<p>I was having a discussion with my uncle about how competitive some of the boarding schools are. I have also noticed a lot of schools posted facts information on there acceptance rates. Many claim that they have received about 50% more applicants from the beginning to the end of the decade. My uncle just said that population has been going up, but I am preety sure that the population under 18 has remained steady around this time, for the most part. So why are there so many more applicants at the end of the decade that just past in contrast to the beginning. Is it more outreach to underprivledged areas? More people discovering them in our internet age? Endowments that have been skyrocketing since the 90s which leads to more financial aid, and more appealing places to be in. Or is it that applicants are just applying to more schools. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Financial aid has become more available than it was 10 years ago, and there is a higher awareness of its availability.<br>
International applications, especially from Korea and China have risen rapidly.<br>
There have been a number of teen books and the Zoey (sp?) tv show that take place in boarding schools which has increased interest across the country.<br>
I suspect that the core applicants from Jr. boarding schools, Fairchester, the Boston area, and day schools that end 8th or 9th grades have not experienced explosive growth.
Given the low acceptance rates of very competitive schools, I suspect that applicants are applying to more schools.</p>
<p>The common application is another factor that makes it easier for students to apply to multiple schools…</p>
<p>I would say that (just by talking to my kids, nothing “scientific”) kids in my daughter’s class this year at Jr Prep applied to more schools each than kids did 3 years ago at the the same school when my son was there.<br>
That said, I personally don’t think it is the common app (essays are all different, I didn’t think it made it any easier - for college - yes, it makes it infinitely easier, for prep school, not so much yet). I do think it is a general sense that the competition is greater and that what was once considered a “safety” school is no longer that.</p>
<p>Another thing is that with public schools cutting teachers and programs many parents are looking for other options. That I think is probably this biggest influence on the growth of applicants. Parents want their children to go to schools with great opportunities - just look at many of the parents here on this board and follow our posts and why we have our kids in boarding schools. For example, our public school doesn’t have 2 of my daughter’s 3 sports or the language she is taking. The classes are bigger, not always as challenging, the list goes on. Parents who never considered prep school before are not looking at it as an option, increasing the pool of applicants.</p>
<p>Also, I think with college admissions becoming more competitive, some families thought that BS would lead to an advantage including helping to prepare their student to maximize his or her potential thus making for a better candidate. Not sure how this actually will pan out for the average student.</p>
<p>If the average applicant applies to more boarding schools, then how come the yields are generally going UP? If anything, I would think they would be going down.</p>
<p>Here’s who you need to blame: J.K. Rowling.</p>
<p>@Prepschooler: Yields would go down if students were, on average, accepted to more schools. Apparently that is not the case.</p>
<p>Yes, but I don’t see how applicants would get accepted to more schools lets say 4 or 5 years ago since they would be applying to less schools. Since applicants applied to less schools 5 years ago, they probably didn’t get accepted to more schools then they do now on average. Therefore, I don’t see how the yields would go up because applicants now apply to more schools and if you factor in that admissions is more competitive now, they probably get accepted to about the same amount of schools.</p>
<p>“Since applicants applied to less schools 5 years ago, they probably didn’t get accepted to more schools then they do now on average.” </p>
<p>You should challenge this assumption and examine each use of the word “probably” if you want to find an actual answer. First, there are definitely more total applicants in the pool as you can tell from the schools’ reports, and acceptance rates are down very substantially for most top schools. The math is the math. </p>
<p>Let’s look at a hypothetical example:</p>
<p>In year 1 the average student applies to 5 schools which have an average acceptance rate of 25%. 5 * .25 = 1.25 avg acceptances.</p>
<p>In year 5 the average student applies to 7 schools which have an average acceptance rate of 15%. 7 * .15 = 1.05 avg acceptances.</p>
<p>There are some other threads that have delved into the reasons why the number of applicants (as opposed to applications) has risen. Admissions offices are also laser-focused on yield, which is why so many ask the peril-fraught question, “to what other schools are you applying?” Answer that with great care. :)</p>
<p>bump, any more ideas?</p>