<p>Hey,</p>
<p>Well, i heard that the class of 2013 is going to be the most competitive year ever. Does 2014 get any better or does it even get worse. 2014 is for those who are entering their Junior year now and will be applying next year. So what do you think? Are there any statistics to show whether competition gets any easier or not? I think i may have read somewhere that after 2013 it starts to get easier. Not sure though. Thanks</p>
<p>Apparently it does, but not by much... :/</p>
<p>Yeah, I heard that it starts to get easier, but it's probably not a substantial difference.</p>
<p>thanks ansar and CC Lurker. any other thoughts?</p>
<p>From all that I've read it will be easier at many colleges but not at top ones. There was a recent article in one of the news magazines that spoke of top colleges recruiting heavily abroad to make certain their student base stays strong as the number of American kids declines. This makes a lot of sense given the global economy.</p>
<p>omg i can't believe i just saw 2014 in a thread title...it's 5 whole years away!</p>
<p>and according to the mayan calendar we'll all be dead by then :(</p>
<p>princessbell - Class of 2014 refers to the college grad class :)</p>
<p>i'm not familiar with the nationwide statistics, but i know that at my school there is a significant drop in the number of students after the hs class of '09. [~10-15%] i've heard that hs class of '10 should be as competitive as hs class of '07 [those in soph. year of college now]</p>
<p>regardless, don't worry about the numbers. your credentials matter so much more</p>
<p>oh i know...but it's just weird considering 2013 is just getting their groove on :)</p>
<p>total no. of students may be less, but the number of good students is growing substantially. </p>
<p>People I know who are before 2014 don't have any ecs at all. Like they do piano and it's really impressive. But people I know who are like in gr.8 or 9 now do art, piano, violin, basketball, baseball, tennis, chess, ...... etc. From what my art teacher could tell, there's a drastic difference starting from our yeat (2010, 2014). </p>
<p>anyway, I concluded that it will be a lot harder for us, and even harder for the ones after.</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>