Any colleges with low (<20%?) acceptance rates besides MIT and Georgetown that have their own application platforms? These two did it for their own specific reasons. There’re other platforms including Coaltion App, but we may reach a point that colleges themselves, collectively (but not individually), may want to do something about this problem.
UCB and UCLA use “their own” application, though they share it with each other and 7 other UCs.
It looks like many of the most selective colleges allow general applicants to choose The Common Application or The Coalition Application.
I’m not sure how adding essays cuts down on the workload for admissions officers.
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Why should we be looking for ways to cut the work of AOs? We are looking for ways to help students find the right college for them. The more individual each application is, the more likely that this sort of sorting will happen. Increasing essays increases the personalization of applications.
Colleges have, for years, looked for ways to increase the number of applications, so they obviously are not looking for ways to make the selection of students any easier for AOs.
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Only those privates that meet full need are on the Coalition platform by design, so it’s no surprise that they’re also among the most desirable and selective.
The Coalition App (unlike the Common App) doesn’t impose any limit on the number of applications per student as of now.
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Harvard and Cornell also use the Universal College Application (which is nearly their own platform, as only 4 schools accept it).
Some of the Ivies (and other Questbridge partners) will allow QB applicants to submit only the QB app as well, no need for any of the other applications (which is redundant for these applicants).
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The original post says: "VP for enrollment at a highly rejective college*: “‘he application pools are overrunning the tools we have to evaluate them.’” They are overwhelmed. How is overwhelming them further going to help our kids in the admissions process?
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How about if colleges say “We will review only the first X number of applications we receive.”
If a college says 3000, then the 3001st application is automatically denied, as is every one thereafter.
That discriminates in favor of students with reliable high speed internet, as well as certain parts of the USA and the globe who can start applying early. The wealthiest kids will have somebody set up a system which sends in their applications from a location as close as possible to the application offices of Harvard and other Ivies, so that they arrive a fraction of a second ahead of all others.
They can, on the other hand, randomize all applications, and select X number to be reviewed.
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I am sorry, but that they are in a mess of their own making. If they are getting to many applications after sending tons of money to increase applications, then it is up to them to deal with that.
Besides, adding essays should reduce the number of applications they get, and it will allow them to revert to the same old tools that they have used for decades - AOs who are paid to read application essays.
What do they want? Do they want kids to stop applying?
These colleges want to keep increasing the number of applications, but do not want to increase the number of applications that they review.
It seems that the colleges which pride themselves on training the economists and business people of the USA cannot even do in the very basic business predictions.
They all focused on increasing the number of applications as much as possible, and not a single one seems to have had even the most basic plan as to how they would review this flood of new applications. Yet these colleges are supposedly the very best at training students how to run successful business ventures.
I wonder what grade a student at one of these colleges would receive if their business plan was focused solely on increasing interest in their product, but with no plan to increase supply or customer service personnel?
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Note that this is a 1 sentence blog post about an unnamed college, not an official statement from a college. Other quotes that have been posted on the forum from the blog are at best not at all representative of highly selective colleges as whole.
If you look at actual statements and behaviors from colleges, nothing suggests that they want to decrease applications or will be unable to handle having similarly number of applications in future application cycles. There is some evidence that certain newly test optional highly selective colleges may have had far more applications than the expected this year, and some had not hired enough readers to accommodate the larger than expected applications during this cycle. This led to more applications per reader than usual and in some cases extending decision day, such as how Ivies extended decision day by 1 week. However, I expect colleges that were surprised by the increase in applications will be more careful next year, and Ivy-type colleges will have more readers ready, if they need them next year. I see no reason to expect the large number of applications will be problematic for them, and certainly no reason to assume they want to decrease applications.
An increasing number of applications over time is not a new issue. Ivy-type privates have been getting tens of thousands of applications for years, with increasing totals most years… sometimes doubling number of applications over a 10 year period. Yet they continue to take steps to encourage further increases in applications, continue to use especially holistic decisions, continue to show no signs of a problem or wanting to change their policies in response to too many applications, etc. Several such colleges have instead been making changes that may encourage more students to apply, such as reducing essay requirements or sending mailers that encourage students to apply who are not academically qualified.
Whether this helps kids in the admission process is a separate issue. With highly selective colleges becoming increasingly selective and the common application making it easier to apply to multiple colleges, the average number of applications per student has been increasing over time, which may cause some students to feel overwhelmed. It may also give an advantage to students who are not concerned with cost of applications. There are quite a few things that could be done to reduce the number of applications per student, but I doubt anyone in position to do such things would be in support of reducing applications, including highly selective private colleges.
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I’m not sure what your point is.
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Point 1 – Source quote is not reliable or at least not representative.
Point 2 – Other information suggests colleges will be able to handle increasing applications and do not want to decrease applications. I see no reason to assume Ivy-type highly selective colleges will be overwhelmed next year, after hiring more admission readers.
Point 3 – Helping kids in the admission process is a separate issue. Decreasing average applications per student may have some benefits, but colleges and others in positions to help certain subgroups of kids by taking steps that would result in fewer applications have little motivation to do so.
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As to Point 1, there was also an NPR story on 4/19 how colleges are handling the higher number of applications. An admissions person from UC Santa Barbara was interviewed. She didn’t complain directly although noted it was difficult to pivot. ( How The Pandemic Changed The College Admissions Selection Process This Year - If you want to search for it.)
The article is at College Admissions Counselors Saw Record Applicant Pools During The Pandemic : NPR and related quotes are below. It does sound like her group faced some challenges this year due to COVID-19 and UC going test blind, but it doesn’t sound like the increased number of applications was even the primary factor in these challenges. It certainly doesn’t imply they will be overwhelmed by number of applications next year with fewer COVID-19 related challenges and having more opportunity to prepare (including hiring staff if larger applications are expected), nor does it imply they want to take steps to decrease applications in future years.
Just noting a different data point. Increased application numbers and a different way of evaluating applicants is in the news.
As stated in a different post above, I don’t think we need to do anything to limit applications. If an individual college or university want to limit their applicants, they can do so at any time.
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If a college’s “prestige” is mainly, or at least partially, determined by its acceptance rate, why would it choose to limit the number of applications on its own, if its peers aren’t obliged to do so?
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What “other information”?
Because there’s a tradeoff. When you can no longer accurately assess the applications, chances are the quality of the admitted students goes down.
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Really…the huge increase in applications began when the common application became widely used. Before that, each school had its own unique application to complete. Students just didn’t apply to as many colleges then.
The big increase began when the US News rankings started because selectivity is a big factor. So colleges pumped up the marketing to increase their applications to lower their acceptance rate.