College Application Update: The Good, the Bad, and Even More Bad
Posted on December 22, 2008
Filed Under News, The Daily Prereq | By Jessica Dye
Despite attempts to inject a little holiday cheer into current events, the latter half of 2008 has been a major buzzkill for colleges. The New York Times reported today that, while early decision and early action apps are up at many private colleges, the regular decision pile is dwindling, big time. Sure, the January deadlines might still be far off for high schoolers who like the last-minute essay-writing adrenaline rush, but admissions officials aren’t sure a day-before deluge is in store this year.
While not every private college is suffering a regular-decision shortage, the NYT’s anecdotal evidence is still pretty awful: Regular apps are already down 30 percent at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, 14 percent behind at Colby College, and 15 percent down at Gettysburg College. The good news is that early applications are going gangbusters–but that’s not enough to fill an entire class. When Beloit College in Wisconsin enrolled 36 fewer students than it had budgeted for, they were forced to cut 40 staff positions.
The scene at public schools, meanwhile, is a mixed bag for other reasons. Applications are flooding in, thanks to the bargain prices, but state budgets aren’t providing enough financial leeway to let them all in. An undergrad admissions officer at Penn State University told the NYT that they’ve already received 2,000 more applications than they had at this time last year, and, of admission offers already out there, they had 500 more acceptances than usual. It’s like “The Gift of the Magi” for college admissions officers…let’s just hope there’s a heartwarming little moral tied up at the end of this one, too.
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2 Responses to “College Application Update: The Good, the Bad, and Even More Bad”
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Hi.
I do think that the news is bad for colleges. But the news is not all bad for applicants. A down year may increase one’s chances of admission to those schools struggling to make enrollment numbers. And highly desirable students may actually find more in their financial aid package than they expected.
So remember that just because colleges are having a bad year does not mean you should turn tail and run to the nearest state college. As the NYT article points out, it may actually be tougher to get into those schools in the past, and once in, it’s likely to be more crowded than ever.
Good point, Mark! I’m sure private schools are dipping into their early decision/admission pools like never before, which gives an advantage to kids who really, really want to go to a certain school. But the public school situation does seem kind of strapped–at least at the moment. Crossing our fingers for better news in 2009!