Managing Expectations Without Crushing Dreams
MORE
If asked to characterize the stress around the college application process, more is the word that comes to mind first. According to a report from the Common App, which includes over 1000 schools, the number of applicants and the number of schools each applicant applied to were both up 8% between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Contributing to these increases are higher numbers of applicants from:
Underrepresented minority race/ethnicity groups (URM) - up 15%
First-generation applicants - up 8%
International students - up 12%
Some of these increases are due in part to:
Incentives for first-generation-to-college applicants
Increased access to fee waivers
More schools becoming test optional
While it is commendable that more and more students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are applying, this increase in sheer numbers makes the entire process more competitive for everyone, thereby motivating applicants to apply to a higher number of schools. Not too long ago, the rule-of-thumb for the number of schools to apply to was 9, including 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 3 reaches. Now, it is not uncommon for students to apply to double this many.
Concurrently, colleges and universities have increasingly invested time and money into a system that has become known as recruit to reject. This manipulative and sophisticated marketing approach, which asks students to apply via mail and email, serves only to build up the institution's number of applicants to artificially drive down their acceptance rates. When an IVY League school sends a letter directly to a teenager commending them on their grades and test scores, and encourages them to apply, the feeling of, “Well, it looks like they want me,” is hard to resist.
While daunting, the end result for my clients remains quite positive, with most, if not all, getting into their first or second-choice school. The best advice for prospective applicants is to be realistic and strategic.
