<p>Everywhere I hear, ''Back then getting into top universities was so easy, as long as you were qualified you were in.'' But now even the most qualified students are getting rejected. Why is this? Could it be that unemployment is going up so people now feel they have to go to school to support themselves? Or maybe students are just getting more competitive? Do you think it will keep getting more and more competitive as time progresses?</p>
<p>A variety of reasons. Demographics (baby boom echo). More students being encouraged to go to college than back when our parents went. Capacity has not increased noticeably. The Common Application makes it easy for students to apply to tons of schools, which cranks up the volume everyplace. Test prep - we all used to take the standardized tests once and submit 'em. Now kids prep and take them a bunch of times so there are more students with high scores.</p>
<p>There’s a lot more students attending/applying to college now, which means more qualified students than they have seats for. Especially nowadays, when even some basic entry-level job positions require a college degree.</p>
<p>I’ve been hearing a lot that soon enough, getting a Bachelor’s will become standard and useless because almost everyone has one and that you’ll need a Master’s to stand out. Hmm.</p>
<p>About 30% of US citizens have bachelor’s degrees now. We are still pretty far from it being “standard”. The recession made it easy for employers to be very picky and look for degrees where in the past they wouldn’t have required them. No one has a crystal ball that can show what will happen with the economy in the future – but if it strengthens, employers may drop back to hiring more entry level resources without degrees. It also varies a ton by region (48% of people age 25-34 have a bachelors in Massachusetts, while only about 20% do in Nevada).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>ummmmm… your question is a straw man. These top candidates may be being rejected from ultra selective schools — but it’s not as if plan B is they go into the marginal workforce. They are filling up other schools. Just because the so-called top tier gets an imbalanced amount of attention does not mean the HYPSM rejectees are living on the streets. They are doing wonderfully at other schools, enhancing those campuses.</p>
<p>In a half generation ago, those kids just didn’t apply to as many schools. The uptick in birth rate, common app, international applicants, the increased role of “prestige” as portrayed in pop culture and the ease of info on the internet just made the seeming accessibility of Princeton or Stanford or MIT appear more likely. Their parents, aunts and uncles applied to 1-2 schools and that was it – and they were happy.</p>