Each year, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors compete in a game they’ll play only once, whose rules they do not fully understand, yet whose consequences are enormous. The game is college admissions, and applying early to an elite school is one way to win. But the early admissions process is enigmatic and flawed. It can easily lead students toward hasty or misinformed decisions.

This book—based on the careful examination of more than 500,000 college applications to fourteen elite colleges and hundreds of interviews with students, counselors, and admissions officers—provides an extraordinarily thorough analysis of early admissions. In clear language it details the advantages and pitfalls of applying early as it provides a map for students and parents to navigate the process. Unlike college admissions guides, The Early Admissions Game reveals the realities of early applications, how they work and what effects they have. The authors frankly assess early applications. Applying early is not for everyone, but it will improve—sometimes double, even triple—the chances of being admitted to a prestigious college.

An early decision program can greatly enhance a college’s reputation by skewing statistics, such as selectivity, average SAT scores, or percentage of admitted applicants who matriculate. But these gains come at the expense of distorting applicants’ decisions and providing disparate treatment of students who apply early and regular admissions. The system, in short, is unfair, and the authors make recommendations for improvement.

The Early Admissions Game is sure to be the definitive work on the subject. It is must reading for admissions officers, guidance counselors, and high school seniors and their parents.

Heating materials using microwave energy offers many advantages in industrial processes, including improved quality, efficiency and control. There is a growing interest in microwave heating throughout industry and there are now many research establishments, both academic and industrial, working in this field. Microwave technology is a well developed science in the areas of radar and communications, supported by a large bibliography, but this is not the case for its applications to industry. The aim of this book is first to present the fundamentals of microwave technology that are relevant to industrial practice in a manner accessible to engineers, scientists and technicians who may have little or no prior knowledge of the subject. Second, it presents a perspective on the range and scope of the techniques and hardware used, giving detailed descriptions, making critical comparisons and commenting frequently on practical issues of design.

In EXHIBITS IN ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIES, longtime special collections exhibits curator Jessica Lacher-Feldman advises archivists at all levels on developing enlightening and entertaining exhibits. She describes each step of the exhibit process, providing straightforward tips on: Developing innovative exhibit ideas Formulating exhibit policies and procedures for your institution Crafting well-written and visually interesting exhibit labels Branding and designing exhibits Promoting exhibits through conventional media, social media, and give-away items Also included are case studies that detail exhibits at a variety of institutions, sample documents and forms, a literature review, and a guide to exhibit supplies. Exhibit development doesn't have to be complicated or overwhelming. With this comprehensive resource, you'll learn how to develop exhibits that help you to better connect with your audience and advocate for your repository. "Proceed and be bold" with exhibit development, and gratifying, inspiring results will transpire.

In Austin, Texas, in 2002, a group of artists, activists, and academics led by performance studies scholar Omi Osun Joni L. Jones formed the Austin Project (tAP), which meets annually in order to provide a space for women of color and their allies to build relationships based on trust, creativity, and commitment to social justice by working together to write and perform work in the jazz aesthetic.

Inspired by this experience, this book is both an anthology of new writing and a sourcebook for those who would like to use creative writing and performance to energize their artistic, scholarly, and activist practices. Theoretical and historical essays by Omi Osun Joni L. Jones describe and define the African American tradition of art-making known as the jazz aesthetic, and explain how her own work in this tradition inspired her to start tAP.

Key artists in the tradition, from Bessie Award–winning choreographer Laurie Carlos and writer/performer Robbie McCauley to playwrights Daniel Alexander Jones and Carl Hancock Rux, worked with the women of tAP as mentors and teachers. This book brings together never-before-published, must-read materials by these nationally known artists and the transformative writing of tAP participants. A handbook for workshop leaders by Lambda Literary Award–winning writer Sharon Bridgforth, tAP's inaugural anchor artist, offers readers the tools for starting similar projects in their own communities. A full-length script of the 2005 tAP performance is an original documentation of the collaborative, breath-based, body work of the jazz aesthetic in theatre, and provides both a script for use by theatre artists and an invaluable documentation of a major transformative movement in contemporary performance.