We are really thrilled with the good news from so many of our seniors, and look forward to hearing the rest of the decisions as they come out! Our office will be closed for the next two weeks during the FCPS break, but please keep us updated - we can’t wait to celebrate for you!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

EARLY ACTION/EARLY DECISION RESULTS

We have posted so many times about how much we love College Kickstart’s list of early decision and early action release dates, which is updated nearly every day and can be really helpful for students still anxiously awaiting decisions. But for data on those decisions that have already come out, the site also released this list of initial early admission rates. We can see the impact of increased applications at selective schools like Columbia, which saw a 49% increase in ED applications, and Dartmouth, which saw a 29% increase. Stats have not been released yet on MIT’s early action, but some sources are predicting a 60% increase in applications this cycle!

DEFERRALS MAY IMPACT RD ADMISSION AFTER ALL

As we have been saying for months, most colleges assured students that the increase in Class of 2020 deferrals would not impact Class of 2021 applicants. However, in the last week, we’ve begun to see some evidence of policy shifts on this topic - it sounds like some of the most selective schools are beginning to rethink that approach (and not in a good way!). This interview with Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin suggests that while the office did not take deferrals into account during the ED cycle, it will do so during the RD round. Yikes! Along the same lines, Harvard admitted an historically low number of students during the early action round to compensate for deferrals. And that’s despite a 57% increase in applicants year over year! This is really concerning news for RD applicants, and is yet another reason why students who were not admitted in this round should seriously consider applying ED II. 

RECORD NUMBER OF MED SCHOOL APPLICATIONS THIS CYCLE

The pandemic has changed everything about college and grad school admissions, but may have been particularly influential in medical school applications, which are up 18% over last year. Top schools like Stanford have seen a 50% increase in applications in what medical school admissions offices have started to term the “Fauci Effect.” The senior director of the American Association of Medical Colleges likens this wave to the large numbers of young men and women who entered into the military after 9/11.

MACKENZIE SCOTT DONATES MILLIONS TO COLLEGES 

MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated nearly two billion dollars to small colleges and universities that tend to serve low-income or minority students, including more than a dozen HBCUs as well as technical and community colleges. Recipients included Prairie View A&M University, which received $50 million, and Borough of Manhattan Community College, which received $30 million. For many schools, these were the largest single gifts they had ever received. Ms. Scott made the gifts after her team interviewed the presidents of the colleges about their mission and goals. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As previously mentioned, we experienced an unprecedented early admissions cycle this year in terms of skyrocketing numbers of applicants, and the WSJ did a great job of covering the “dramatic growth” today. We knew it was going to be messy, but this past week was just insane.

Binding early decision applications rose by 22% at Brown University, 23% at the University of Pennsylvania, 29% at Dartmouth College and 49% at Columbia University. At Yale University and Harvard University, applications under the restrictive early-action option jumped by about 38% and 57%, respectively.

The massive jumps—and resultant declines in acceptance rates—illustrate just how chaotic this admissions cycle is shaping up to be.

We can’t say that all of our news was perfect- we had two decisions in particular that were very frustrating. That said, we’ve been totally. blown. away. by how well our students have done on the whole despite these crazy increases. Offhand I would say that about 80% of our students who applied ED were admitted to their top choice schools, and we’re talking about some extremely selective institutions, several of which are Ivy League schools that were mentioned in that article. Congratulations, guys!

This piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education makes a radical proposal - that instead of employing human beings to read applications and make admissions decisions, students should be matched with schools using an algorithm that takes into account the preferences of the applicant as well as those of the program. The article cites the racial and socioeconomic disparities in traditional admissions as the reason why the system needs such a drastic overhaul. The system would also help struggling colleges to meet enrollment goals, a goal that is even more salient as colleges go into debt during the COVID-19 crisis. We’re not sure that they will ever be able to fully replace admissions readers, but it is definitely an interesting proposition! 

There have been multiple articles this week about the difficulties that students and counselors face during the admissions process this cycle. The LA Times notes that school counselors have often been unable to reach their students through remote learning platforms, but the lack of technology isn’t the only issue. Students and families contending with unemployment, anxiety, and illness are not motivated and are sometimes unable to complete the time-intensive work of applying to colleges. NPR stresses how these effects are even more profound for first generation and low-income students, who are left with fewer resources than past cycles in what has become the most challenging and capricious cycle we have ever seen.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We have been trying hard to keep up with the ED/EA statistics from as many schools as we can, and sharing our information to help clients make good decisions about ED II and RD applications!

Shannon attended a Best of Boston session with Tufts, BU, and Northeastern this week and learned that Tufts is admitting fewer students early this year (only 18% of the entering class), and that interestingly, they have seen a HUGE increase in applications from Virginia. Figures, right?! We know that many of our students have become interested in Tufts, and are keeping our fingers crossed for them in a cycle with a lower admit rate and stiff competition! 

And of course, we have seen so many decisions come out this week! But keep in mind that whether you were accepted, deferred, or denied, your responsibilities do not end with your decision letter. Deferred or denied students should read our post from earlier this week for next steps. And for those who got good news, keep an eye out for next week’s blog post on important steps to take after your ED acceptance. 

We hope you all have a great holiday, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for those still waiting on decisions!