Confused by college chaos, kids apply to record number of schools

Rikki Schlott

Opinion

By Rikki Schlott

Excessive schoolers are making use of to a record-breaking variety of schools — frenzied by confusion over campus antisemitism, altering testing insurance policies and the Supreme Courtroom’s affirmative motion ruling.

Earlier than the pandemic, Christopher Rim’s common consumer would apply to 12 colleges.

This utility cycle, the school admissions guide mentioned, 90% of the scholars he works with are making use of to twenty or extra colleges.

“It’s an unprecedented quantity,” he mentioned.

“At some stage, it’s changing into a lottery, and these youngsters simply determine to cowl all their bases. They’re simply making use of to as many faculties as potential,” Rim, the CEO of Command Schooling, informed The Submit.

One scholar Rim advises is making use of to greater than 30 colleges — and shelling out practically $100 in utility charges for every.

“Households have gotten conscious of how aggressive the method is getting, and so they’re attempting to maximise their possibilities,” Rim mentioned.

He added that shoppers who, prior to now, would have been solely centered on the Ivy League, as we speak are making use of en masse to so-called “Ivy-plus” colleges — elite establishments seen as second-tier to Yale, Harvard, Brown, and so forth.

Particularly common this yr, Rim mentioned, are NYU, Duke, Emory and Washington College in St. Louis.

“Previously I might have discouraged a scholar trying to apply to twenty colleges as a result of they’d be spreading themselves too skinny and sacrificing the standard of their functions for amount,” Rim mentioned. “However in as we speak’s utility cycle, I really form of agree with this technique.”

As functions soar, colleges outdoors of the Ivy League are getting ultra-selective. 

NYU, as an illustration, slashed its acceptance charge from 35% a decade in the past to an eye-watering 8% as we speak.

In the meantime, Duke practically lower its admissions charge in half, from 12% in 2017 to 7% final yr.

“A majority of these colleges now are simply as tough to get into and carry virtually the identical sort of status as Ivies do,” Rim mentioned. “Stepping into Duke is nearly as exhausting as stepping into Harvard now.”

He’s even seeing some college students flip down Ivy League acceptances to go to Ivy-plus colleges as an alternative.

One scholar consumer simply bought into Harvard through early motion, however has requested Rim to advise him in making use of to Duke through the common utility cycle, too.

“It was that, if you happen to bought into Harvard early, you then had been simply flat-out accomplished with faculty functions,” Rim defined.

This scholar cited issues about campus anti-Semitism as his motivation to use elsewhere.

Rim says lots of his Jewish shoppers are shunning colleges like Harvard, the College of Pennsylvania and Cornell over related issues.

Harvard’s early functions sank by a surprising 17% following former college president Claudine Homosexual’s October 2023 controversial testimony on Capitol Hill about campus anti-Semitism.

He says worldwide candidates are clamoring for these spots.

“Worldwide college students are increasingly more keen to use to Harvard and Penn, as a result of, as horrible as it’s, antisemitism won’t fear them as a lot,” Rim mentioned.

Different current occasions within the faculty admissions world — the Supreme Courtroom putting down affirmative motion and colleges reinstating standardized testing necessities — have additionally made this utility cycle particularly chaotic.

A number of elite colleges, together with Dartmouth and Yale, have just lately reinstated standardized testing necessities after going test-optional for the reason that pandemic, leaving college students scrambling.

Rim mentioned one in all his shoppers anticipated to use to Yale on this yr’s early utility cycle however didn’t take the SAT.

Now he’s panicking and scrambling to search out backup colleges that don’t require scores.

“There’s a lot confusion as a result of, who is aware of, possibly subsequent week one other Ivy or Stanford or no matter college will begin requiring take a look at scores once more,” Rim mentioned. “There’s much more stress on this cycle, and the testing updates aren’t serving to in any respect.”

The Supreme Courtroom’s June ruling that overturned affirmative motion in faculty admissions has additionally left college students not sure of how their odds have modified at ultra-selective colleges, particularly as schools are reportedly utilizing novel techniques to get across the courtroom’s ruling with out breaking the legislation.

“There’s loads of confusion, particularly with Asian American college students, after the ruling,” Rim reported. “They simply don’t know the way it’s going to play out and have an effect on their admissions prospects — and, frankly, till this admissions cycle is over, neither can we.”

He says shoppers are below unprecedented stress: unfold skinny on their functions and left at the hours of darkness about how modifications within the admissions world will impression them.

“On the finish of the day, schools are reveling in how a lot chaos there may be,” Rim mentioned. “They wish to maintain it complicated, as a result of if persons are hoping admission is attainable, the colleges will get extra candidates after which drive down their acceptance charges.

“The confusion is a part of the attract. Being mysterious and opaque is how they keep their status and repute.”