College Applicants

Applicants to College, College Apps, College Applications, Applications for College

There may be fewer college applicants in the next few years due to changing demographics.

A piece in “The LA Times” published recently highlights demographic declines in college applicants over the next decade. According to the piece on college applicants, “High school graduates will face less competition for college admission in the next decade due to a demographic decline in their ranks, according to a report on education enrollment trends released Wednesday. At the same time, Latinos and Asian Americans will constitute larger shares of high school populations and the numbers of white and black students will drop.” In the last several years, the number of students graduating from high schools across the country has generally risen, so this marks a change in trend.

In 2013-2014, it is anticipated that 3.21 students will graduate high school. This number stood at 3.4 million in 2010-2011. According to the report cited by “The LA Times,” ups and downs are anticipated until enrollment levels return to the figure from 2010-2011. And what regions are expected to see the largest demographic declines? That would be the Northeast and Midwest. There will also be some declines out West, though states like Texas and Georgia are anticipated to see a rise in this demographic.

Do these numbers surprise you? Do you think these demographic changes will have any significant impact on highly selective college admissions? Why do you think these numbers are dropping? Let us know your thoughts on the matter by posting below. We’re eager to hear from you.

College Admissions Applicants

College Applicants, University Admissions Applicants, College Admission Applicants

Don't get frustrated by listening to the "most competitive class ever" hype in college admissions. It's all spin.

Each year, we read about how this year is the most competitive cycle ever for college admissions applicants. We find it rather irritating. From a statistical standpoint, other than the national debt, it’s rather rare when something only goes up and up and up. There’s typically more fluctuation. Check out a website’s traffic as an example. A movie theatre’s website will have higher traffic on most Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays as compared to Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. So, no, this year is not the most competitive admissions class ever. Wondering why not? Let us explain.

Each year, college admissions officers seek to get more high school seniors to apply to their school. They’ll send you brochures. They’ll clog your email inbox. They’ll call you and visit your high school. Does that mean they think you’re qualified to gain admission to their school? Absolutely not. They want as many people as possible to apply so their admission rate gets tougher and tougher…so their “US News & World Report” ranking improves year after year. They may admit more or less the same number of students each year but if you get more to apply, you’re suddenly a more selective university. It’s a quick fix…one that doesn’t mean this year’s admissions class is academically more competitive. And it doesn’t mean that there are fewer slots.

And that’s just the beginning of it. But we hope you get the point. If you need further convincing, check out this post on how “the most competitive class ever” is 100% spin. Colleges love to put spin on their admissions data and you should be aware of it if you’re not already! Let us know your thoughts on this spin by posting below!

College Application

The makers of The Common Application, the college application used by just about every high school student who applies to universities, debated whether or not to include a question about applicants’ sexual orientation this year. Sexual orientation is certainly a hot topic in the world of college admissions. The makers of The Common Application ultimately decided, at least for the time being, to not include a question about sexual orientation for this year’s college applicants.

If this question were to have been included on the most ubiquitous college application, it’s possible that it could have caused some college applicants distress. What if you’re gay but closeted and don’t want your high school guidance counselor (who might see your application) to know your sexual orientation? What if you’re not out to your parents and they review your application on your desk when you’re asleep? What if you’re gay but you just don’t know it yet or haven’t fully come to terms with your sexual orientation? What if you don’t think it’s a university admissions counselor’s business to know this about you? What if you just don’t know yourself?

College Common Application, College Applicants, College Admissions Application

The makers of The Common Application debated this year whether or not to include a question that asks students their sexual orientation. The makers of the application ultimately decided against including this question. At least for now.

According to “The Chronicle,” “[Rob] Killion [of The Common Application] describes the decision as difficult. Board members, he says, weighed the possible differences among applicants from different backgrounds. For instance, how might a gay or lesbian applicant in rural Oklahoma differ from a gay or lesbian student in Manhattan?” We at The Ivy Coach think there are often times other ways on college applications for university admissions counselors interested in recruiting a diverse incoming class to be able to identify whether or not an applicant is a member of the LGBT community.

Check out the article here.

And check out our related post on Harvard ROTC.

The Common Application

New questions have been added to the Common Application, announced the Common Application, Inc. The questions won’t apply to the vast majority of college applicants but rather reflect the diversity of applicants who now apply to college. Marital status, children, and an optional question on military status have all been added to the application. For the 2011-2012 application cycle, the new version also asks applicants to check specific categories of their proficiency in a particular language – whether or not they speak it, read it, and/or write it, whether its their first language, and if the language is spoken at home. Applicants are also asked about prior college-level coursework, and the marital status of their parents – whether their parents are considered “civil union” or “domestic partners”.

One other change is on the personal statement. For the past three years it was required that applicants write a minimum of 250 words, but with this new change applicants must now write between 250 and 500 words. Since the 2007-2008 application year, while the personal statement on the Common Application required a minimum of 250 words, there was no maximum word limit. However, in years prior to 2007 there was in fact a 500 word limit. The reason for the change in 2007 to no word limit was because applicants were not abiding by the word restriction, and as a result those students in some ways were able to tell more of their story. While you would think that students who didn’t follow directions would have been outright rejected, this was not the case, and that’s why there was this change. The only way this maximum word limit can be enforced is if the personal statement is not uploaded and instead cut and pasted into a box – just like the activity essay. Time will tell if this change back to a 500 word limit will remain.

According to Eric Hoover of “Chronicle of Higher Education, “The continuing evolution of this virtual document also reveals the complexity of admissions in the digital age. Even as the Common Application has simplified the admissions process in various ways, it has raised questions—logistical and philosophical—for high schools and colleges alike. The organization’s members continue to debate what the application should and should not ask. In a sense, the Common Application has become the living document of the admissions profession, subject to continual additions and revisions.”

The new questions about marital status, children, and military status were added in response to the growing number of nontraditional students and veterans enrolling at member colleges, says Rob Killion, executive director of the Common Application, Inc. ‘This is just more data to help colleges understand who students are and how they got there,’ he says.

Hoover, Eric. “Growth and Changes Continue to Define Common Application.” Chronicle of Higher Education. 13 April 2011. Web. 14 April 2011.

Check out our related blogs: Completing the Common Application, the Common Application’s Discipline Question, and Truncated Essays.

Completing the Common Application

Colleges that subscribe to the Common Application are on the rise…again. So next year, expect the most competitive college admissions class ever with more college applications than ever before! Only we know that this isn’t really the case. Next year’s admissions class will not be significantly more competitive than the current one. That is pure myth.

According to “Inside Higher Ed,” “The membership of the Common Application is about to grow by 46 colleges, to a total of 460. While the Common Application was founded 35 years ago, half of its membership has joined in the last decade. And while the program was once associated with small liberal arts colleges, it has expanded in recent years. This year’s additions include two flagship public universities — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Kentucky — on top of 10 other flagships added in the past few years. Public institutions now make up 12 percent of the colleges in the program — a record high. Another notable addition this year is Howard University, the fifth historically black college to participate.”

Here is the full list of universities that have just joined the Common Application:

Caldwell College (NJ)

Carroll University (WI)

Castleton State College

Centenary College

Christian Brothers University

Christopher Newport University

Cogswell Polytechnical College

DeSales University

Drury University

Eastern Connecticut State University

Flagler College

Franklin College Switzerland

Goshen College

Howard University

John Cabot University

John F. Kennedy University

Lipscomb University

Long Island University Brooklyn Campus

Lyndon State College

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Rhode Island College

Rockhurst University

Saint Leo University

Saint Martin’s University

Salisbury University

Samford University

Seton Hill University

Sierra Nevada College

St. Joseph’s College – Brooklyn Campus

St. Joseph’s College – Long Island Campus

St. Mary’s College of Maryland

SUNY College at Old Westbury

SUNY Institute of Technology

The American University of Paris

The College of Saint Rose

Towson University

University of Evansville

University of Hartford

University of Kentucky

University of Michigan – Flint

University of New Orleans

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

University of Southern California

University of St Andrews

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

Wartburg College

Wheeling Jesuit University

^{“Common Application Continues Growth.” Inside Higher Ed. 13 April 2011. Web. 13 April 2011.}

Check out our related blog posts: The Common Application’s Discipline Question and Truncated Essays.

College Admissions and Facebook

Colleges obviously use Facebook as a forum to recruit students to apply to their school and to recruit students to attend once they’ve been accepted. But what colleges are doing this the most successfully? Let’s take a look at a “US News & World Report” chart by Ryan Lytle as published in “Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook” in which they analyze the Facebook fans of the universities they ranked as the ten most prestigious universities in America.

School Name	Facebook Fans (as of 4/5/11)	U.S. NewsRanking
Harvard University	316,644	1
Princeton University	36,057	2
Yale University	19,191	3
Columbia University	18,490	4
Stanford University	133,915	5
University of Pennsylvania	18,523	5
California Institute of Technology	5,388	7
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	27,883	7
Dartmouth College	7,996	9
Duke University	72,765	9
University of Chicago	40,266	9

^{Lytle, Ryan. “Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook.” US News & World Report. 7 April 2011. Web. 12 April 2011.}

And what about the universities with the most Facebook fans overall (not just the colleges that comprise “US News & World Report’s” Top 10? According to Ryan Lytle of “US News & World Report,” here they are (Harvard tops the list again):

School Name	Facebook Fans (as of 4/5/11)	U.S. NewsRanking
Harvard University	316,644	1
University of Michigan	267,858	29
Ohio State University	265,657	56
Texas A&M University	263,027	63
University of Texas	238,387	45
University of Florida	208,237	53
Pennsylvania State University	188,880	47
University of Alabama	171,036	79
Auburn University	155,219	85
Michigan State University	134,586	85

^{Lytle, Ryan. “Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook.” US News & World Report. 7 April 2011. Web. 12 April 2011.}

Check out our related blogs: Social networking in college admissions, college social media recruitment, our newsletter: Using social media to your advantage in college admissions, and check out The Ivy Coach’s Facebook page.

University Recruitment

It’s that time of year when colleges and universities are attempting to sway admitted students to attend their schools. In no uncertain terms, the tables have turned. According to an “LA Times” article published today, “As students applied and were admitted to more schools, the yield — the percentage of accepted students who enroll — dipped in the last decade, from 48% to 43% for public universities and from 40% to 35% for private, not-for-profit schools, according to the National Assn. for College Admission Counseling. So to fill dorm beds and classrooms this fall, colleges are spending more to woo students in April, especially boosting social media usage, said David Hawkins, the group’s director for public policy and research.”

Have you been receiving glossy brochures, online chat invites, and invitations to visit the universities to which you were admitted? If you have, that’s because colleges are now competing against each other to get you to attend, to increase their yield and, ultimately, their “US News & World Report” ranking. Enjoy it! For it’s now your turn to have the power. But don’t forget to send in your decision card by May 1st!

Check out the “LA Times” article here.

And check out our related blog: College Social Media Recruitment.

College Admissions Interviews

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our informational “how to” video on what not to do on a college admissions interview with an alumnus/alumna, check it out! And also check out our newsletter on the subject of alumni interviews.

If you still want more information on the college admissions interview with an alum, check out this video of Dartmouth’s Dean of Admissions Maria Laskaris and admissions counselor Colleen Wearn. It’s an instructional video for Dartmouth alumni interviewers that the college has posted online. By learning how alumni interviewers are instructed, you, as applicants, can gain insight into the alumni interview process and Ivy League admissions, too!

SAT Deadline

High school juniors — tomorrow (April 8th) is the last day to register for the May SAT exam (taking place on May 7th). You can still register up until April 22nd for the May exam but you will incur a $24 late fee for late registration. You can register on the College Board’s website. Scores for the May 7th exam will be posted on the College Board’s site on May 26th.

College Rankings

Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell (author of “Blink,” “The Tipping Point,” “Outliers,” “What The Dog Saw,” and a host of articles in “The New Yorker”) has some very interesting things to say about college rankings. We at The Ivy Coach don’t happen to agree with a lot of the things that he says, but the author is certainly entitled to his opinion. We’ll be providing you with a full analysis of his piece on college rankings in “The New Yorker” in the coming weeks but we want to first show you a video of Gladwell discussing those very rankings. Check it out at the 34:45 mark (you can fast forward up until that point): Malcolm Gladwell on The College Rankings.

Gladwell raises some interesting points in his discussion — points that we don’t necessarily agree with. He questions who anointed the “US News & World Report” writers/rankers as the gatekeepers to America’s universities. He questions why they choose to weigh certain variables such as endowment as they do and argues that if he were anointed gatekeeper to the colleges, he’d rank colleges in a very different way. In his way, Penn State University would be near the top of the list. Gladwell also argues that universities are considered prestigious if they conduct great research but he cites studies that suggest research is either uncorrelated with a strong undergraduate education or inversely correlated!

We’ll be diving into Malcolm Gladwell’s thoughts on the rankings soon but we hope the video intrigues you at the very least. While we always appreciate Malcolm Gladwell’s arguments, we find many happen to be without merit. Every ranking system ever created is based on an algorithm – however simplistic – and weights that are given to variables in that algorithm are always going to be on some level subjective. But these inputs can in turn lead to an objective ranking. And nobody does this better than “US News & World Report.”

Check out our newsletter: The Campus Visit, Rankings, and Fantasy Sports.

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