Elite Colleges Rejecting Record Numbers of Applicants
Posted on April 7th, 2006
(Source: Yale University)
According to a Washington Post article, gaining admission to the most selective colleges and universities is tougher than ever. At the very least, it's as hard as it's been in recent memory. So if you got in, great. Congratulate yourself. If not, take solace in knowing you're in the majority.
Here's an edited excerpt from the Post piece:
It's not all in your head. It is harder to get into college this year.
Selective schools in the region and the country are reporting more rejections than ever. There has been a bulge in the number of college-age students, which is expected to continue until the end of the decade. Add in an increased desire among their baby boomer parents to enroll their kids in elite schools-and the inflated number of applications from students trying to hedge their bets-and you have the ingredients for a season of frustrated hopes and unexpected disappointments.
Many of the best-known and most-selective universities announced record low admission rates this year. Yale set an Ivy League record, accepting only 8.6 percent of its 21,099 applicants. Last year, the school accepted 9.7 percent of its 19,448 applicants. Other record lows were reported by Columbia University, 9.6 percent; Stanford University, 11 percent; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13 percent; Brown University, 13.8 percent; Dartmouth College, 15.4 percent and the University of Pennsylvania, 17.7 percent.
The number of rejections is further inflated by the increased number of applications sent out by each student, reacting to the uncertainty of admission and the ease of online and common applications. This produces a self-perpetuating cycle: It is harder to get in, so seniors apply to more schools, which makes it even harder to get in, at least for the most sought-after schools.
College admissions experts warned, however, against making too much of the space crunch in the best-known schools. Only about 10 percent of U.S. colleges are highly selective, and most schools accept most of the students who apply. Even at high schools that felt the pinch of what looks like the hardest admissions year yet, students were admitted to colleges that appeared to have what they needed.
You can find the full article here.
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