OP, I too applied in the previous millennium. The competition was MUCH less then: Basically, if you had certain scores/class rank, you could pretty much count on getting in everywhere. Nowadays it's much more of a crap shoot, so even top students are really in suspense. Makes their emotions somewhat easier to understand.
And there was less games-playing with the wait list. Now, many good-but-not-great schools will waitlist an outstanding candidate because they assume s/he is using the GBNG school as a safety; and if they accepted the candidate, and s/he then chose a "better" school, GBNG's yield percentage would take a hit--which would hurt its ranking in USN&WR's rankings. Yeah, that's stupid, but that's where we are.
OP, I too applied in the previous millennium. The competition was MUCH less then: Basically, if you had certain scores/class rank, you could pretty much count on getting in everywhere. Nowadays it's much more of a crap shoot, so even top students are really in suspense. Makes their emotions somewhat easier to understand.
And there was less games-playing with the wait list. Now, many good-but-not-great schools will waitlist an outstanding candidate because they assume s/he is using the GBNG school as a safety; and if they accepted the candidate, and s/he then chose a "better" school, GBNG's yield percentage would take a hit--which would hurt its ranking in USN&WR's rankings. Yeah, that's stupid, but that's where we are.
The competition was much less? In caps? Really? Are people smarter now or something?
The real answer for the reason behind these videos is that due to SM the world is filled with a bunch of narcissists.
Regardless of how hard or easy it might be to get into college no one needs to make a video about it
OP, I too applied in the previous millennium. The competition was MUCH less then: Basically, if you had certain scores/class rank, you could pretty much count on getting in everywhere. Nowadays it's much more of a crap shoot, so even top students are really in suspense. Makes their emotions somewhat easier to understand.
The competition was much less? In caps? Really? Are people smarter now or something?
Yeah, much less competition then. When I applied the USNews rankings and the common app were not yet widely known/used. A lot of universities that are now national were regional, at best: Stanford was mostly for kids in the West; NYU was a local commuter school. So fewer high schoolers were interested or applying. The rankings, and the spread of info via the Internet, have changed that situation markedly.
In addition, a smaller percentage of kids was going on to college at all, though that doesn't affect things much at the top schools; the main difference there is that the common app makes it easy to apply to multiple colleges (many of which are willing to waive application fees: gotta get a lot of applications, so their selectivity looks good for the USNews ranking!). I applied to five or six colleges, which was unusual in my school: Most applied to no more than three, and probably half the college-bound kids only applied to the local U. Nowadays my five or six apps might stil be unusual, but in the opposite direction: Some kids now are applying to dozens (plural) of places.
Moreover, kids are savvier now and more likely to load up on the stuff that (they think) will boost an application; and, with the influx of EAsian families and their academically oriented culture over the last several decades, the overall applicant pool (for the top schools) actually is smarter.
The result of all those factors is that admission to the top universities is MUCH more competitive.
Different times... different circumstances... fewer applicants & fewer students admitted... sure it's harder to get into stanford and probably some other places... so let's go with your overall premise, however, no one is smarter now and your use of caps is unnecessary. That aside:
Regardless of how hard or easy it might be to get into college no one needs to make a video about it.
The result of all those factors is that admission to the top universities is MUCH more competitive.
Just be the right skin color, sex, sexuality, identify as opposite "gender," and politics, and nothing but free education, free money, and do nothing jobs that you can't be fired from, even if you're actively trying to sabotage the company by promoting your politics over profits.
They are popping up in my Youtube feed which must mean I've somehow expressed interest. The admissions rates to top colleges these days are significantly lower than 20 or 30 years ago, but the numbers are a little deceptive. US birth rates have not changed dramatically and the number of admissions spots at top colleges is fairly constant. There are far more international students although changes during the Trump administration have reversed this trend. The most significant change in college admissions is that students apply to more colleges because the common application makes it easier. A significant percentage of the students applying to Ivy League schools or MIT or Stanford are not really qualified or would not have applied 30 years ago when each college had its own application. When the number of applications goes up, admissions rates go down. It is entirely possible that students today are better prepared for college having survived 8 AP classes and developed studying skills that I didn't pickup until college. These changes make it appear as if getting into a top college is more difficult and while this is probably true to some extent it does not explain admissions rates going from 40% down to 5%. While I find it interesting to hear what colleges a particular student got into, it's not interesting enough to spend 20 minutes watching
And normal people need to be extraordinary due to the "totally not a quota system" taking up 30% of spots
Can I assume that you are talking about the Legacy Admits, Development Admits, Athletes, and others who generally would not qualify but get in anyway?
(And for the record, these groups overwhelming are white and wealthy, when we are looking at admissions to the more selective, higher-ranked institutions).
OP, I too applied in the previous millennium. The competition was MUCH less then: Basically, if you had certain scores/class rank, you could pretty much count on getting in everywhere. Nowadays it's much more of a crap shoot, so even top students are really in suspense. Makes their emotions somewhat easier to understand.
And there was less games-playing with the wait list. Now, many good-but-not-great schools will waitlist an outstanding candidate because they assume s/he is using the GBNG school as a safety; and if they accepted the candidate, and s/he then chose a "better" school, GBNG's yield percentage would take a hit--which would hurt its ranking in USN&WR's rankings. Yeah, that's stupid, but that's where we are.
College admissions will mostly become less selective in about three years. Ask any college administrator about the "demographic cliff".
The competition was much less? In caps? Really? Are people smarter now or something?
Yeah, much less competition then. When I applied the USNews rankings and the common app were not yet widely known/used. A lot of universities that are now national were regional, at best: Stanford was mostly for kids in the West; NYU was a local commuter school. So fewer high schoolers were interested or applying. The rankings, and the spread of info via the Internet, have changed that situation markedly.
In addition, a smaller percentage of kids was going on to college at all, though that doesn't affect things much at the top schools; the main difference there is that the common app makes it easy to apply to multiple colleges (many of which are willing to waive application fees: gotta get a lot of applications, so their selectivity looks good for the USNews ranking!). I applied to five or six colleges, which was unusual in my school: Most applied to no more than three, and probably half the college-bound kids only applied to the local U. Nowadays my five or six apps might stil be unusual, but in the opposite direction: Some kids now are applying to dozens (plural) of places.
Moreover, kids are savvier now and more likely to load up on the stuff that will boost an application, and with the influx of EAsian families and their academically oriented culture over the last several decades, the overall applicant pool actually is smarter. I often collaborate with https://phdessay.com/essay-type/proposal/ and see what students come to us to study our comprehensive guide to writing a proposal essay. Students' level of knowledge is high only among those interested in it, and those who do not want to learn go their own way.
The result of all those factors is that admission to the top universities is MUCH more competitive.
I agree with you. The only thing that surprised me is that the percentage of children going to college has become smaller and, as far as I have had time to get acquainted, it is falling every year. The fact that 33% of students drop out of college every year shocked me at all. Apparently, I live in a different world.
EmmaG wrote: The only thing that surprised me is that the percentage of children going to college has become smaller and, as far as I have had time to get acquainted, it is falling every year. The fact that 33% of students drop out of college every year shocked me at all. Apparently, I live in a different world.
Most (that is, a majority) of Americans do not, and should not, attend four-year college. The average IQ of U.S. college graduates is somewhere around 115--that is, a standard deviation above the IQ of the population as a whole. It's not a useful place for people with average, or below average, intelligence.
If more teens are declining to attend four-year colleges, that may actually be a good thing. This "everybody should go to [four-year] college" stuff is BS and I think ELHI educators/administrators should stop spouting it. Unfortunately, many kids who simply do not belong in college buy that line; start at some four-year college or other; take out massive loans to do so; and then DNF, with no degree and all those loan payments hanging over them.