@evergreen5 sure! (and I am not a math person, @Chembiodad gave that percentage on another thread)
One major difference is that Hamilton started working with Questbridge for the first time this year. A big chunk of the ED1 increase seems to be QB applicants.
Worldly students, doschicos? Not at all. More spoiled and supported by their parents than ever before, but less likely to have worked or be mature or resilient, according to their teachers. Being dragged around the world by mommy to good restaurants does not make one worldly.
The Hamilton article states this:
“Hamilton’s current application total for the Class of 2022 is 6,238, marking a 9.8 percent increase over last year’s record-high 5,678.”
I think calculating a 70% increase in ED1 might be a little misleading as it is the first time they have participated in the Questbridge program and the article doesn’t indicate the number of applications received through Questbridge. Still impressive, however.
eta: I see Sue22 beat me to the Questbridge comment,
Yes, Hamilton, like many others, saw a huge increase in EA/ED applications - it’s almost getting frenetic, which is scary. The Class of 2021 had 396 ED I applicants, so with 647 ED I applicants for the Class of 2022 the ED I acceptance rate dropped from 44% to 29.5%.
@chippedtoof --I too am puzzled by the allure of Baylor particularly. It’s in a horrible town of strip malls and urban sprawl. Chip and Joanne have created a little oasis of shopping but other than that there are issues near the Baylor campus that parents just don’t want to know about. I have personally witnessed a crack deal go down within view of the campus.
Around here, the kids who go to Baylor are the kids with $$ who honestly couldn’t have gotten into UT or their parents don’t want them to go to such a liberal venue as UT and they pay the premium to have their kids in a cocoon. I’m sure it’s academically sound, but I don’t get it.
Well, what’s the basis for the 70% figure for Hamilton? It appears that their ED1 applications increased from 396 to 647 (63%).
@Sue22 : Just curious, how did you infer the number of applicants that might have originated through QuestBridge? It seems that Hamilton accepted 25-30 ED applicants from QB and Posse combined. Do QB students apply in large disproportion to their acceptances? This would have to be the case for them to have had a large impact on the number of Hamilton ED1 applications in general.
@Sue22 @doschicos welcome news to me as my D applied ED2! I know in general what questbridge is but would that explain 250+ more ED1 applicants to yield 25 questbridge kids? any elaboration or clarification is welcome!
@roycroftmom I’d argue that the current cohort of college students has more internships and work experience than many of us did back in the day. Being raised with more affluence doesn’t always equal “spoiled” as much as some CC posters like to believe. Most of the college students I know are very pragmatic and hard-working in the face of a climate of ever increasing competition. It seems to be a “thing” to bash young people these days - lazy, fragile, spoiled, entitled, insert your derogatory adjective here - but I don’t see it amongst the young people I come across through my kids’ friends and peers, and those I encounter through professional, volunteer, and political endeavors. They are an impressive bunch. Sorry if your experience is more limited.
The delta was the Questbridge applicants as I didn’t consider those to traditional applicants given they are matched to schools. Even without Questbridge, 63% is material. The 25 students aren’t just Questbridge, some as from the Posse Foundation and Hamilton has been a Posse partner for years so the Questbridge admittances is a subset of the 25 - the article didn’t make that clear.
Questbridge is an amazing foundation based program for disadvantaged students that many of the most selective schools participate in - https://www.questbridge.org/. It provides 100% need based financial aid funded by the participating school to a very select group of highly accomplished students - their collective student profile across all participating schools is quite amazing - https://www.questbridge.org/high-school-students/national-college-match/finalist-profile
In addition to any impact Questbridge has had, I do think there is a trend to more early applications in general. We’ve seen chatter elsewhere on CC that more and more applicants are feeling pressured to apply early in hopes of increasing their chances of getting into one of their top schools.
There are bound to be more Questbridge apps that weren’t accepted.
Hamilton is a great college and I’m not surprised to see an increase. Just goes to show that more isolated colleges remain attractive to many.
^That is TOP isolated colleges remain attractive to many. Isolated privates that are not in the top 50 US News list are struggling.
@Alexandre The admission numbers at UMich this year would not be known until after the RD deadline. However, just the increase in the number of EA application alone is already near 15% of last year’s total application. Unless all the increase is due to a shift from RD to EA, which is highly unlikely, the increase in total application have to be higher than 15%. My guess would be near 20%.
However, the Purdue engineering division is more selective than the rest of the school, and engineering students start in first year pre-engineering and must compete by college GPA to get into their majors later. Not exactly the most desirable situation, although it may be the remaining choice if a student aimed too high with UCs/CSUs and got shut out there (or got in but not in the desired engineering major).
@doschicos For D, born and raised in NYC, isolated schools have much appeal. She loved the academics at Amherst but didn’t love the town attached and found the bustle at Brown very unappealing. Different strokes…
Out of her senior class of about 130 only 3 did not apply early to a school, and those did not do so for FA reasons.
Ethiopian is not cheap in this urban area, nor are any restaurant meals for that matter. All of these things are perks and are positive, but not without cost (in terms of high COA as well as expenditures) In this time of rising college costs and falling affordability, I do find the devotion to these perks making less and less sense, and obviously can’t get my head around their high prioritization. I’m not poor nor Daddy Warbucks but I like to believe I know the value of a dollar, and teach my kids the same. (my kids have traveled and enjoy the perks of culture. I still try to guide them away from the many pitfalls this lifestyle can encounter. ok, I’m done. sorry for the derail).
A couple of friends (just north of us) say their children’s HSs have UW, USC, and BostonU on their hot list. To our south, I’ve heard Michigan is on the rise.
The problem with Purdue is not declaring major but the weeding out after freshmen year. It is easier to be admitted, but the return rate is lower.
This observation might be somewhat recursive though. Urban schools outside the top 50 of *U.S. News/i may also be facing enrollment challenges to varying degrees.
@Sue22, many, many highly selective LAC’s are in more rural “isolated” areas - Colgate, Colby, Grinnell, Hamilton, Kenyon, Middlebury, Oberlin, Williams, to name a few.
Schools that aren’t in the top-100, including both universities and LAC’s - in rural, suburban and urban locations, are struggling as the erosion of the earning power of the middle class during the 1990’s and 2000’s caused many to over-borrow and now that group is pushing back.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-colleges-are-facing-a-demographic-and-existential_us_59511619e4b0326c0a8d09e9
Small schools - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/06/29/many-small-colleges-face-big-enrollment-drops-heres-one-survival-strategy-in-ohio/?utm_term=.cebdb62595e3
Big schools - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-state-university-enrollment-drops-met-20170912-story.html
Questbridge is a match program, so you express an interest in several schools and if you are a Finalist you are matched/accepted at a school - for EA/ED applicants it’s not the same as the traditional Accepted, Deferred or Denied process.
Mea culpa. I overstated things when I said “big chunk.”
@Chembiodad, I wasn’t the one who said something about rural schools being isolated. I have nothing against these schools.