Reply to What changed?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "What changed?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Admissions changed so much since past generations applied to U.S. colleges.  What changed?

Another thread recently had this posted, which caught my attention:

Except those 1500 SATs would’ve been more like 1380s 25 years ago. And GPAs? Please.

Exactly. I think people sell themselves short. Plus back in the day, kids were not micromanaged like hot house flowers by their parents.[/quote]

The institutions have generally not grown in size, so there is roughly the same number of "seats" today as there were 30 or 60 years ago. With that in mind:

1) Higher US population so more kids applying in general
2) more international students
3) grade inflation means many more applicants believe they are qualified for the available seats
4) changes in standardized tests means generally higher scores. See #3.
5) higher relative costs for college means people really want value for the money they will spend, that magnifies focus on "T20" or "T50" or whatever schools
[/quote]

I don't understand why people keep saying that institutions have not grown in size...since when are you referring?  Here are some examples below:

JMU:  9600 undergrads in 1990 vs. 20,346 today
UC Berkeley:  21,453 undergrads in 1990 vs. 32,831 today
UCLA:  24,200 undergrads in 1990 vs. 34,243 today
WVU:  15,042 in 1995 vs. 19,059 today
University of Alabama:   17,500 in 1990 vs. 32,458 today

The list goes on-and-on.

There are actually 1 MM fewer college students in total today vs. 2013.[/quote]

DP: they are referring to private colleges and universities. Historically, the majority of the top 20-30 schools are private. 
[/quote]

OK.  Look at this list:

Emory:  4,282 in 1990 to 7,101 today
Wash U:  5,040 in 1990 to 8,132 today

I mean, these are relatively small schools, but still Emory increased 66%, Wash U 61%.  This idea that schools are really "not much larger" today vs. 30 or 60 years ago is just not correct.[/quote]

Yes, but the number of seats at these schools hasn't increased in proportion to the population today. The number of college-age kids and the proportion of kids that go to college greatly increased from the 1990s. The last few years have decreased because of the pandemic, and most of the loss of students is concentrated in the regional publics, community colleges, and 3rd tier privates.

[quote]Over the past 30 years or so, the number of high school graduates has increased by about 44%. During that span, according to Harvard scholar Peter Blair, [b]enrollment at non-elite colleges expanded by 60%[/b].

By comparison, Blair notes, [b]private colleges ranked among the top 2% — the most selective universities — grew by only 7% on average[/b].

In fact, Blair's research paper on the subject, co-authored with Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, reveals that the "share of aggregate college enrollments captured by elite colleges" actually dropped by 40% between 1990 and 2015.

"Elite colleges, therefore, are serving a smaller and smaller share of total college-bound students, becoming more exclusive over time," the report concludes.[/quote]

See: https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/elite-colleges-increase-enrollment/

[/quote]

This is mixing a lot of statistics.  I mean, how are they defining the Top 2% of universities?  Seems like they are only looking at Ivy League schools, but PP just listed Emory and Wash U that definitely are ranked in the top 2% of all universities in the US and enrollment is up 60%+ at those schools.

The number of kids going to college peaked in 2010 and is now 2MM kids lower than that peak.  I mean...there were slots for all those kids in 2010, so unless you believe colleges shrank...those slots still exist.

However, this post was never just about the Top 20 private colleges...this was about the top colleges period, which includes UC schools and other public universities.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics