it seems like, against all logic, the harder admissions to desirable colleges becomes the more desirable the colleges become. No data to support this, just the climate in our community.
We’re seeing a similar phenomenon across all kinds of economic behaviors now. Stocks that are ridiculously overvalued are soaring – against all logic. US government debt that ought to be falling in price now is rising – against all logic. Ditto for the dollar, Manhattan real estate etc.
I’m sure that an academic economist will come along and give this phenom a fancy name soon, but I think it’s simply a case of a demand spike caused by the Crowd’s panicky rush into something, anything, that seems like a safe haven in an era of government incompetence, economic volatility and social disarray. Like hoarding toilet paper as soon as word spreads of a another mandated beatd-, er, lockdown.
There’s also a lot of opportunism at work here-- attempts to game the system. No SATs required? Great! I think I’ll apply to top-tier schools where my SAT would have sunk my chances on the Adcom’s first read! That alone probably accounts for most of the insane increase in elite college applications these last 2 cycles.
I assume you don’t mean to call OP’s parents “silly” when you respond?…
It appears his parents place a premium and associate value with “elite” schools and have prepared financially to support their child’s attendance. Personally I don’t view that as silly nor would I endeavor to criticize another parents preference for their kid.
Just finished reading the entire thread. Its clear that your passion for Brown shines through. It sounds like you applied ED1 to Brown.
Sibling legacy at Columbia is nothing to sneeze at. They do take that into consideration (although not at the same level as parent legacy). I would’ve thought your chances during ED to Columbia SEAS would have been higher than Brown ED.
You sound like a fantastic student. Unfortunately you’ve got many things going against your: over-represented race and over-represented major are key facets. Hopefully you will end up at a place where you can shine. I’m rooting for you!
While I agree with your comments and am similarly impressed and pulling for OP, likely concentration (major) isn’t a consideration at Brown. From Brown website…
“ In the Brown Questions section of the Common Application, we ask you to tell us your top choices of concentration (Brown language for major)—as far as you know at the time you apply. There are no quotas among concentrations and we do not admit students by academic interest .”
Yes, I understand your point. The websites for many selective colleges are designed to attract as many apps as possible. While they might not formally ‘admit’ by interest, there is definite shaping of the class.
My son went to a boarding school, and his college counselor was a former admissions director at Brown. Each year they host a weekend for parents to learn about the admissions process. During one of the sessions, he pulled out a stack of apps from Brown, and sat parents around a table to discuss each one. The students name was anonymized, but we could see the entire application. This was from the days of handwritten applications. This let us get a glimpse of how admissions officers view candidates in isolation and as a whole.
During this session, he clearly told us that there are various intangible factors that they look at. One of these is choice of concentration/major. So while it is not written down anywhere, its very clear that being Asian/ORM along with any type of CS/Engineering preference makes things more difficult. Similar for Indians and pre-med. You just have a lot harder job standing out.
When you describe it as the “combo” of ORM and major “concentration” I can’t help but agree and stand corrected in spite of the websites claim to the contrary.
@cjeong I think your list is really long, imo. How will you find the time to write essays without looking (to the AOs) copy and pastes from other school essays. My son applied to several schools on your list, and I know some of these essays are very unique and it took him a lot of time to write thoughtful essays.
Too off-topic to explain here why whatever Dollar strength there currently is makes sense (actually, it’s about in the middle of its historical average), or why the (US large-cap) stock market typically continues upward for about a decade after many people think it ought to have peaked (panic/uncertainty among market-moving large investors sends stocks down BTW). Suffice to say there’s nothing fancy-named about it. You can PM me if interested in the particulars. As to why the burst in applications to elite colleges…
Already mentioned are no-test/test-optional circumstances. The larger picture is “ease of access” in general. The year Brown went to the Common App, that was approximately a 30% jump in applications for my area – much of it presumably from students too lazy or uninterested to bother with a separate application.
Any college with enough money to be need-blind will naturally see an increase in applications when family income/wealth is under pressure. So beginning during one US administration and continuing to the next, a lot more kids were looking to roll the dice because “Who knows?” FWIW even if that’s a bigger motivation lately, I’ve still seen plenty of it going back many years. Both bank robbers and HS students can appreciate the “… because that’s where the money is” principle.
“There’s also a lot of opportunism at work here-- attempts to game the system. *No SATs required? Great! I think I’ll apply to top-tier schools where my SAT would have sunk my chances on the Adcom’s first read! That alone probably accounts for most of the insane increase in elite college applications these last 2 cycles.” An interesting observation, and no doubt true to at least some extent. Personally I would go with “financial aid” as the largest factor, but also without any data – just a guess.
The reason I bring this up is because I’m wondering if the college doesn’t maybe come out ahead sometimes as well: Admit students who would have been denied for test-score reasons and yet end up as stellar alums relative to a better-tester who would have taken that slot. In a holistic admissions process, no-test represents a shift in the process rather than a drastic change. From my limited experience, Brown AO’s seem know most of the high schools in “their” region really well, and so have a pretty good idea as to what kind of student they are looking at from grades / recommendations.
One way or the other, perhaps 2/3’s of the applicants I’ve interviewed would do fine there academically – certainly half… vs an admit rate about one-tenth of that. So one way or the other, there’s not much danger of the undergrad gene pool taking a noticeable hit. It seems to be more about the AO’s having to work somewhat harder than they already are.
