Reply to Got a Smart Kid Applying for College Anytime Soon? Read this NYT Article (if you haven't yet)

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[quote=Anonymous]Good article (April 8, 2014) that captures some of the major changes in college admissions that has led to Stanford having a 5% admissions rate and other schools being in the same neighborhood:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/led-by-stanfords-5-top-colleges-acceptance-rates-hit-new-lows.html?action=click&contentCollection=Baseball&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article

A few points worth highlighting:

--As the article points out, "a generation ago" (when many DCUM readers applied for college), it was rate for even the selective schools to have admission rates below 20%;
--The "pool of high-achieving applicants" applying to the most selective colleges "continues to grow," fueled by applicants from overseas;
--In 1990, only about 10% of students applied to 7 or more colleges; as of 2011 the percentage of students applying to 7 or more colleges had gone up to 30%;
--More and more schools accept the Common App (315 in 2007; 517 today), which in turn makes it easier for more students to apply;
--Schools' acceptance rates have plummeted; for example, Chicago went from 40% to 8% in a generation.

None of this is really "news" -- people even on DCUM have made these points -- but the article does a nice job of pulling all of the information together and adding some color and additional analysis.  Parents fixated on Ivies/Stanford really need to be very realistic about the college landscape early on and, hopefully, expand their own horizons and encourage their kids to do the same and not freak out if the child isn't in the 6% admitted to Harvard or Yale or the 8% admitted to Stanford.[/quote]

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