Yes - It’s a simple weighting - 1.0 added for any AP/IB in core classes.
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/11/16/college-applications-are-decreasing
"The Common Application received 8 percent fewer applications through Nov. 2 compared to last year, and 60 percent of its 921 members were reporting application declines…
…Colleges and universities in the Northeast and Midwest regions experienced the largest declines in application volume, each down 14 percent.
Colleges in the West saw a 10 percent increase in applications relative to 2019."
…A spokeswoman for the Coalition said via email, “While some member institutions are seeing an increase in applications, numbers are trending downward so far over all.”
So it seems like some schools are actually up in EA/ED round. Too bad they didn’t compare privates and publics.
I think it’s odd that west coast schools’ apps went up. So many of those schools don’t even have kids on campus at all right now. How is that a selling point? All I can think is that maybe west coast kids have decided to not leave the west coast as much for college this year and are staying closer to home.
Here’s the source article for the above: https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/11/16/college-applications-are-decreasing
Publics are a mixed bag too…UF systems down 50% at at some schools, while UGA up 27%, just for a couple of examples.
FAFSA completion rate is down as well…down 16.3% as of Nov 6 vs the same time last year. Still early for that, but not a good trend. https://formyourfuture.org/fafsa-tracker/
Query: does anyone know if schools will be able to require the vaccine for students before attending in person next fall? I wonder if only private schools can or if it varies state by state?
You’re more informed than I and I’m in California.
I didn’t know that test scores go into the top 9% calculation.
Don’t many public colleges currently require certain vaccines? Why would a covid vaccine be different?
@MorseLewis Its stated on the UC webpage, along with how to find out if you are ELC qualified. (Eligibility in the Local Context).
When will I find out if I’m designated ELC?
As an applicant from California, your application will be automatically screened for ELC eligibility when you apply. There’s no extra paperwork.
After submitting the application, you can return to the My UC Application page to see whether or not you’ve been designated as being in the top 9 percent of your class.
When my D19 applied to UCs, after she hit submit, it displayed a page mentioning that she was ELC qualified. (UC Merced was the only UC guaranteed in her time if you are ELC, I think it’s still the same now)
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Depends on how you define west (the article doesn’t say). For some the west begins at the Mississippi River and that’s a lot of territory. 
Inland from the coast, many campuses are open and offering some level of in-person instruction. Arizona comes to mind, where generous merit scholarships for high stats OOS students might also be appealing in the current moment.
Public or Private they already require certain vaccines unless you have specific exemptions. I see no reason why a COVID vaccine couldn’t be among those. That said, it would need to be widely available to the community at large in order to require it. That is a big IF come fall 2021.
I just wonder if this vaccine has been so politicized that some families will not want their kids to take it. Maybe some southern state schools that have been so cavalier about the virus won’t require it. Would it be the decision of the actual college or, in the case of a state school system, would the state have to make that decision?
Having kids who attend private middle and high schools, I can say that even private schools are bound by the state health department in which they operate. So they must be fully compliant with that state’s vaccine requirements. My assumption would be that each state’s health departments would be the ones to decide this.
Generally, states are not quick to adopt newer vaccines into their requirements (nor is the CDC). So I think it just depends on a lot of factors and no one really knows. I can’t imagine they’d require it for the incoming freshman, but I’m sure if it’s available they will recommend it.
I came here to post the UGA data, but y’all are too fast!
Here are this year’s EA numbers compared to last year’s numbers. Last year he gave the middle 50%, so I have averaged those for comparison and the middle 50 in parentheses. Not perfect, but I bet it’s close.
2020
Apps 16,511
Accepts 7,025
Accept rate 42.5%
UGA GPA 4.14 (4.00-4.29)
SAT 1430 (1360-1500)
ACT 32.5 (31-34)
https://www.admissions.uga.edu/blog/uga-2020-ea-decisions-and-data/
2021
Apps 20,900
Accepts ?
Accept rate ?
UGA GPA 3.91
SAT 1404
ACT 32
https://www.admissions.uga.edu/blog/2021-ea-decisions-suggestions/
Looks to me like their apps were up but the “quality” was down.
but private schools CAN require it without consent from the state government, no? And I disagree - freshmen will have to take the vaccine to go to school. Either that or we just stay with remote. Bowdoin’s president has said as much - if there’s a widely available vaccine, then fall will be “back to normal” on campus. To me, that means those kids and faculty are taking the vaccine.
@homerdog To add to @skkm0906 's post upthread, there are also a number of states that allow for fairly generous vaccine exemptions on religious or personal grounds. So in those places, children can attend either public or private schools (I’m speaking K-12 here) without the customary vaccines recommended by the APA.
IIRC when my older kid applied to colleges, certain vaccinations were required to live in the dorms. It may be that private colleges are able to impose more stringent rules based on residential requirements rather than access to education per se? Regardless, I will be looking at vaccination requirements closely when my D21 gets to the point of selecting a college.
You’re not comparing the same data - the 2020 is admitted and 2021 is applied.
You’re right! Sorry about the bad post, but it’s too late to edit/delete. Hopefully people scroll down and see the correction.
UNC just announced 10% increase in EA applications over last year. No information on how many are test optional.
Btw, they are implementing pre-arrival testing for the Spring semester and much more testing over the course of the semester. (They were one of the first big schools with big COVID numbers and kicked most everyone out of the dorms.)
Where did you see that posted? Thanks!
Edited - nm - found it: https://www.unc.edu/posts/2020/11/16/2020-early-action/
I guess it’s the test optional thing explains the increase? I have a feeling I’m going to continue to be surprised about how so many parents and students are not judging these schools’ Covid responses. To me, a poor plan shows more about a school than just how they respond to a pandemic. It shows how their leadership makes decisions. I understand that, in UNC’s case, the university wanted to have a different plan and had their hands forced by the state but that’s also a consideration if a state can override what a university president wants to do.