<p>@ lolcats- I just tell people I'm first in my class. I'm listing Valedictorian on my college apps. :)</p>
<p>I'm a member of the class of 2009/future class of 2013, and I have to say my class follows the predominant example on this thread. Clearly stronger than any other at my school, either below us or recently gone. Not sure about comparative class size.</p>
<p>I've heard the same thing. My school's class of '09 is also exceptionally well-rounded and competitive. AP English, one of the most challenging courses at my school, had to have its enrollment split up into two classes for the first time since I've gone.</p>
<p>I decided to bring up this old post to update,
because I think the general opinions posted on this thread could have vastly changed because of our recent economic situation. </p>
<p>People are actually starting to believe that, despite the large number of high school graduates for Class 2009, the economic plight may result a fewer number of college applicants this year, perhaps making the process a little easier and less competitive. Or it could be an illusioned hope... I don't know, who knows.</p>
<p>I don't know.. but even so, I know that my class at my particular high school is not only slightly larger (by 10-15 people or so) than all the other classes, but also much more talented. Within the top 10 students we easily have 5 recruited athletes competing at the national level. The number of our commended+sf students quadrupled from last year. It's going to be a crazy year.</p>
<p>Yeah, alexkaye, I heard about that too.</p>
<p>I personally don't think it will affect us THATTT much, what with so many schools advertising financial aide
:/</p>
<p>'08 class was the largest one for us, but '09 is definitely the smartest class so far. looking the thread, i am soooo screwed for college admissions this year =[</p>
<p>09 is such a smart class in my school too. </p>
<p>this is crazy.</p>
<p>Yeah, I actually wrote an article on this for my school</p>
<p>The class of 2009 is the peak of the "baby boom" echo generation. Following us seniors, the number of high schoolers will go down for a few years (but will eventually increase to more than 2008 or 2009 later)</p>
<p>That means.....
sucks for us. It'll be slightly more competitive than the class of 2012. brace yourselves</p>
<p>Peaking in 19891990 was the Echo Boom, a result of the baby boom of the late 1940s and 1950s settling down and having kids in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those born after the end of this boom in 1993, up to 2001 are included in later-reaching definitions of Gen Y.</p>
<p>It's time for the FAQ again: </p>
<p>DEMOGRAPHICS </p>
<p>Population trends in the United States are not the only issue influencing the competitiveness of college admission here. The children already born show us what the expected number of high school students are in various years, but the number of high school students in the United States, which is expected to begin declining in a few years, isn't the whole story. </p>
<p>First of all, if more students who begin high school go on to college, there will be more applicants to college even with a declining number of high school students. And that is the trend in the United States and worldwide. </p>
<p>Second, colleges in the United States accept applications from all over the world, so it is quite possible that demographic trends in the United States will not be the main influence on how many students apply to college. The cohorts of high-school-age students are still increasing in size in some countries (NOT most of Europe). </p>
<p>Third, even if the number of applicants to colleges overall stays the same, or even declines, the number of applicants to the most competitive colleges may still increase. The trend around the world is a "flight to quality" of students trying to get into the best college they can in increasing numbers, and increasing their consensus about which colleges to put at the top of their application lists. I do not expect college admission to be any easier for my youngest child than for my oldest child, even though she is part of a smaller birth cohort in the United States. </p>
<p>And now I would add to this that at the very most selective colleges that have just announced new financial aid plans, next year's (and the following year's) crush of applicants will be larger than ever. When colleges that are already acknowledged to be great colleges start reducing their net cost down to what the majority of families in the United States can afford, those colleges will receive more applications from all parts of the United States, and very likely from all over the world. </p>
<p>The Austin American-Statesman newspaper in Texas published news about these trends in an article about a particular applicant in April 2008. </p>
<p>The Economist magazine published a brief article about these trends in April 2008. </p>
<p>University</a> admissions in America | Accepted | The Economist </p>
<p>I don't see any particular need to revise this in response to this month's economic news. There are still plenty of students competing for spots at the most competitive colleges from all over the world.</p>
<p>My class is uber competative in the sense that many kids in my grade take easy classes that they know they can get an A in to game the system and increase their class rank. It sucks for me because I have a 3.9 unweighted gpa, but I'm barely top 10% in my class and it makes me look like I didn't work for my grades. So basically we have tons of kids with 4.0's and with 1500 (out of 2400!) SAT scores.... and the guidance counselor's call us the most competative class they've ever seen, but it's mostly just kids gaming the system to their benefit. </p>
<p>This thread is making me worried....</p>