<p>On February 12, President Pelton mailed the families of admitted students to report that "More than 7,500 applications ...are making competition for a place in the Class of 2014 especially keen." Last year, according to the Common Data Set on Willamette's website, the college received 5,739 applications, so this represents an increase of over 30 percent. Good luck to all the RD applicants!</p>
<p>Just like I thought, Willamette has been “discovered”. Harder for my D now ,<sigh></sigh></p>
<p>Yes, kumitedad, I feel the same way…another worry…</p>
<p>According to Willamette University’s Class Profiles the number of Willamette undergraduate application for 2008-9 was 4023; for 2009-10 it was 6025; and for this year 2010-11 something over 7,500, for an increase of just over 86% in the last two years.</p>
<p>Yeah, we just came back from visiting our D who is a senior at WU. At dinner one night with a bunch of her friends, they all mentioned they were glad they were not applying now as they were not sure they would get in. Some of these kids had WU as their safety too. :-O</p>
<p>We attended the Dean’s Reception in San Francisco last weekend for accepted students. Madeleine Rhyneer announced that as of that week, 7,901 applications had been received. Average GPA of accepted students was 3.75.</p>
<p>Willamette has been assertively marketing itself. My child received the Student Leader’s Application in the mail last fall. Several HS peers also applied, who otherwise would not have, as the application was simplified and a quick response was promised. </p>
<p>My second child, a HS junior, has already received e-mails and mail from Willamette. From what we can tell, they got the contact info from a search done on college board. </p>
<p>Our HS guidance counselors are advising kids to apply to 9-12 schools this year. I think kids were looking for additional schools to meet that suggestion, and schools like Willamette (and there are many, we’re getting stuff from dozens of schools) that provided a quick and painless application process, were added to get to that 9-12 quota.</p>
<p>I think the US kinda needs to rehaul the higher education system we currently have. I’m not necessarily supporting a government-run process (like in other countries…though those programs have certainly been proven more efficient)…I just think something needs to happen before the system collapses!</p>
<p>Even just 5 years ago, it was considered VERY uncommon to apply to more than maybe 5 schools. Now, as I learned applying to colleges this year, the pressure is on to apply to as many as possible, and the average number of applications/student is continuing to rise. When you have a very competitive batch of students applying to upwards of 8 or 10 competitive schools each, acceptance rates at colleges go WAY down, rankings become more competitive, and it becomes more difficult for schools to gauge yields, etc. </p>
<p>I don’t want to seem too outspoken, especially as I am a culprit myself, having applied to 9 schools this year. But I really think something needs to be done to make the process more fair and more controlled. For example, in England, all colleges (public and private) share the same application process. No Common App, no public system apps, no “VIP” or “leaders” apps, just ONE simple application. Also, they cap the number of schools kids can apply to (I think it was 5 or so), and guarantee acceptance (somewhere) to every applicant.</p>
<p>I think our current system is giving wealthy kids (who have access to test prep courses, can afford multiple applications, etc.) an unfair advantage, and also making it much more difficult for the middle-range applicants (3.0GPA, decent scores/ecs) to make it into the schools they want to attend. Again, I hate to sound political, and I apologize for this weird rant…it’s just that information like what you guys are bringing up (rising apps, falling acceptance rates, etc.) reminds me of how crazy and out of control this process is getting.</p>
<p>I’m assuming nothing will happen anytime soon…but I can’t really see the college admissions industry getting any smaller anytime soon either.</p>
<p>Sorry. hahah. Just had to vent. :P</p>
<p>It’s okay to rant, especially if it fits with the thread. </p>
<p>I applied to colleges back in the late sixties, and as I recall, my friends and I generally applied to 5 or 6 schools. Why did you apply to 9 schools? Looking back, was that really necessary? How did it turn out?</p>
<p>I have a question, with all these extra applicants, did they reject more people? cause i was kind of upset when i got my rejection. This and stanford were my only rejections. I got into some other really good schools like colby. oh well. congrats to those who got in.</p>
<p>^ Willamette has been deliberately taking steps to become more selective. Their applications have more than quadrupled over the past five years. Here’s an excerpt from President Pelton’s “State of the University 2008-09 Address”:</p>
<p>“As the CLA admission season draws to a close, Willamette has achieved several benchmarks. We have received almost 6,000 applications for admission, a 42% increase over 2008. CLA applications have doubled since 2007 and quadrupled during the last decade. Our applicants come from 49 states and 22 countries. We admitted 57% of our applicants this year, vs. 66% in 2008 and 77% in 2007. Willamette now approaches an important admission benchmark: our goal is to join the small group of colleges and universities nationwide who admit fewer than 50% of their applicants. According to US News & World Report, of its 1,321 nationally ranked colleges and universities, 214 institutions admit fewer than 50% of applicants and 392 admit fewer than 60%.”</p>
<p>Source: [Presidential</a> Remarks - 2009 State of the University Address - Willamette University](<a href=“http://www.willamette.edu/about/president/speeches/sou/2009.html]Presidential”>http://www.willamette.edu/about/president/speeches/sou/2009.html)</p>
<p>I think a big part of the increase in applicants was the ease of submitting a “Leader’s Application.” It was free, and no essay beyond the Common App was required. My son thought, “Why not?,” so sent in the application. He did get admitted, but the aid he was offered didn’t match his other options, so he will go elsewhere.</p>