It’s not just that each kid are applying to more schools. There are actually more kids applying. Especially URM and first gen students. most colleges are not increasing the size of their enrollment so that means more competition to get in.
Not disagreeing with you but wondering if that’s an assumption or if you have something that supports that. My assumption is that the class of 2023 is +/- a very small % the same size as the class of 2022. Unless your position is that a higher number of those students are applying for college rather than intending to go into the workforce/military I don’t see where there would be “more kids applying”. In fact I would suggest maybe it’s the opposite - at least in my area there’s records numbers of kids going into trade/voc. schools.
Hindsight will be the true determination of what is going on here. If it were a 5% bump in applications I’d completely agree that URM/First Gen might cause that. 20-25% - I feel like that’s a stretch. Again - just my assumption.
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Actually the number of kids attending college is down nationwide for a number of reasons. Smaller LOCs are being acquired by larger universities as the enrollment decline will not only continue but also increase. Many schools are reworking their offerings in anticipation of the"demographic cliff" coming in 2025 (increasing online programs and trade/professional programs). The demographic cliff is caused by a 20% decline in births as a result of the recession in 2007. It is a very real and very worrisome future for many schools (private high schools included). Top schools and those with strong endowment will probably fair ok, but its worth looking at the rating for each school to see what their financial strength is and what their long range plan is. Just one more thing to stress about in college selections! LOL
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Here’s the article from VT’s website-
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Source is the Common Application report. 26% more applicants this year compared with 2019-20 (pre-pandemic). URM up 32% and first-generation up 43%.
This only includes 841 schools that use the common app. While it is true that overall college attendance is down, for these schools, which is pretty much all the schools that people talk about on this message board, there are 26% more applicants than just a few years ago. Considering most colleges accept the same number of students as three years ago, that’s a lot more competition for these schools.
Agreed. And it also seems that interest in a liberal arts education and majors in the humanities are less desirable than the very practical majors like nursing, engineering, computer science, etc. So basically, the popular research schools will continue to see high demand and maybe even more as the trend towards these majors continues.
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Interesting reading for sure - thanks, wasn’t aware of this story.
My issue with it is that it compares 11/1 to 11/1 - not full admissions cycle to full admissions cycle. I don’t think it’s any secret that the trend has been more people applying earlier. I’m not suggesting that the report is directionally wrong in any way but selecting EA/ED only is cherry-picking on the part of the author and could lead to an overstatement of the trend.
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Hoping for ideas - my son’s 7th semester grades are dipping (will rant about that offline) and he is being forced to update his SRAR for a school other than VT that he also is very interested in. I’ve learned that updating the SRAR automatically updates the SRAR with all SRAR schools…you can’t just update one school. In other words, by updating for one school he will also be notifying VT that his senior grades are dipping. I understand VT doesn’t look at senior grades, BUT if they are on the SRAR they are there and you can’t unsee them. Looking for any ideas or maybe insight into how the admissions review works that might give him comfort. I tried to tell him that it’s possible the VT decision has already been made and they won’t see, but not sure what else we can do. His 7th semester grades come out shortly. Thanks!
When does VT release EA results? I rem for UVA Dean J said I’m a webinar that if people sent in their mid year grades mid-Jan they prob won’t be looking at them for Ea since too late in the process (it’s not req but someone may have asked if they could send them in since had good grades). Maybe if late in the process VT won’t download them either?
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VT is pretty explicit about saying they don’t consider mid-year grades for applicants, since they don’t have them for ED students, and for EA students, it’s very, very late in the process (they have 47,000 applications to go through by mid-february and most mid-year grades just came out this week, so it’s pretty impossible to review all of them in 2 weeks). So, it’s highly unlikely that your son’s 7th semester grades are going to have any impact on his admission chances.
However, what kind of dip are we talking about? If we’re talking a 3.9 UW gpa normally getting a few more B’s than normal. Then it’s not something to worry about. But if you have an A student getting a lot of C’s, or a D/F – then there is a clause on your acceptance that states they expect your senior year performance to be “comparable” to your previous few years. Getting a few more B’s or even your first C, is not going to get your offer rescinded… but suddenly getting a lot of C’s or a D/F could have an impact.
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I had exactly this conversation with an admissions counselor at UVA last year. Said it’s not common but they certainly have rescinded offers in the past based on final transcript. Going from all A’s to B’s and a C is still going to be a “conversation” but should be fine. Going to C’s and a D/F or two could well cause them to rescind. This was UVA, not V-Tech which could well have a different policy but colleges want to see a similar performance for senior year.
You didn’t say if your V-Tech application was RD or EA. EA decisions are supposed to be out 2/17 or 2/24 - I’d say there’s little risk that updating the SRAR now would impact that decision in a couple of weeks but if you were RD it could still be “in review”.
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Oooh is 2/17 or 2/24 likely based on previous year decision dates for VT EA? I’ve only seen “late February” as the expected decision release day. Thanks!
It’s 2/17 based on last year (which was 2/18) but given the number of apps they’ve gotten this year no guarantees.
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I am not worried about a rescission after an offer. I am wondering how to avoid an updated SRAR which will reflect a slipping trend for 7th semester on the admissions decision. It may be that he has to hope that they have likely already decided on his file and and not even see the udpated SRAR. He applied EA.
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Wait until the last possible date to update SRAR. It will probably happen too late for VT to take into account for EA decision. But they will eventually get the final grade report
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Is there anyone that has already received contact from VT about FAFSA verification? (I think they use a vendor, KHEAA, to track it down.) Thanks.
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Negative. I completed the FAFSA and submitted it to VT from that portal. I assume they have it.
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Congrats on Penn State, which is a great school with an incredible alumni network!
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Are EA applicants supposed to update their SRAR with either first trimester or semester grades?
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Yes, Penn State is! DD was accepted in Nov. Out of state cost is a real thing, but still considering.
Engineering.