<p>Since the amount of student applying to top schools drastically increased, what if in about in the next 3-5 years Harvard's acceptance rate drops to 1%, do you think this would ever happen? I think it would be so hard to so into Harvard that you will have to write a best-selling novel and win an Olympic gold medal to get in.</p>
<p>I doubt it. Though I suppose it is possible. Recently there have been increases in quality of students. However, I believe that standards within schools will also be raised, and there will be less “excellent” students. I don’t think it will ever be the way your describing it, but it is quite competitive.</p>
<p>I think within the unhooked pool the acceptance rate is already substantially below 5%.</p>
<p>Inherently, the number of highly qualified applicants can’t increase significantly; many of these measures of “highly qualified” are relative to other students (e.g., standardized testing, class rank, awards).</p>
<p>I think the lower admissions rates are not so much because of increasing student quality, as it is to the number of applications. With more schools moving towards the CommonApp, the application process is somewhat more efficient (as opposed to paper). </p>
<p>Students also are applying to more schools (from 7 to 12 generally) because it increases their fitting ranges (there are so many different campus atmospheres, after all). With this, more people are applying to HYP in hopes of becoming lucky. Indeed, every year, there are a handful of kids who are not actually the most academically competitive that do make it. So this fuels the hackneyed admissions words that students skate more on increasingly these days: “You just never know…” </p>
<p>The final factor to consider is financial aid. With a bad economy, HYP schools are more appealing with the generally more generous aid from these institutions. So, it becomes automatic to say why not apply? </p>
<p>HYP kids are normal! Yes, they’re great students, but they have never won Olympic medals or cured cancer. I think what many people forget in the entire process is that its just undergrad. Even with grad school, regardless of the name, if you learn your stuff well and not end up a quack, you will have a decent life. Or, if its beyond that, you do not need Harvard or Yale or Princeton or MIT or Caltech or Stanford or Columbia or UChicago or Berkeley or any of the other Ivies and high-caliber schools to make a difference. What gives these colleges their names are the students. Whatever school you end up at, make your college proud of you and be the first to sort of “glorify” its name. I seriously do not think it is at the point where students have become robots. Colleges do not define us.</p>
<p>Aren’t demographics going to make admissions a bit easier in the coming years?</p>
<p>Applying to more schools is probably a trend that will stick, but I could see some backlash coming if it continues to worsen (i.e. common app limiting you to 15 schools or whatnot).</p>
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<p>However, the trend of sending more applications to top schools does make the schools more selective (decreased yield does not compensate).</p>
<p>itd take forever if you just think about the numbers.</p>
<p>cuz going from say 13% rate to a 7% rate is totally different from going from a 7% rate to a 1% rate. even though the difference is only 6% the latter has much more extreme implications.</p>
<p>cuz if you had say a 13% acceptance rate, and suddenly the applicant pool doubled and the same number of people applied, youd have a 6.5% acceptance rate, right? and quite obviously, doing the same to a 7% acceptance rate gives you 3.5%, still significantly higher than a 1% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>it wouldnt happen anytime soon cuz then youd need to have 2110/.01 = 211000 applicants. and seeing how harvard is barely at 1/7th of that, no way its happening unless kids start sending like 30 applications or the number of seniors in america increase significantly.</p>
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<p>So you’re saying that when you exclude from the data set people who are very likely to gain admission, the percent admitted drops? Interesting.</p>
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Isn’t there a modern sort of adage that goes, “Thank you Captain Obvious,” with the response being something along the lines of, “Sure thing Sergeant Sarcasm”?</p>
<p>Hence, sure thing Sergeant Sarcasm.</p>
<p>Lol, nice one.</p>
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<p>Technically, six percentage points.</p>
<p>No, it won’t ever hit 1%. For Harvard’s applicant pool to hit 210000 would mean that the population of America would have to skyrocket, but earth doesn’t have those resources. </p>
<p>But as time goes on I don’t think Harvard’s going to expand. More spots = higher accept % = less preftige.</p>
<p>maybe for the harvard class of 2138, and that year specifically.</p>
<p>Guys. Education’s going to be universally accessible and virtual in five years anyway, so why are we even having this debate? Moo. Moo…moot!</p>
<p>Yea it can happen. Since people use the common app, they can apply to many schools. So it can happen, or at least 4% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>For the acceptance rate to fall from 7% to 1%, then Harvard would have to become seven times more selective. So either they start admitting 1/7 the amount of people they admit now, or they begin receiving seven times the applications. Neither sounds likely.</p>
<p>With the widened number of CC users, increased marketing to new populations, news of the generous financial aid policies, applications may certainly increase despite the shrinking US demographics. International student applications will continue to grow.</p>
<p>Seven times though? That may take awhile.</p>
<p>It could happen. What year does Bieber graduate from high school?</p>
<p>In 2012. If he does, since celebrities don’t go to high school.</p>