores of accepted students. This data is generally available on the college's website and/or or college search sites like the College Board's Big Future (which includes it under the "Applying" tab for each college).

• There is a Naviance scattergram with only a few points, the scattergram will be less reliable than if many students from your high school had applied to this college. You may want to use the techniques listed in 1. to better assess your chance for acceptance.

• The college you are looking for has an acceptance rate of less than a third, the college will most likely be a reach school.