What will College Admissions be like 20-30 years from now?

<p>I see the US going to more difficult standardized tests that have more weight, swinging the pendulum back from the EC emphasis. I assume that these tests would be in 30 subjects, and one must take ten. One must achieve a baseline score in order to apply to a school; at that application level only non-test things will be evaluated (including GPA).</p>

<p>I see the US going to more difficult standardized tests that have more weight, swinging the pendulum back from the EC emphasis. I assume that these tests would be in 30 subjects, and one must take ten. One must achieve a baseline score in order to apply to a school; at that application level only non-test things will be evaluated (including GPA).</p>

<p>In my opinion, that system doesn't sound half bad. I think it would work and might bring down the harshness of competition a little.</p>

<p>This sounds more like the system used abroad in England and asian countries.</p>

<p>The system I described was a compilation of the Chinese and South Korean university entrance systems, with some facets of the US added in.</p>

<p>I don't like such a system, though, because intelligence is not the only thing that affects a person's performance on a test.</p>

<p>If that ever happens, it won't happen in the next 20 years, I'm pretty sure. </p>

<p>I think the entrance tests (SAT, ACT, etc.) will get harder (hopefully significantly), but I think the colleges will still take them with a grain of salt and there will never be a minimum needed set in place (hey, the colleges need to make their money on applications, eh? And don't forget the genius bad-test-takers)</p>

<p>I actually see the SAT/ACT losing importance. I also see subject tests like SAT II and AP gaining in importance. </p>

<p>But obviously this question is irrelevant. In thirty years they will have chips that you can just insert into your brain. So you can download Calculus off the internet in about an hour. Colleges will only exist for the people that have slow internet connections.</p>

<p>^^^
Have my children</p>

<p>I think the "second-tier" colleges will rise in prominence, and the number of applications for the Ivys will decline (not drastically! -- in case anyone was going to flame me for that one). Because if you end up having 50,000 kids applying to Harvard, some people will re-evaluate the school and decide that beyond the name, it doesn't offer what they want. And then they'll apply to other, equally great, colleges.</p>