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[quote=Anonymous]One more point. Having started the college application process, colleges are much more aggressive in marketing to students regarding visits, summer programs etc. We have been inundated with mail and phone calls for admissions sessions, visiting reps and summer programs. Part of the reason is that my DC did fairly well on the PSAT but not a merit scholar level score.

Colleges are in competition for good students especially private colleges. The cost of tuition is through the roof and many students are turning to in  state alternatives. They need out of state students to pay the higher rates.Private colleges need as many students as they can.

That is why so many are starting earlier and have the summer programs.To get a student to be interested early. Early decision by students is accounting for 30-40% of admissions at ivy league and competitive colleges.

The state of admissions is changing so quickly. what held as advice even 5 years ago really does not apply anymore.

Here is some info that came from a newsletter about college admissions for 2013.
"2013 has been a very interesting, and for many, a very challenging year.  Discussions with our colleagues and postings from the list serve demonstrate that colleges have created large wait lists, often times larger than the admitted class, in anticipation of reduced yield (number of students accepting offers of admission). There was also increased activity in the financial aid office, additional budget cuts resulting in reduced or suspended capital improvements, adjunct faculty replacing full time professors, and more attention given to a student's ability to pay during all or some stages of the admission process.  From the consultant's perspective, there was more interest in public universities and colleges that offer merit awards,  increased negotiations with financial aid officers, a shift towards  pre-professional programs (engineering, business, architecture, technology), exploration of social media and internet tools (blogging, Facebook, Zinch), and increased attention to student demonstrated interest (college visits).

The biggest story this year concerned early admissions programs. To increase yield and manage student enrollment (and to fund budgets) many colleges admitted almost half of their freshman class during the Early Decision round. In addition, the ED admit rates were often double the regular decision rates. Some examples include: Barnard (42.6% ED vs. 17.9% Regular), Brown (18.54 vs. 8.07), Cornell (29.5 vs. 15.15), Duke (29.6 vs. 10.02), Emory (35 vs. 25.5),  Johns Hopkins (36.7 vs. 15.28), Lafayette (53 vs. 32), Lehigh (54.9 vs. 28.2)  Middlebury (35.3 vs. 17.4), Rice (24.8 vs. 15.5),  Vanderbilt (21.6 vs. 10.9), Washington University in St. Louis (26.6 vs. 17.7).   And here are the overall admission rates for the Ivy League's Class of 2016:  Harvard 5.79%, Dartmouth 10.05%, Brown 9.16%, Princeton 7.29%, Yale, 6.72%, and Columbia 6.89%.   College admission at the nation's most selective schools has become more and more competitive each year.  To add some perspective, think about the fact that the parents of today's high school students applied to college 20 or more years ago.  In 1991, the acceptance rate at U Penn was 47%.  This year, it was down to 12.10%.

Another continuing trend is the use of the wait-list.  If a college has spots left after admitted students decide whether to enroll, it will go to the wait-list.  This usually happens in early to mid-May, but the process can continue through June. To boost one's chances, it is important for the student to send a well-crafted letter expressing their desire to enroll and highlighting their potential contributions to the class. Most colleges use the wait-list to boost their yield (percent of admitted students who enroll) because wait-list offers are typically one for one (one offer = one enrolled student).  Colleges can also use the wait-list to meet their budgets because most students admitted off the wait list can pay the full cost of attendence.  Some colleges offer wait-list spots to thousands of students (typically half to a third choose to stay active), and offer admission to anywhere from none, to a few, to several hundred. " [/quote]

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