First, it is important to say that it is difficult to predict for admission cycles this year. Many colleges have delayed application deadlines. Many students could not attend colleges for which they hope to enroll. Standardized testing is no longer necessary for almost all colleges.
But in January, two things are clear. Most colleges that did well before the coronavirus are still doing well – many of them are exceptionally so. The other thing that is clear is that colleges that serve mainly low-income students are not doing well.
A few campuses with deadlines coming earlier in the year, such as the University of California system, have announced the application totals and it is higher. Elite private colleges with early decision-making and early action programs (the former requiring admission applications) have announced how many students they have admitted – and their numbers are much higher. Many have admitted more students in the past than in the past.
But there is another story.
“Many institutions are not in the application and are concerned about meeting enrollment and revenue goals,” said Angel B. Pérez, chief executive of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. “I am concerned that students and parents will read this year about the most selective institutions and apply to apply to their college – although the reality is, most institutions in this country are more than happy to accept and allow their applications.”
Take the 23-campus California State University system, which is very diverse and has a reputation for educating low-income and minority students well. (It should be noted that Cal State also attracts very wealthy students, and the Ivies also attract low-income students.)
The Cal State system has extended the application deadline from December 1 to December 15 to make it easier to apply this year. It does not force applicants to submit test marks. The campuses train students close to their homes (and many stay at home), who have contributed to admissions this year.
Cal State received 538,279 applications for freshmen and 256,543 for transfer students. According to Toni Molle, director of strategic communications and public affairs at the system, both numbers are 5 percent lower than the previous year.
“Campuses continue to evaluate their capacity to serve additional applicants, and many have expanded their application window,” Molle said in an email. “This extension also includes the ability for students to apply for a waiver of the application fee and to recalculate financial aid packages for those facing additional financial hardships due to the pandemic.”
Fifteen campuses in Cal State are still accepting applications for first-year students. Nineteen campuses accept applications for transfer students in the upper division. Five campuses in Cal State accept admissions for lower division.
Compare the statistics with those of the University of California system, which contains campuses with impossible access statistics.
“Early application data so far shows about 250,000 first-year and transfer students who have applied so far, an increase of about 15 percent in the past year,” said Claire Doan, executive director of strategic communications and media relations for the system.
Some campuses extend deadlines.
Doan also noted that “initial highs among first-year students in California include a 12 percent increase in their applications, a 20 percent increase among African-Americans, and an 11 percent increase among Chicanx / Latinx students.” The University of California – some campuses of your choice and others by court order – do not consider SAT or ACT scores in this admissions process.
Now consider the early decision / early action figures for hypercompetitive private colleges.
Harvard University admitted 747 students early, out of an early pool of 10,086. The pool increased from 6,424 last year, an increase of 57 percent. Last year, Harvard admitted more students (895), but this year Harvard is dealing with 349 students who have postponed admission due to the pandemic. Harvard also notes that 17 percent of students admitted early are the first in their families to go to university, compared to 10 percent last year.
Brown University admitted 885 prospective students who decided earlier. The pool of 5,540 early decision applicants from which the students were admitted was the largest to date. Applications through the program increased by 22 percent within a year.
Yale University has admitted 837 applicants for early action, out of a pool of 7,939 applications, an increase of 38 percent and a record for the university.
Another university with a record of early decision was Duke University. This allowed 840 students out of 5036 who applied, an increase of 16 percent in a year. The recognition rate drops. This year it was 16.7 percent, compared to 20.7 percent last year.
Johns Hopkins University also set a record for earlier decision-making, offering 520 students space from a pool that was 11 percent larger than last year.
The setting of records for earlier decisions was also visible in the public sector – at universities with very competitive admissions.
Georgia Tech only offers early admission to Georgia students. More than 6,000 Georgians applied, and the university admitted 2,330 students.
The University of Virginia received a 38 percent increase in earlier decision makers and made 968 binding offers.
What do all these increases mean?
Pérez of NACAC said that “more of the Ivies and most selective are partly because of the new test option policy”, even if only some applicants use the policy. “It gives more hope to students who were strong in high school degree and co-learning programs, but may not have done well during the exam – or not taken one at all,” he said.
Many other colleges do not yet disclose the total expenses (which do not set records), he said.
“You will see many institutions because so many students and families are worried about finances,” he said. “School counselors tell me that their families are more worried than ever about finances – and some even postpone the applicant to college until they have a better idea of what their families’ financial picture will look like. We need to remember that we have millions of people unemployed or currently under unemployed, and the anxiety about paying the university is higher than ever. ‘
Katie Burns, an admissions advisor at IvyWise, a company that consults students with admissions, and former senior assistant director of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also said the test was optionally a major stimulus for highly selective colleges. “It’s always been more than just test results, but now they can see it.”
Testing optional ‘made more students think they were eligible,’ Burns said.
But, she added, “colleges went out and were a little more aggressive in allowing students early” to compensate for the fear that they would lose students due to the pandemic.
She predicted that all the adoptions of early decision making would make it harder for people to get in through a regular decision because there are fewer seats.
Regarding low-income students who worry about money, she said, “I hear it across the board.”
Burns added: “There are so many worries at home. I see students becoming more overwhelmed about how to keep up with their academics, and there are other priorities for them.”
“I see a lot of students falling through the cracks,” she said.