Anonymous wrote:IME this cycle and last:

Michigan
USC
Middlebury
ND
Villanova
Duke (seems impossible right now)

Agree ND has always been hard to get into, but our small private with less than 100 seniors consistently sends 4 or so each year. I think for a strong Catholic school kid, things haven't changed that significantly. Another area Catholic school with about 25% more students sending 7 or 8 students per year. Perhaps ND is becomiing more appealing to non Catholics, but keep in mind that the school is 80% Catholic, so for a non-Catholic, admission might be getting more challenging.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I expect that schools that remain TO will see increasing application numbers, particularly those that are already perceived as being exclusive.

This will be interesting. The T10s that reinstated tests will have application numbers go down because the dummies will no longer apply to them and the TOS will get even more applicants. I’m guessing USNWR will change rankings because no way the Ivies ate going to tolerate TOs falsely moving up in this numbers game.

And your post, with the stupid gaming of the rankings and colleges' influence, is why this entire thing is such a sham.

+1000
Do wish the apps could add a few Qs:

1) How much did you pay for college consulting and test prep?
2) How much did you pay for club/travel sports?
3) Describe any ways that you compromised your integrity to get your GPA? (I have so much to say about this….but not the right thread)
4) Did your parents force you to stay in an activity, sport, or club (or develop your own nonprofit/club/fill-in-the-blank) even though you derived no joy or sense of your own agency in said endeavor?

Major problems, DCUM. TBH I’m not sure I want my kid competing for a “top” spot. I am concerned about the peer group. 😳

The great thing about these colleges is the wide variance when it comes to the kids. While there are students who had the best of the best resources afforded to them, there are also students who did not avail of them whether by choice or circumstance.

To answer the above for my own who got into 4 out of 6 T10s she applied to:

(1) $0
(2) no club sports. Only high school sports and paid the same minimal sports fee as everyone else.
(3) no - although with the high school being close to a title 1, perhaps grade inflation is an issue. That's what one gets I suppose when over 80% of students do not have any after high school plans
(4) no - she quit a couple of sports before settling on what she liked. And even then, sports was something to keep them busy. No delusions of being a collegiate athlete. LOL
no non-profits - who has time for that?
we valued down time as a family so beyond regular volunteering within the community when it was needed, I cannot say DC was a trailblazer in that arena

I think we incorrectly assume that these top schools are filled with students who are on the brink of negotiating world peace or discovering the cure to cancer when I would confidently say that most kids in these top schools are filled with normal above-average/smart kids who just happened to get lucky when their admissions file was read.

Agree. This cycle i have seen regular students get into top 30 schools because they know how to package themselves and play their strengths. They made strategic choices and it paid off.

Schools are not rigid and extend offers to kids who don’t have the highest rigor and who don’t have high SATs scores.

Regarding USC, I have seen multiple kids get in this cycle who were not tip-top students. They had “something” the school liked, but it wasn’t rigor.

Anonymous wrote:Michigan got 105K apps this year-all time record. Crazy hard admit!

Everyone in the state applies to their state universities. That's their natural customers. They get huge number of applicants.

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: Which colleges are NOT harder to get into?

Get away from the coasts. Still lots of above 80% acceptance rates at large state universities in the interior.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: Which colleges are NOT harder to get into?

liberty university, high point university... i hope this is helpful

No idea on liberty but High Point is tougher to get into than it was.

Anonymous wrote:Population growth has stagnated/declined, so there will be less high-school aged kids in the future. Universities are also slowly reversing their standardized test policy, which means fewer applicants to these schools. I think it will be easier, not harder, to get into top schools in 10+ years. (This comment is about long-term, not short-term).

Top top schools will always be difficult and they will always be a "lottery." Ivy+, top LACs, top publics (Michigan, UNC, UC schools). Honestly any school in the T50 range will continue to be difficult.

This is the right range. Top 50ish. After that a bit better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I expect that schools that remain TO will see increasing application numbers, particularly those that are already perceived as being exclusive.

This will be interesting. The T10s that reinstated tests will have application numbers go down because the dummies will no longer apply to them and the TOS will get even more applicants. I’m guessing USNWR will change rankings because no way the Ivies ate going to tolerate TOs falsely moving up in this numbers game.

And your post, with the stupid gaming of the rankings and colleges' influence, is why this entire thing is such a sham.

+1000
Do wish the apps could add a few Qs:

1) How much did you pay for college consulting and test prep?
2) How much did you pay for club/travel sports?
3) Describe any ways that you compromised your integrity to get your GPA? (I have so much to say about this….but not the right thread)
4) Did your parents force you to stay in an activity, sport, or club (or develop your own nonprofit/club/fill-in-the-blank) even though you derived no joy or sense of your own agency in said endeavor?

Major problems, DCUM. TBH I’m not sure I want my kid competing for a “top” spot. I am concerned about the peer group. 😳

The great thing about these colleges is the wide variance when it comes to the kids. While there are students who had the best of the best resources afforded to them, there are also students who did not avail of them whether by choice or circumstance.

To answer the above for my own who got into 4 out of 6 T10s she applied to:

(1) $0
(2) no club sports. Only high school sports and paid the same minimal sports fee as everyone else.
(3) no - although with the high school being close to a title 1, perhaps grade inflation is an issue. That's what one gets I suppose when over 80% of students do not have any after high school plans
(4) no - she quit a couple of sports before settling on what she liked. And even then, sports was something to keep them busy. No delusions of being a collegiate athlete. LOL
no non-profits - who has time for that?
we valued down time as a family so beyond regular volunteering within the community when it was needed, I cannot say DC was a trailblazer in that arena

I think we incorrectly assume that these top schools are filled with students who are on the brink of negotiating world peace or discovering the cure to cancer when I would confidently say that most kids in these top schools are filled with normal above-average/smart kids who just happened to get lucky when their admissions file was read.

Schools that are in single digits acceptance rates are lottery schools - so it will be hard for them to get tougher (for example moving from 5% to 4.5% is not as big a drop).

Next tier is Michigan and others that were 30%-40% 10 years ago and now 12%-15%. They still have room to single digits.

Then you have schools like BC, UMiami, Wisconsin. These are in the 35-60 range of ranking (even if you do not agree with rankings). Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia and others will benefit as UCs and Michigan become even tougher. Plus Florida and Georgia offer warmer weather. BC, Miami and their type will benefit as some other mid-sized or privates become tougher - like Duke, Vandy and Tulane even with ED or nothing systems.

Don't laugh at UMiami as example - my student looked but she did not apply. The numbers were interesting for what used to be an easy admit.

2019-2020 - 39,000 applications for 10,500 acceptances
2023-2024 - 48,200 applications for 8,400 acceptances
2024-2025 - their rep said in a recent article over 55,000 apps this year

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: Which colleges are NOT harder to get into?

I read about colleges closing all the time due to dwindling enrollment (usually non-selective LACs, religiously-affiliated small colleges or satellite campuses of larger universities) so there are definitely some . . . A college near where I grew up has been admitting 100% of applicants. It was never selective but it didn’t used to admit 100%.

Anonymous wrote:Case Western Reserve University. Supposedly my kid’s safety but she was deferred and now waitlisted with 4.3/1550.

They have a 30% admit rate. They are not a safety.

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: Which colleges are NOT harder to get into?

liberty university, high point university... i hope this is helpful

I think the question is: Which colleges are NOT harder to get into?

99% of colleges are now harder to get into.

All of them!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USC may be harder for OOS, but it’s not quite as hard for those in-state, despite being private.

Agree with others.

All of my Cali friends say the opposite!

Then they would be wrong, USC takes a huge portion of the class from instate

Californians tend to apply closer to home and at least lately have really shifted to computer science , mechanical engineering , or neuroscience as preferred majors. While USC and the UC schools may enroll far more instate, the number and caliber of instate applicants is really high.

Flip side is that many of the east coast SLACs are slightly easier for Californians to get into as less are applying there.

Big difference between USC and the UC’s though is USC makes sure to stay below half from California.

Barely