The college admissions process has been making students nervous for decades, and no amount of preparation or understanding can make the game of "wait and see" any less stressful for prospective students and their families. While students are unlikely to ever get a break from the stress of this aspect, the admissions system that they deal with today isn’t the same one that their parents faced a couple of decades ago. Trends, preferences, and, most importantly, technology have all changed, contributing to some major shifts in how collegesfind, evaluate, and choose students to attend their institutions.
Whether you’re applying to schools now or plan to in the coming months, it’s important to know just what trends are big in admissions right now. Some may affect how and where you decide to apply. Others are just interesting to know and demonstrate some compelling trends in society as a whole. No matter which of these categories they fall into, take your time reading about these modern trends in admission — they’ll help make you savvier and smarter about the process, and those qualities can never hurt to have in spades when it comes to college decisions.
Admissions officials commonly check applicant’s Facebook pages
Social media has changed more than just how we communicate and keep in touch — it’s also had an impact on how colleges evaluate prospective students for admission. More than a quarter of schools in a 2009 survey indicated that they used social networks to
locate information about students, and the number is likely to grow as social networking becomes ever more ubiquitous. That means students need to be smart about what they put on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace if they don’t want it to hurt their chances of college admission.
Students are applying to more schools
Tuition may be up, but applications to colleges and interest in attending college haven’t tapered off. In fact, in recent years many schools have reported record highs in the number of applications they’ve received. Part of this is due to students applying to many more schools than was common in years past. Nationally, 17.8% of students applied to eight or more colleges, up from just 7.8% a decade ago. Experts believe it could have something to do with the ease of applying through technology, or aggressive recruiting tactics from some schools.
Admission yields are down
Another byproduct of students applying to more schools may be the downward trend in admission yields. Admission yields are the percentage of accepted students accepted to a given school who ultimately end up attending. Average admission yields in 2011 were about 49%. Today, they are less than 41% and could drop further.
Few students receive college admissions help from high school counselors and admissions officials
Many students may be struggling with the application and admissions process because they’re simply not getting the help they need. On average, the counselor to student ratio in the U.S. is 460 to 1. That’s a lot of students for one counselor to handle, and many simply don’t have the time to devote to helping each and every student, especially with many other duties besides college counseling on their plates. Only 26% of public schools have a counselor who works exclusively on college counseling, though a surprising 73% of private schools do.
More and more students are on wait lists
Wait lists have been a part of the college admissions process for a long time, but not to the degree that they are today. Today, over 48% of schools use a wait list, a leap from just 39% in 2009. The number goes up even more for highly selective schools, with 63% using wait lists. Some of the most popular schools have wait lists that include 10,000 students or more, leaving many in limbo as they decide whether to wait out a decision from a top choice, or enroll with a school that accepted them from the get-go. Ultimately, only 28% of students on average will get a spot after being waitlisted.
Grades are still the most important factor in college admissions
Your high school grades matter quite a bit when it comes to applying to college. In fact, they are generally the most important factor for college admissions officers when deciding whether or not you meet a school’s standards. A survey of schools nationwide found that the most important factors are GPA in college prep courses (upper level, AP, and honors courses, generally), the strength of the curriculum at your high school, your scores on the ACT and SAT, your overall GPA, and your college essay, in that order.
Demonstrated interest, however, has risen significantly in importance
While the main factors of importance haven’t changed over the past few decades, there is a growing trend towards schools considering your interest in acceptance being a very important factor. In 2003, only 7% of schools thought it was important, but today, 22% do. With long wait lists and lower acceptance rates, students may find showing interest in a school is a way to get an edge, with all other factors being equal.
Streamlined apps are becoming a hot way to market to applicants
Many colleges and universities are launching aggressive marketing and recruitment campaigns to help bolster their application numbers. One of the ways they’re doing this is through the use of "snap apps." These streamlined applications often don’t require a fee or an essay, which may make them good for students who are already standouts, but could hurt those who may be struggling for acceptance and need an essay or room for extra recommendations to bolster their chances.
Recommendations don’t hold the weight they once did
Once upon a time, recommendations from teachers and employers were a big factor in determining whether or not students would get into schools. These days, things have changed. Teachers and counselors are often overwhelmed with recommendation requests, and admissions officials are reporting that what they’re writing is often less specific and thoughtful and often tells admissions little about the student. As a result, only 17% of colleges now rank recommendations of "considerable importance" in the admissions process. Additionally, many schools have eliminated or greatly reduced the number of recommendations they require.
Many schools no longer require the SAT or ACT for admission
The SAT and ACT have long been rites of passage for college-bound high school students, but fewer colleges are requiring the tests than ever before. It may have something to do with research that shows that the tests do little to predict the success of students in college, instead pointing to grades and GPA as being more important. Today, there are more than 815 colleges and universities that do not require the SAT or ACT for admission, and the numbers have grown rapidly in recent years.
Schools are using social media to recruit applicants
Recruiting for colleges is increasingly being done through social media, though mailers and other more traditional methods are still popular. Schools can reach out to a large number of students in a cost-effective manner through social media, making it a popular choice. Today, students would be hard-pressed to find a school that doesn’t have a social media presence; they shouldn’t be surprised to get a friend request from a college or an admissions officer when applying to schools.
Applications are more carefully audited
Whether it’s a sad sign of the times or due to the greater number of students applying to schools, cheating and lying on applications isn’t entirely uncommon. Colleges are increasingly trying to combat this, with schools like Stanford and Harvard increasing their use of fact checking applications and plagiarism software. Students who fudge applications should be aware that there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be caught, so honesty is, as usual, the best policy.
http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/11/21/12-modern-trends-in-college-admissions/
Whether you’re applying to schools now or plan to in the coming months, it’s important to know just what trends are big in admissions right now. Some may affect how and where you decide to apply. Others are just interesting to know and demonstrate some compelling trends in society as a whole. No matter which of these categories they fall into, take your time reading about these modern trends in admission — they’ll help make you savvier and smarter about the process, and those qualities can never hurt to have in spades when it comes to college decisions.
Admissions officials commonly check applicant’s Facebook pages
Social media has changed more than just how we communicate and keep in touch — it’s also had an impact on how colleges evaluate prospective students for admission. More than a quarter of schools in a 2009 survey indicated that they used social networks to
locate information about students, and the number is likely to grow as social networking becomes ever more ubiquitous. That means students need to be smart about what they put on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace if they don’t want it to hurt their chances of college admission.
Students are applying to more schools
Tuition may be up, but applications to colleges and interest in attending college haven’t tapered off. In fact, in recent years many schools have reported record highs in the number of applications they’ve received. Part of this is due to students applying to many more schools than was common in years past. Nationally, 17.8% of students applied to eight or more colleges, up from just 7.8% a decade ago. Experts believe it could have something to do with the ease of applying through technology, or aggressive recruiting tactics from some schools.
Admission yields are down
Another byproduct of students applying to more schools may be the downward trend in admission yields. Admission yields are the percentage of accepted students accepted to a given school who ultimately end up attending. Average admission yields in 2011 were about 49%. Today, they are less than 41% and could drop further.
Few students receive college admissions help from high school counselors and admissions officials
Many students may be struggling with the application and admissions process because they’re simply not getting the help they need. On average, the counselor to student ratio in the U.S. is 460 to 1. That’s a lot of students for one counselor to handle, and many simply don’t have the time to devote to helping each and every student, especially with many other duties besides college counseling on their plates. Only 26% of public schools have a counselor who works exclusively on college counseling, though a surprising 73% of private schools do.
More and more students are on wait lists
Wait lists have been a part of the college admissions process for a long time, but not to the degree that they are today. Today, over 48% of schools use a wait list, a leap from just 39% in 2009. The number goes up even more for highly selective schools, with 63% using wait lists. Some of the most popular schools have wait lists that include 10,000 students or more, leaving many in limbo as they decide whether to wait out a decision from a top choice, or enroll with a school that accepted them from the get-go. Ultimately, only 28% of students on average will get a spot after being waitlisted.
Grades are still the most important factor in college admissions
Your high school grades matter quite a bit when it comes to applying to college. In fact, they are generally the most important factor for college admissions officers when deciding whether or not you meet a school’s standards. A survey of schools nationwide found that the most important factors are GPA in college prep courses (upper level, AP, and honors courses, generally), the strength of the curriculum at your high school, your scores on the ACT and SAT, your overall GPA, and your college essay, in that order.
Demonstrated interest, however, has risen significantly in importance
While the main factors of importance haven’t changed over the past few decades, there is a growing trend towards schools considering your interest in acceptance being a very important factor. In 2003, only 7% of schools thought it was important, but today, 22% do. With long wait lists and lower acceptance rates, students may find showing interest in a school is a way to get an edge, with all other factors being equal.
Streamlined apps are becoming a hot way to market to applicants
Many colleges and universities are launching aggressive marketing and recruitment campaigns to help bolster their application numbers. One of the ways they’re doing this is through the use of "snap apps." These streamlined applications often don’t require a fee or an essay, which may make them good for students who are already standouts, but could hurt those who may be struggling for acceptance and need an essay or room for extra recommendations to bolster their chances.
Recommendations don’t hold the weight they once did
Once upon a time, recommendations from teachers and employers were a big factor in determining whether or not students would get into schools. These days, things have changed. Teachers and counselors are often overwhelmed with recommendation requests, and admissions officials are reporting that what they’re writing is often less specific and thoughtful and often tells admissions little about the student. As a result, only 17% of colleges now rank recommendations of "considerable importance" in the admissions process. Additionally, many schools have eliminated or greatly reduced the number of recommendations they require.
Many schools no longer require the SAT or ACT for admission
The SAT and ACT have long been rites of passage for college-bound high school students, but fewer colleges are requiring the tests than ever before. It may have something to do with research that shows that the tests do little to predict the success of students in college, instead pointing to grades and GPA as being more important. Today, there are more than 815 colleges and universities that do not require the SAT or ACT for admission, and the numbers have grown rapidly in recent years.
Schools are using social media to recruit applicants
Recruiting for colleges is increasingly being done through social media, though mailers and other more traditional methods are still popular. Schools can reach out to a large number of students in a cost-effective manner through social media, making it a popular choice. Today, students would be hard-pressed to find a school that doesn’t have a social media presence; they shouldn’t be surprised to get a friend request from a college or an admissions officer when applying to schools.
Applications are more carefully audited
Whether it’s a sad sign of the times or due to the greater number of students applying to schools, cheating and lying on applications isn’t entirely uncommon. Colleges are increasingly trying to combat this, with schools like Stanford and Harvard increasing their use of fact checking applications and plagiarism software. Students who fudge applications should be aware that there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be caught, so honesty is, as usual, the best policy.
Contacts and sources;
Story by Tim Handorfhttp://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/11/21/12-modern-trends-in-college-admissions/
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