Next Friday, January 24, is the Early Action ‘Decision Day’ for the University of Florida, the flagship public university in our home state. Let’s just say it is an anxiety-inducing day for many that will cap off what has been an angst-ridden process for legions of students who applied Early Action or Early Decision to college last fall. Note that UF is among the last of the universities to announce their early round decisions.
First the good news: the fact is that most schools admit their early applicants* at a higher rate (sometimes much higher rate) than their regular decision applicants. For example (from the Class of 2027), Tulane accepted 68% of its Early Decision (ED) applicants, 17% of its Early Action (EA) applicants and only 3% of its Regular Decision (RD) applicants; American University accepted 85% of ED applicants and only 47% of RD applicants; Emory accepted 32% of ED1 applicants, 12% of ED2. For most schools, the earlier the better.
While this is instructive (and we’ve written extensively about why this is so in previous articles — see our blog for details) — and ALL of our students apply early to at least some of the colleges they are considering — nearly every college will still be rejecting thousands of qualified applicants regardless of applicant round.
The sobering reality is that MANY of these students would have been admitted just a few years back. In fact, when most of today’s parents were applying to college, it was rare for a school (even the Ivies) to accept fewer than 20% of its applicants. Today, there are dozens of schools with single digit admit rates, including schools you might not expect (Northeastern – 7%; NYU – 8%; Washington University – 9%). Other schools are setting record low rates that seem to defy reason as well.
This is happening despite the fact that overall college enrollment reached its peak in 2011. Fueling this madness are the usual suspects: unrelenting marketing by colleges with a healthy assist from a number of ‘nonprofit’ educational services (like The College Board, to name one). There are also more and easier ways to apply to multiple schools than ever before (you can – but shouldn’t -apply to up to 20 schools with a few clicks using just one Common App.) And then there is the sad truth that there’s an appalling lack of access to college guidance (national average is 502:1, as in 502 12th graders to every college counselor).
This news shouldn’t surprise any of our clients or our long-time readers– we’ve been reporting on and preparing our students for these type of long odds for nearly two decades.
But for our newer subscribers with younger high school students who may just be waking up to the realities of college planning today, I’d like to offer some advice to help you beat these odds, and stave off some serious stress in the process. Keep in mind that what I’m sharing here aren’t theories—they’re real strategies tested and perfected over decades, with results to back them up. Whether you’re considering public universities in your home state, out-of-state, selective private universities or just starting to think about college, these tips will put you ahead.
Plan Early: Ideally we like to begin working with families in 10th grade, just after the student has received their first PSAT result and prior to course selection for 11th grade (usually January or February). This enables us to strategically plan for three critical areas: Grades/Class Rigor; Test/Test Prep; and Funding (Financial Aid offices will review income from the calendar year that begins in January of 10th grade and ends in December of 11th).
Do Not Follow The Herd And/Or Fall In Love With The Marketing materials of a particular school. Colleges have VERY sophisticated marketing departments, big budgets and strategic marketing partnerships with all of the major Testing Services. Once your child is in 10th grade, they will likely begin receiving unsolicited emails/literature with images of bucolic campus landscapes, shiny new buildings and beautiful people. We urge our students to dig deeper – there are 4000 universities in the US, fantastic ones with perhaps smaller regional marketing initiatives. Cast a wider research net based on factors such as major/interest match, and budget/historical financial generosity (one irony is that while college admissions has become increasingly competitive, the tuition discount rate — the amount of institutional grant and scholarships offered to admitted students — has reached a record high of 56%, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). Yes, that means that we expect many of our students to pay LESS than half of the published price for their college education, which can equate to literally tens of thousands of dollars. Having options (which equates to leverage when making decisions) is about having the right admissions strategy from the outset.
Prepare to Apply Early (as in October of 12th grade) but Not Restrictively Early*. All students should be ready to ‘hit submit’ on their first college applications by early October of 12th grade. That means that the application process (writing the essays/personal statements, selecting/requesting recommenders, requesting all transcripts, completing the Common App, etc.) should begin BEFORE the summer going into 12th grade. Some students will still need to complete testing in the fall of 12th grade, but all students should take the SAT or ACT BEFORE the end of 11th grade. We offer a 6-week Application Bootcamp during the summer prior to 12th grade, designed for rising 12th graders to have submit-ready applications before they even step foot in school the following fall.
Do NOT Be A ‘Stealth Applicant’/Get To The Front Of The Applicant Pile: For years, we’ve been emphasizing the importance of niche positioning when it comes to standing out in a crowded admissions process. That’s because despite the mania, the college process remains a very ‘personal’ one, managed by real people who are moved by emotion and subtleties that are not reflected in scores, GPA or class rank. What separates two seemingly identical students on paper are intangibles – what we call an ‘X’ Factor. One of the biggest intangibles (and metrics for an admissions office) is whether an accepted applicant is likely to matriculate (known as ‘yield). Most universities measure and track a student’s interest to help gage their likelihood to enroll. We urge all students beginning in 9th grade to attend local college fairs, stop by the booths of colleges they think they may consider, introduce themselves to the admissions rep at that booth, participate in online information sessions, visit the schools under serious consideration, etc.
Take Rigorous Classes AND Do Well in them in 12th grade. There was a time when the heavy academic lift ENDED when 11th grade did. That time has passed. Today more students are being deferred than ever which means 12th grade counts! Your schedule will be scrutinized; your mid-year grades will be requested and your counselor may be asked to write an additional statement of support. Do not let senioritis set in early; you do so at your own admissions risk. And 12th grade is NOT the time to take it easy, at least not during the first semester.
Obviously there is more but I know that this email is already too long. Bottom line is that desired outcomes and opportunities do not happen without a proactive and strategic effort. In our practice, we develop an individualized and targeted admissions strategy for each of our families. During high school this allows the student to shut out the noise and work on their plan…and when the time comes, they resist the pressure to defensively submit applications to ‘cover their bases’ and instead focus on building their case before a list of 8-10 schools that we know will consider their value (be it academically, socially or even geographically) and be capable of meeting the entire family’s needs.
The truth is that while there is now more information available than ever – including various school rankings, net cost calculators, ROI estimates, etc., the process is becoming more daunting and confusing than ever. This need not be the case for you and your students. There are 4000 universities and many right options for each child and budget. The goal is to identify those that meet your family’s needs and implement a strategy well before your child hits submit on their first application.
In about a month (if not already), your student will come home with course cards to choose next year’s schedule. To me, this provides a great opportunity for you to have a family discussion about college/career aspirations, grades/classes and admissions goals, and your family’s college budget. I’ve found that it certainly helps to have real data to inform these types of discussions. We use software that can accurately forecast your true net cost, as well as 18 years of historical data that we use to help project your child’s admissions chances, at the colleges you may be considering. Please feel free to reply to this email or call my office if you’d like to discuss these tools – or if you have any other college related questions.
Best wishes and a belated Happy New Year to you and your family,
Best,
Peter
*There are numerous acronyms in the college admissions process. Among them are the various types of Applicant options: EA =Early Action – non-binding early date by which to apply; REA/SCEA = Restrictive Early Action/Single Choice Early Action – non-binding but cannot apply EA or ED to any other school; ED = Early Decision – binding agreement to attend the university if admitted
