college admissions trends and predictions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child has a parent who's gone through the process of getting two children into highly selective universities. They are better positioned than 99.9 percent of high school students. I think it would be silly to hire a counselor unless there's a very specific question or problem, such as a learning disability.

+1. You know more than they do OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - here.

I am not fixated on AI, but wondering how the changes (and there have been many) will impact admissions filtering. Don't we think holistic admissions will become more metrics-based? And involve searching for code words/themes using AI tools?

How are we supposed to know which themes or code words a selective uni is searching for, though? Wouldn't a good counselor know?

Are you kidding? How would anyone on the outside know?

[Anonymous]

For colleges with significant budget deficits (and there are a lot of them), full pay is an institutional priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if colleges should rethink essay strategy.

I heard it’s going to be more of those videos that applicants send in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For colleges with significant budget deficits (and there are a lot of them), full pay is an institutional priority.

It depends on the school. If that is an institutional priority, I'd worry about long term finances of the school. As more top schools go to need blind and give more aid, I could see some lower tier schools taking a full pay kid over a non-full pay kid. As many have already said, the new endowment taxes will force many ivies and similar schools to rethink their strategies. For some of these schools, being full pay may count against you unless you are the child of a potential mega donor.

[Anonymous]

I think you’ll be fine. There will be less kids applying in a few years (demographic cliff and all that) plus you’ve done this before. As long as you build a solid list and listen to what your youngest child wants in a school- and don’t assume they want the same experience as your older kids- they’ll do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you’ll be fine. There will be less kids applying in a few years (demographic cliff and all that) plus you’ve done this before. As long as you build a solid list and listen to what your youngest child wants in a school- and don’t assume they want the same experience as your older kids- they’ll do well.

There is no cliff, it’s a gentle slope which will disappear when Internationals are included.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if colleges should rethink essay strategy.

I heard it’s going to be more of those videos that applicants send in.

The videos are mostly for determining race and ethnicity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if colleges should rethink essay strategy.

I heard it’s going to be more of those videos that applicants send in.

The videos are mostly for determining race and ethnicity.

What a weird obsession

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if colleges should rethink essay strategy.

I heard it’s going to be more of those videos that applicants send in.

The videos are mostly for determining race and ethnicity.

What a weird obsession

It's the truth, you think it's a coincidence that the videos took off in popularity the year the check box went away? Anyway, they aren't compulsory anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if colleges should rethink essay strategy.

I heard it’s going to be more of those videos that applicants send in.

The videos are mostly for determining race and ethnicity.

What a weird obsession

It's the truth, you think it's a coincidence that the videos took off in popularity the year the check box went away? Anyway, they aren't compulsory anywhere.

It's not so much about how socially adjusted they are. Will they speak up in class? What is their mastery of the English language?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if colleges should rethink essay strategy.

I heard it’s going to be more of those videos that applicants send in.

The videos are mostly for determining race and ethnicity.

What a weird obsession

It's the truth, you think it's a coincidence that the videos took off in popularity the year the check box went away? Anyway, they aren't compulsory anywhere.

It's not so much about how socially adjusted they are. Will they speak up in class? What is their mastery of the English language?

^^
It's not so much about RACE BUT how socially adjusted they are. Will they speak up in class? What is their mastery of the English language?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Being full-pay at a 90k+ a year school is the single greatest advantage there is.

It allows you to apply ED, which has significantly higher admission rates.

If you attend a highly affluent public or private school, you likely feed to expensive privates like Boston College, Wake Forest, USC, NYU, Tulane, Wash U, Emory….

Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, ND, and LACs are filled to the brim with private school and affluent kids.

And, back to OP’s question, it’s only going to be more important. Families are increasingly choosing public flagships to save money, which means those private schools are in a dog race to attract full pay students.

I don’t mean to imply that if you’re full pay you will be admitted over a classmate who isn’t. But schools know who to recruit and they will increasingly do so.

Ivy/T10 want the percent of full pay lower and lower. Most ivies are already at 55-60% on need baased aid, meaning full pay is down to 40-45%. Full pay was 55% at ivies just 7 years ago. With the new donations and expanding aid highlighted by a few of the ivies and MIT lately, the chase for applicants who need a little need based aid (ie under 300k household income) is on. The endowment tax is a big deal. Navigating how to avoid it is priority. Duke and Chicago are expanding aid as they are able to get closer to what the most generous schools offer(Princeton, Penn, Harvard, Yale, MIT) which is free tuition up to 200 or 250kHHI, rapidly increased Questbridge acceptances which are guaranteed aided and preselected, and the brand new trend of offering some smaller tuition breaks to the 300k HHI range.

You have to go a big step down to get to the point where full pay helps, ie Wake forest and similar, T30-40 range. Vanderbilt and WashU it may help a little as they are newer to need blind, and Vandy in particular targets full pay for the waitlist and fullpay for the 200 sophomore transfers tehy take each year.

Only a fool thinks full pay helps at the very top. It does not. There are far too many willing to pay. It has become a slight negative with the endowment tax issue and will get worse next cycle as more schools do the math.

Sigh…I wish people would stop focusing on “ivies” - it’s extremely narrow, almost obsessive thinking.

I am the poster you responded to, and I wasn’t even talking about Ivies, and yet you responded, talking about “ivies.”

And btw, even with the Ivies…go check out where students from top private schools in the US are attending, you will see many Ivy and Ivy adjacents on their list. I think you’re a fool for thinking it doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Being full-pay at a 90k+ a year school is the single greatest advantage there is.

It allows you to apply ED, which has significantly higher admission rates.

If you attend a highly affluent public or private school, you likely feed to expensive privates like Boston College, Wake Forest, USC, NYU, Tulane, Wash U, Emory….

Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, ND, and LACs are filled to the brim with private school and affluent kids.

And, back to OP’s question, it’s only going to be more important. Families are increasingly choosing public flagships to save money, which means those private schools are in a dog race to attract full pay students.

I don’t mean to imply that if you’re full pay you will be admitted over a classmate who isn’t. But schools know who to recruit and they will increasingly do so.

Ivy/T10 want the percent of full pay lower and lower. Most ivies are already at 55-60% on need baased aid, meaning full pay is down to 40-45%. Full pay was 55% at ivies just 7 years ago. With the new donations and expanding aid highlighted by a few of the ivies and MIT lately, the chase for applicants who need a little need based aid (ie under 300k household income) is on. The endowment tax is a big deal. Navigating how to avoid it is priority. Duke and Chicago are expanding aid as they are able to get closer to what the most generous schools offer(Princeton, Penn, Harvard, Yale, MIT) which is free tuition up to 200 or 250kHHI, rapidly increased Questbridge acceptances which are guaranteed aided and preselected, and the brand new trend of offering some smaller tuition breaks to the 300k HHI range.

You have to go a big step down to get to the point where full pay helps, ie Wake forest and similar, T30-40 range. Vanderbilt and WashU it may help a little as they are newer to need blind, and Vandy in particular targets full pay for the waitlist and fullpay for the 200 sophomore transfers tehy take each year.

Only a fool thinks full pay helps at the very top. It does not. There are far too many willing to pay. It has become a slight negative with the endowment tax issue and will get worse next cycle as more schools do the math.

Sigh…I wish people would stop focusing on “ivies” - it’s extremely narrow, almost obsessive thinking.

I am the poster you responded to, and I wasn’t even talking about Ivies, and yet you responded, talking about “ivies.”

And btw, even with the Ivies…go check out where students from top private schools in the US are attending, you will see many Ivy and Ivy adjacents on their list. I think you’re a fool for thinking it doesn’t matter.

You are a fool for thinking the fact that they are at a top high school has nothing to do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Being full-pay at a 90k+ a year school is the single greatest advantage there is.

It allows you to apply ED, which has significantly higher admission rates.

If you attend a highly affluent public or private school, you likely feed to expensive privates like Boston College, Wake Forest, USC, NYU, Tulane, Wash U, Emory….

Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, ND, and LACs are filled to the brim with private school and affluent kids.

And, back to OP’s question, it’s only going to be more important. Families are increasingly choosing public flagships to save money, which means those private schools are in a dog race to attract full pay students.

I don’t mean to imply that if you’re full pay you will be admitted

over a classmate who isn’t. But schools know who to recruit and they will increasingly do so.

Dumb response — Anyone who needs financial aid can also apply ED since there is a opt out if financial aid doesn’t match the calculator.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I'd advise against speaking/writing to other people like this. It's unproductive and discourages honest discourse. Take a few minutes to please think and (if necessary) learn basic decency before responding.