Each year the National Association of College Admission Counseling releases the results of a survey which identify the latest trends in college admissions. The 2011 State of College Admission was recently released and points to the following trends.
Increased Applications
While the number of high school graduates peaked in 2009 at 3.33 million and is now in a period of decline, the number of college applications has continued to increase. In a growing trend, 85% of students’ applications were submitted online. This fits my previous post What’s New at Ohio Colleges where I cited a number of Ohio schools who have gone to online only. Admissions reps often say this is their preference.
Wait Lists
With this increase in applications, colleges are increasingly using wait lists. 48% of colleges use wait lists which is up from 2009 when only 39% employed the practice. Unfortunately for students on the wait list, there is a downward trend in the number admitted from the wait list. Only 28% of those on the wait list ultimately find a spot at the school. Not surprising, you’ll find this number much lower at the more selective schools.
Grades Matter Most
Since you can’t count on the wait list to get you in, students need to focus on getting great grades while in high school. Unchanged is the importance of grades in college prep courses as the most important factor for getting in. The top factors remain the same from previous years: GPA in college prep courses, strength of curriculum, college entrance test scores, overall GPA and the essay. Keep those grades up!
Demonstrated Interest
A newer trend in recent years is demonstrated interest. In 2003 only 7% of schools considered it important, now 22% do. Due to this growth, demonstrated interest moved up one slot in factors in the admission decision. Keep in mind however, the majority of the schools who participated in the survey are private schools which tend to be smaller. These are the schools where demonstrated interest may be factored in. Confused by what demonstrated interest is and how to show it? Read our past post on Getting on a College’s Radar.
Generally speaking, the smaller and more selective a school is, the greater number of factors they are likely to consider important for getting in. The larger, public schools more heavily rely on objective factors like GPA, class rank and ACT-SAT test scores.
