The Class of '09 is the Largest Class to date- True or False?

Applying to College
1

<p>I've been told that the class of '09 will be the largest applicant pool(discounting internationals) to date- following the very large Class of '08. However, some posters on CC have said otherwise and now I am confused.</p>

<p>It doesn't really make a difference but any little thing does help ease fears, as irrational as it may seem.</p>

<p>So, is the Class of '09 the largest in Us History?( I believe the stats said something around 2.3 million or 3.2 million....lol, I can't remember which.)</p>

2

<p>It's hard to be sure. Some say that less '09'ers plan on going to college than '08'ers. I'd imagine the sizes are right next to each other.</p>

<p>One may never know until all the applications are in.</p>

3

<p>From what I've read (outside of CC), yes, the class of 2009 is expected to be the largest yet.</p>

4

<p>I've heard both. College Counseling offices have said both. Mine hasn't commented; my sister's said that it will be smaller than last year's by like twenty thousand or something like that. No one knows, would be my true answer. If there is this much disagreement between reputable sources, it's probably still up in the air (think: this year's yield rates for top universities).</p>

5

<p>The set of projections I looked at placed 2009 as the peak year. Somewhere else I read that 2008 was the peak. I think everyone can agree that the peak years are 2008, 2009 and 2010. You can benchmark using 2008 results. The differences among these years is marginal.</p>

6

<p>The number of college applications around 2009 will be higher, but the number of people applying to college will be SLIGHTLY lower (by like .5%), but the increase in applications will simulate as if more people were applying to college, since because of 2008 many of us will apply to more than the traditional 5 schools.</p>

<p>So, in short, no, the Class of 2009 will be smaller than the Class of 2008. However, the year will be the most competitive because there will be a sharp increase in applications.</p>

7

<p>I wrote a stock reply to this Frequently Asked Question, which I've updated a few times. </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><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/education/09admissions.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/education/09admissions.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp&lt;/a> </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>Perfect</a> college entrance exam scores don't help student who dreamt of the Ivy Leagues </p>

<p>The Economist magazine published a brief article about these trends in April 2008. </p>

<p>University</a> admissions | Accepted | Economist.com</p>

8

<p>How does # of applications per student affect competitiveness? If there are 1 million kids sending out 5 applications each and 1 million kids sending out 10 applications each, won't it be just as competitive in both pools except in the latter pool the colleges will have lower yield?</p>

9

<p>Correct. Applications per student really doesn't directly matter, because students enroll in one college each. What matters is when a student who formerly didn't even think to apply at Reach School A decides to apply there. Today, a lot of big reach schools that were out of consideration for smart kids who happily went to State U a generation ago are receiving applicants from many more distinct smart students.</p>