What Is Happening at the 2011 NACAC Convention

A lot is happening already at the National Association for College Admission Counseling's (NACAC) 2011 annual conference in New Orleans. I am in the process of exploring the exhibit hall, located in the New Orleans Convention Center, where companies such as the College Board and Princeton Review have booths to promote their products and services. Please stop by the U.S. News booth, number 740, sometime during your time at the conference to chat and check out our latest products. We are interested in talking to people to get their feedback and suggestions on what we are doing right and where we could improve.

For those interested in finding out about what is happening at U.S. News as well as being part of a discussion on the Best Colleges rankings, U.S. News will be participating in two educational sessions on Friday, September 23

The first, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., is session B215, The Findings of NACAC's U.S. News & World Report Advisory Committee. This session will examine the results of the "NACAC's U.S. News and World Report Rankings Survey." I will be participating in the session along the members of NACAC's U.S. News and World Report Advisory Committee and NACAC's David Hawkins, director of public policy and research. It should prove to be a very lively discussion about the impact of the U.S. News rankings on all levels of college admission.

Immediately following is session C301, U.S. News–A Redesigned Web site and New Tools for High School Counselors and Admission Professionals,from 10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. This session will discuss how U.S. News is evolving into a new media company, the recent redesign of usnews.com's education website, new analytical tools U.S. News has to help both counselors and admission professionals, and some brief insights into the recently released 2012 edition of the Best Colleges rankings. We are committed to leaving plenty of time for questions and feedback from those in attendance. I will be participating in this session along with my U.S. News colleagues Chris DiCosmo, general manager of education; Sara Clarke, education editor; and Evan Jones, strategic analytics for education.