<p>Fromw hat I have read here on CC, colleges have record numbers of EA/ED and RD apps this year. I know that the echo boom is a very large cohort. I also know everyone is applying to more schools. Is there any other reason?????</p>
<p>a greater percentage of hs graduates want to go to college</p>
<p>Here are some other reasons that made add to the rise in #s
Military not the only option for many students
Everyone is so afraid of the acceptance rate, they apply to more, thus feeding the frenzy
The Financial Aid packages can vary so much between schools that to cover bases many students need to apply
Some trophy hunting
The Marketing by the schools- the mail pieces, the emails, the chat rooms, the post cards, etc</p>
<p>I am wondering if the numbers have been broken down to number of actual students, how many applications for each student, etc</p>
<p>What is the increase in actual studeents applying and number of applications submitted</p>
<p>Are those numbers anywhere</p>
<p>so,
1. there are more HS graduates (aka the bubble)
2. more of those graduates want to go to college
3. each applicant is applying to more colleges (marketing pressure, bigger shotgun approach)
4. greater percentage of applicants is applying early (reduce uncertainty, improve acceptance chances)</p>
<p>good question on getting some real data on # of applications per applicant, and other big picture info. I'm sure the data are out there.</p>
<p>that's really scary when you think about it...</p>
<p>:: panicking::</p>
<p>but really, that is... terrifying. Some people are applying to something like 20+ colleges nowadays either because they are paranoid or their parents are scared. In a few years it's going to be impossible for people to get into college and the government is going to put a ban on the number of colleges kids can apply to. Probably at 7 or 10. ...Then it will really be 1984.</p>
<p>The cost of college has risen and tho more families have made financial plans the search for merit money and comparing costs state school to state school have helped to fuel the rising number of apps per applicant.</p>
<p>wow. yeah the increasing number is probably because of me...</p>
<p>:(</p>
<p>i need insurance that i will have a better chance at getting in somewhere. and i think it's true for millions of applicants.</p>
<p>and also, i applied online, so they are offering application waivers to people who apply online sometimes. so i took advantage of those.</p>
<p>The common app and online application makes it really easy to apply to a large number of schools. This further depresses admission rates and fuels the cycle.</p>
<p>From an article in today's Boston Globe:</p>
<p>"Projections show that the number of high school graduates over the next decade will drop 17 percent in Vermont, 16 percent in Maine, and 11 percent in New Hampshire. States in southern, more urban, New England face less dramatic change: Massachusetts anticipates a 5 percent dip; Connecticut and Rhode Island both 3 percent.</p>
<p>The population decline, attributed in part to the end of baby-boomer child-rearing years, has thrust New England schools into fierce competition for students, according to college officials and higher education analysts. The scramble is particularly pronounced for public colleges and universities that tend to have larger local student enrollments."</p>
<p>Things run in cycles. Population trends are that the number of people of high school age is going to peak in about 3 years and then start to drop off. Another trend is that less people will see college as necessary for success. The percentage of males on campus is dropping. One explanation of this is that statistically more males are going into blue collar fields such as construction instead of college. While doctor incomes is dropping, the plumbers are still making a mint.</p>
<p>citygirlsmom, I agree it would be interesting to see the figures on how many students and how many apps per student</p>
<p>here's the government's report, circa 2001, that I often see detailing the increase in high school graduates, projected thru 2013:
<a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/ch_3.asp#figure_F%5B/url%5D">http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/ch_3.asp#figure_F</a></p>
<p>It shows a steady increase of HS graduates peaking in year 2009, then an ever so slight drop thereafter. Look especially at the linked tables & charts within the report. Note that the number of graduates is projected to be higher every year thru 2013 than this year, 2006! There are also data on state by state trends.</p>
<p>Another report with more data on historical trends on high school and college enrollments:
<a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/%5B/url%5D">http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/</a></p>
<p>Although there is no direct discussion that I can find on an increasing proportion of HS graduates heading to college, I think the data are there somewhere in the report to make such a leap. Here's a related quote from the document: "Despite decreases in the traditional college age population during the late 1980s and early 1990s, total enrollment increased during the late 1980s and early 1990s."</p>
<p>If I find any hard data relating to application number increases per applicant, I'll post.</p>
<p>This is my theory on the number of applications this year. </p>
<p>Every year when my son applied to preschool, kindergarten and high school, the schools were swamped with applications and I didn't have this problem with my daughter who was born in 1993. After complaining to many parents it was pointed out to me that my son was born in the year of the Dragon. This is considered the best sign to be born under for Chinese people and they actually will plan their families to correspond with this. So, not only has my son been competing with an overflowing amount of kids but they are overachieving kids too. I'm hoping that after college, he will never have to deal with this again. He didn't get into the elementary school or high school that he wanted but he did manage to get into Cornell so, he's a happy overachieving (half) Chinese kid too now.</p>
<p>So, maybe in the future people should plan their families around the worst signs and then their will be less competition for the spaces available.</p>
<p>And no, I do not believe in this but many people do.</p>
<p>... i was born in the year of the snake.</p>
<p>My daughter was born in the year of the monkey and I swear sometimes she acts like a monkey.</p>
<p>Year of the Tiger! Sweeet! :D</p>
<p>Well, I have two Taures's with a Taures and one with an Aries rising, funness</p>
<p>Anyway, the age of the common application must be a huge factor. I mean for the State schools in California, one basic app</p>
<p>And, there is an increase in twins, etc, so that will add somewhat</p>
<p>When my kids were born, 89 and 91, there were many families having their children close together, like one or two years apart, with three being a "spread", So you have siblings applying within a year or two of each other, so it crunches together</p>
<p>And we have more legacies, with boomers hitting the right age to have 18 year olds, and that generation was a large college pool</p>
<p>And I think there is perhaps more kids applying "far away" than before, with the internet, etc., it seems less scary to some parents who are willing to let the kids go across the country</p>
<p>every little thing adds to the increase, but I would like to see the hard numbers, # of applicants vs # of applications, what was the average # sent per student 10 years ago, vs today</p>
<p>I know some kids sending to `19 schools, 9 seems like an average</p>
<p>ballpark guesstimate based on ONE school's admissions history (Boston College)</p>
<p>I picked BC because it nicely presents data back to 1984; also pulled the other HS graduates data from various NCES reports to compare.</p>
<p>1984 _ BC Apps: 14,398 _ HS Grads: 2,767
1985 _ BC Apps: 16,163 _ HS Grads: 2,677
1986 _ BC Apps: 14,986 _ HS Grads: 2,643
1987 _ BC Apps: 15,593 _ HS Grads: 2,694
1988 _ BC Apps: 15,523 _ HS Grads: 2,773
1989 _ BC Apps: 13,526 _ HS Grads: 2,744
1990 _ BC Apps: 12,403 _ HS Grads: 2,589
1991 _ BC Apps: 11,516 _ HS Grads: 2,493
1992 _ BC Apps: 12,283 _ HS Grads: 2,478
1993 _ BC Apps: 13,112 _ HS Grads: 2,481
1994 _ BC Apps: 15,522 _ HS Grads: 2,464
1995 _ BC Apps: 16,680 _ HS Grads: 2,519
1996 _ BC Apps: 16,501 _ HS Grads: 2,518
1997 _ BC Apps: 16,455 _ HS Grads: 2,612
1998 _ BC Apps: 16,373 _ HS Grads: 2,704
1999 _ BC Apps: 19,746 _ HS Grads: 2,759
2000 _ BC Apps: 20,743 _ HS Grads: 2,833
2001 _ BC Apps: 19,059 _ HS Grads: 2,852
2002 _ BC Apps: 21,133 _ HS Grads: 2,917
2003 _ BC Apps: 22,424 _ HS Grads: 2,986
2004 _ BC Apps: 22,451 _ HS Grads: 3,002</p>
<p>Assuming all other things constant (like the % of HS grads applying to college), and of course that BC stats are representative, which I have no way of judging, then the least difference between the HS grad growth and applications growth I can calculate using either 1984 or 1985 as a starting point is roughly 30%.....meaning that at a minimum, 30% of the growth in BC's application volume cannot be explained by an increase in the HS graduate population. If one attributes all of that delta to students sending more applications, then, roughly, a student who in 1985 sent out 6 applications would be sending out 8 in 2004.</p>
<p>Another interesting thing I came across in looking at the historic HS grad data...there was a peak above 3,100k graduates between 1975 and 1979....many CC parents are probably part of this blip. According to NCES, 3,100k graduates will be surpassed for the first time in the last 20 years THIS YEAR, 2006. As a '75 HS graduate, I certainly don't recall (although I don't recall much anyway) there being near the frenzied admissions situation that we have today, even though the numbers don't look terribly different on the supply side (& I'd bet the demand side....college spots... situation has probably grown since the 70's).</p>
<p>btw, those hs grad #'s are in thousands (k)</p>
<p>I suspect that there are other factors at work too. Many jobs that did not require college degrees in the past either require or recommend them today (IMO an unfortunate situation). Also, I've heard that when people feel uneasy about the economy they go back for additional schooling, so some of those extra applications might be from older people who've been out of school for a while and are either going to college for the first time or getting a second degree in a more lucrative/stable field.</p>