“College Is Harder than Ever to Get Into!” – Latest Misleading Shock Headline?
Many admissions blogs -- and, even more unfortunately, local news outlets -- are taking the following statistics and coming to the conclusion that "college is harder than ever to get into:"
Universities across the country are announcing record low admission rates this year. Yale University set the Ivy League record by accepting only 8.6 percent of its 21,099 hopeful applicants. Other record lows include Brown University (13.8%), Columbia University (9.6%), Dartmouth College (15.4%), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (13%), Stanford University (11%), and University of Pennsylvania (17.7%).
However, the leap from "record low admissions" to "college is harder to get into" is misleading. As I have previously discussed (with regard to Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale), while there has been a massive increase in 2008 applications, the selectivity of each college remains comparatively unchanged. The sudden drop in admissions statistics per college may be accounted for by the fact that students are applying to, on average, three times as many schools as students did just a few years ago.
However, there's no denying that there are more students than ever looking for college admission. Not only is a higher percentage of graduating high school seniors looking toward university life, but the number of graduating seniors is also increasing. With 3.2 million graduating in 2009, the largest in US history, it is undoubtable that the volume of applications will continue to rise.
I want to remind future applicants again, though, that the bar for a 'qualified student' has remained consistent at almost all schools. If your 3.9 GPA and 2340 SAT would have gotten you into Yale last year, it will probably still get you into Yale next year. That is also true, by the way, of smaller, local schools and state universities -- selectivity has remained steady. Application volume may have gone way up, but that does not mean that qualified students will suddenly be turned away.
Have any insight on this topic? Want to ask a question or make a suggestion? Click here to leave a comment.Related Articles
- Ivy League Admissions Statistics for 2007
- Massive Increase in 2008 Applications
- Brown University Becomes Latest Ivy League to Offer Free College
- Some Colleges Opting Out of the SAT ‘Score Choice’ Option
- Columbia Is Final Ivy League to Offer Free College
- Standing Out in a Sea of 121,000: The UC Admissions Game This Year
- Perhaps Yale Is Not As Friendly to Low-Income Students As Previously Thought
Students with a lower GPA and who have limits placed on the number of colleges they can consider as a result should always think about accredited online degrees. Even though in the past distance learning was considered to be nothing more than a network of so-called "diploma mills", more and more real accredited online colleges have been appearing. Due to not needing physical space for their students, they can accept more people and have more relaxed admissions criteria. There are even online business schools, med schools, grad schools, and law schools.
Anyone worried about college admission into a decent, brick-and-mortar university should always consider distance learning as an option.
- Nina, 10/29/08 at 12:56 pm