What is really behind the surge in applications to top colleges?

[Anonymous]

Craziness. I fear for my HS freshman...How do the UCLAs and UC-Berkeleys read all their applications? UCLA received 113,000 applications for the incoming freshmen class, up 11% from last year. Berkeley received 89,000 applications, up 5% from last year.

Even schools outside the top tiers are receiving record applications this year.

Connecticut College: https://www.conncoll.edu/news/news-archive/2018/record-apps/#.WqlpmejwZPY

Union College: https://www.union.edu/news/stories/2018/03/college-finalizing-class-of-2022-from-among-record-number-of-applications.php

And even Mary Baldwin in VA: http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/education/mary-baldwin-message-resonates-with-record-high-application-numbers/article_93572b8c-1c25-11e8-9bd4-f3c043040504.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least 75% of gen Y and Z will have a bachelors, parents want their children to have a prestigious credentials to differentiate them from the field. Plus hunt for most generous financial aid. And who are we kidding, top tier prospective spouses.

Very true. Let's not kid ourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FSU received more applications this year than UF (usually, it's the opposite). It looks like they are making it easier to wave fees and avoid paying to report test scores until after you are accepted. That might be a factor in the recent surge.

"With an eye toward increased access for underrepresented students, Florida State University is waiving its $30 application fee for prospective students who tell the university they have financial need.

In the past, FSU hopefuls had to jump a few hurdles to get the fee waived. They had to go to their guidance counselor and request paperwork. They had to make sure they tracked down all of the right signatures and materials, then send them by mail or fax to FSU.

Now FSU will take needy students at their word.

"We have a responsibility to increase access for first-generation and underrepresented students in our university community," said admissions director Hege Ferguson in a news release. "We feel obligated to remove as many barriers as possible to the admissions process, which reduces anxiety and increases participation."

The school will also begin letting prospective students self-report SAT and ACT scores, making FSU the first school in the state to offer that option.

Normally, students have to pay testing companies to send scores to universities. But FSU will only require official scores once students start the enrollment process — saving money for many others."

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/2017/10/26/have-financial-need-tell-fsu-and-your-application-fee-will-be-waived/

It'll be interesting to see how the self reported scores and the easier waived application fee wind up working out this year. Since it's less expensive (even no expense) to apply this year for many of the applicants, it'll be interesting to see if the same percentage of early decision accepted applicants actually wind up choosing to go to FSU. If many of them choose other schools and never send in official scores, will that lead to more applicants being accepted during Regular Decision this year?

Up until this year, as I understand it, most of pool of admitted students who actually choose to attend came from the early decision round. Applicants applying regular decision had a much lower chance of acceptance.

[Anonymous]

I think financial aid has something to do with it. 60 years ago, most people just KNEW they couldn’t afford it and didn’t bother trying. Now, there are student loans and FA and fatter School endowments so there is a higher likelihood that the 99% can attend what used to be reserved for the 1%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least 75% of gen Y and Z will have a bachelors, parents want their children to have a prestigious credentials to differentiate them from the field. Plus hunt for most generous financial aid. And who are we kidding, top tier prospective spouses.

It's nowhere near 75% for millennials. It's more like 35-40%. And most millennials are past college-age already, so that number is unlikely to increase substantially. I doubt the next generation will double the rate of college graduation of millennials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think financial aid has something to do with it. 60 years ago, most people just KNEW they couldn’t afford it and didn’t bother trying. Now, there are student loans and FA and fatter School endowments so there is a higher likelihood that the 99% can attend what used to be reserved for the 1%

+1

Years ago (before the Internet) most people didn't know how to game the system to get more aid. And it was not as common to go into heavy debt for a college degree. If the sticker price was more than you could afford, and you didn't get a big scholarship, you didn't attend, period. You just went to a "no-name" school or a community college. Average people were far less willing to pay for prestige than they are today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think financial aid has something to do with it. 60 years ago, most people just KNEW they couldn’t afford it and didn’t bother trying. Now, there are student loans and FA and fatter School endowments so there is a higher likelihood that the 99% can attend what used to be reserved for the 1%

+1

Years ago (before the Internet) most people didn't know how to game the system to get more aid. And it was not as common to go into heavy debt for a college degree. If the sticker price was more than you could afford, and you didn't get a big scholarship, you didn't attend, period. You just went to a "no-name" school or a community college. Average people were far less willing to pay for prestige than they are today.

35 years ago when I graduated from FCPS almost all of the seniors that I knew applied to in state schools. Kids still took on student loan debt but college was a lot more affordable back then.

Now it is quite common for kids to apply to OOS prestige schools. I honestly have no clue how much scholarship money they get or whether they get in state tuition rates. And if they do get in state rates and scholarship money the first year, do they continue to get it in subsequent years?

My own kid applied in state only.

[Anonymous]

^^ our oldest daughter was automatically extended in-state rate PLUS in-house merit awards (she didn't apply for) from some pretty good out-of-state public U's. These weren't detailed anywhere on their website before she applied. I think colleges are very aggressive in targeting kids with good stats. And they appreciate the diversity of OOS, non-international kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ our oldest daughter was automatically extended in-state rate PLUS in-house merit awards (she didn't apply for) from some pretty good out-of-state public U's. These weren't detailed anywhere on their website before she applied. I think colleges are very aggressive in targeting kids with good stats. And they appreciate the diversity of OOS, non-international kids.

^ my point is you don't know until you apply, hence kids applying to 10-20 colleges and comparing offers. it is tedious to handle all the applications and especially all the college board financial aid paperwork, but in retrospect it's well worth it. let the teen do their essays, mom and dad collect 2015-2018 taxes returns and w-2s and bank statements

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ our oldest daughter was automatically extended in-state rate PLUS in-house merit awards (she didn't apply for) from some pretty good out-of-state public U's. These weren't detailed anywhere on their website before she applied. I think colleges are very aggressive in targeting kids with good stats. And they appreciate the diversity of OOS, non-international kids.

O.k. my kid earned a merit scholarship at his college. That scholarship will continue as long as he meets a certain GPA. If his GPA goes below a certain percentage, I think he has one semester to do better and if his GPA is too low again buh- bye scholarship. I think that's the way these things normally work. And I would guess that an automatically extended in-state rate would have similar criteria.

Certainly, I hope that my kid maintains a solid GPA throughout college but I am also aware that a difficult class or two could really impact his GPA. I can deal with a risk like that at an in state school, but that risk would make me very nervous at an OOS school, especially if losing in state rate was a possibility.

Granted, the kids who get these kinds of scholarship are also lower risk in general for these types of GPA drops, simply because they do tend to be good students. I realize that some risks are worth taking.