It's early decision time and anxiety is beginning to fill the air. This is expected to be another highly competitive year. The number of high school graduates is increasing, while the admissions rates to the Ivies, highly selective and competitive schools continue to fall. These facts are daunting. Why? (1) First reason, the number of available beds/slots remains essentially the same. Schools are not building additional dorms to accommodate, for example, an additional ten thousand students. (2) Second reason, more colleges and universities are using the Common Application. It's simply easier to fill out the application online, then press submit - you're done! Therefore, more students are applying. Notice, this does not mean that it's easier to get in! (3) Third reason, there is a more diverse application pool - diversity. This does not necessarily mean race, as may be perceived by many high school students, their parents and school counselors. Admissions committees assemble diverse incoming freshman classes. To increase diversity of incoming classes, colleges are now increasing the recruitment of international students, veterans, adult students, home-schooled students, transfer students from community colleges and students from cities, counties and states where the college-bound rate is low. Stay tuned for my follow-up blog on mistakes that students make on the Common App and what they should do to stand out on their Common Apps.
Dr. Lowe is President of Pinnacle Educational Center and Managing Director of the Admissions Advisors Group. He is the lead admissions expert at the Admissions Advisors Group: Woodbridge Admissions Advisors (www.woodbridgeadmissionsadvisors.com) and Greenwich Admissions Advisors (www.greenwichadmissionsadvisors) Tel: (203) 387-1574 | (203) 542-7288
