Theories as to why this year's acceptances were so tough...

[Anonymous]

Can’t they cut the number of foreign students accepted? Priority should go to US students.

[Anonymous]

Foreign students are full play and valuable to colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a mystery

1. The top colleges have barely added any new seats to incoming classes in 40 years. Yet we have 3mm more HS graduates. That’s 300,000 more students in the top 10% if their class vying for that tiny number of seats.
2. Increased foreign applicants as the US tries to lure talent
3. COVID grade inflation made more kids think they were more accomplished than they really were
4. General dilution of the SAT. Since college board reverted to the 1600 scale from the 2400 scale, they did NOT return to the same scale as pre-2400. Todays scores equate to 60-100 points lower on the old 1600 scale.
5. Test optional gives more people a punchers chance. Note I am actually in favor of TO. I am a devout non-believer in the SAT/ACT and what they purport to measure.
6. Common App majes it ever easier to spam 20 schools. I applied to 4 schools in HS in the mid-90s. Each application had to be typed on a typewriter or hand filled in. Tedious.
7. The ever-increasing influence of stupid rankings, combined with anxiety over being one of the have nots if you don’t get into a top 20.

I would add one more: the new push to accept first-generation students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a mystery

1. The top colleges have barely added any new seats to incoming classes in 40 years. Yet we have 3mm more HS graduates. That’s 300,000 more students in the top 10% if their class vying for that tiny number of seats.
2. Increased foreign applicants as the US tries to lure talent
3. COVID grade inflation made more kids think they were more accomplished than they really were
4. General dilution of the SAT. Since college board reverted to the 1600 scale from the 2400 scale, they did NOT return to the same scale as pre-2400. Todays scores equate to 60-100 points lower on the old 1600 scale.
5. Test optional gives more people a punchers chance. Note I am actually in favor of TO. I am a devout non-believer in the SAT/ACT and what they purport to measure.
6. Common App majes it ever easier to spam 20 schools. I applied to 4 schools in HS in the mid-90s. Each application had to be typed on a typewriter or hand filled in. Tedious.
7. The ever-increasing influence of stupid rankings, combined with anxiety over being one of the have nots if you don’t get into a top 20.

I would add one more: the new push to accept first-generation students.

ya think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a mystery

1. The top colleges have barely added any new seats to incoming classes in 40 years. Yet we have 3mm more HS graduates. That’s 300,000 more students in the top 10% if their class vying for that tiny number of seats.
2. Increased foreign applicants as the US tries to lure talent
3. COVID grade inflation made more kids think they were more accomplished than they really were
4. General dilution of the SAT. Since college board reverted to the 1600 scale from the 2400 scale, they did NOT return to the same scale as pre-2400. Todays scores equate to 60-100 points lower on the old 1600 scale.
5. Test optional gives more people a punchers chance. Note I am actually in favor of TO. I am a devout non-believer in the SAT/ACT and what they purport to measure.
6. Common App majes it ever easier to spam 20 schools. I applied to 4 schools in HS in the mid-90s. Each application had to be typed on a typewriter or hand filled in. Tedious.
7. The ever-increasing influence of stupid rankings, combined with anxiety over being one of the have nots if you don’t get into a top 20.

I would add one more: the new push to accept first-generation students.

ya think?

That’s been going on for several years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Applications have been increasing.
More selective schools are filling their spots with early decision.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/change-college-acceptance-application-process/627581/

Yup. this. And, more applications per student. Some top students gained a dozen top acceptances. Others got shut out.

[Anonymous]

I would look at this as uncertainty or unpredictability, from the applicant's perspective.

Test optional plus COVID grading and virtual learning (varying widely in both directions, with grades turning out unexpectedly low or high), and lowest-ever reported acceptance rates for the first year of test optional policies, class of 2021, added to uncertainty. These factors make categorizing reaches, matches, and safeties more difficult.

My opinion is that this increase in uncertainty will continue unless tests become required again. Due to uncertainty, there will continue to be many apps per student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a mystery

1. The top colleges have barely added any new seats to incoming classes in 40 years. Yet we have 3mm more HS graduates. That’s 300,000 more students in the top 10% if their class vying for that tiny number of seats.
2. Increased foreign applicants as the US tries to lure talent
3. COVID grade inflation made more kids think they were more accomplished than they really were
4. General dilution of the SAT. Since college board reverted to the 1600 scale from the 2400 scale, they did NOT return to the same scale as pre-2400. Todays scores equate to 60-100 points lower on the old 1600 scale.
5. Test optional gives more people a punchers chance. Note I am actually in favor of TO. I am a devout non-believer in the SAT/ACT and what they purport to measure.
6. Common App majes it ever easier to spam 20 schools. I applied to 4 schools in HS in the mid-90s. Each application had to be typed on a typewriter or hand filled in. Tedious.
7. The ever-increasing influence of stupid rankings, combined with anxiety over being one of the have nots if you don’t get into a top 20.

I would add one more: the new push to accept first-generation students.

Good. It’s past time.

[Anonymous]

My kid's school caps the number of schools he can apply to at 10. He got into all 10. Students need to focus on reality and stop applying to 20 schools. Pick ones they can get into and then they'll have a lot of choices. By applying to schools that are clearly a reach, they made more work for themselves with a limited positive result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This question gets asked every year. You only think it’s an unusual year because your kid was part of it.

This.

Its been the same for 50+ years.

The top kids go to the best colleges just the way it was in the past.

Its not like the top 1% got into top 20 schools in the past but today they are lucky to get into a top 50 school, the best are still going to the best schools, same story, different year.

The only differences today are that colleges are giving more "credit" for under-represented minorities but in the past wealthier probably less deserving on individual merit kids were treated preferentially even more than today. Being a URM or from a blue collar family is considered woke and a lot of colleges are trading this demographic for the lower end of the entitled class (ie., can donate between $500,000 to $5 million depending on the college).

But for the vast majority that are white collar but not ultra high net worth (ie., can you donate $10+ million, etc.) its basically the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Applications have been increasing.
More selective schools are filling their spots with early decision.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/change-college-acceptance-application-process/627581/

I like how you ignored the fact that this is only an issue for the most selective schools and most colleges accept the majority of applicants. The issue here isn’t that kids can’t get accepted, it’s snowplow parents who think their kids are entitled to acceptances from any schools they choose, and cannot cope with the fact that their kids are not more special than thousands of other applicants.

And there are a lot of parents who are more concerned with being able to brag that their kid is going to school X than with helping their kid find their best achievable option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This question gets asked every year. You only think it’s an unusual year because your kid was part of it. [/quote

I have been reading this forum for about 4 years, and it is true that every year parents say/post this.

I am sure that some years are objectively more difficult, but I can attest that people THINK this every year for their kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a mystery

1. The top colleges have barely added any new seats to incoming classes in 40 years. Yet we have 3mm more HS graduates. That’s 300,000 more students in the top 10% if their class vying for that tiny number of seats.
2. Increased foreign applicants as the US tries to lure talent
3. COVID grade inflation made more kids think they were more accomplished than they really were
4. General dilution of the SAT. Since college board reverted to the 1600 scale from the 2400 scale, they did NOT return to the same scale as pre-2400. Todays scores equate to 60-100 points lower on the old 1600 scale.
5. Test optional gives more people a punchers chance. Note I am actually in favor of TO. I am a devout non-believer in the SAT/ACT and what they purport to measure.
6. Common App majes it ever easier to spam 20 schools. I applied to 4 schools in HS in the mid-90s. Each application had to be typed on a typewriter or hand filled in. Tedious.
7. The ever-increasing influence of stupid rankings, combined with anxiety over being one of the have nots if you don’t get into a top 20.

I would add one more: the new push to accept first-generation students.

But that did not make it harder for those kids to get in right? Do you no realize how non-inclusive your thinking is?

[Anonymous]

If anything its easier during the pandemic and post-pandemic years.

In the past, the percentage of kids who were ultra-focused on all of the things that colleges care about was much greater than during the pandemic to now.

There is a surprisingly large percentage of kids that are simply not as focused as students from the past, so if a kid is disciplined and able to focus, the competition is massively easier than in years past.

This is evident in high school athletics too, the top kids are still the top kids, but the depth of competition is significantly watered down and probably won't recover to pre-pandemic competition depth for several years.

The pandemic really did a number on US society but in every crisis, those with greater abilities, savvy, focus, etc. actually end up doing better. Does anybody find it interesting that the ultra high net worth ($1+ billion in net worth) actually created more wealth in the history of humankind since the pandemic? lol

But the masses are pushed back several steps creating a dynamic where the gap between the extraordinary and the ordinary was widened considerably since March 2020..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This question gets asked every year. You only think it’s an unusual year because your kid was part of it.

I actually think OP is accurate. Borders were closed to international visas, so 2 years of candidates from abroad were stuck at home. Then domestically many parents pulled their kids out of college out of fear of the virus or instructed juniors/seniors to delay and take a gap year because there was societal panic.

So yeah even if that led to a 20% surge in applications - tougher all around.