Episode 002 Transcript:
Early Admit Rates for Class of 2024
January 21, 2020 by Ruchi S. Kothari
Hey guys, welcome to the episodes Be Collegebound with IvyBound! I’m your host, Ruchi S. Kothari. I’m super excited that you’ve joined me.
Today, I’m going to delve deep into the results of the Early Admit Rates for Class of 2024, and more importantly, how these trends will affect your admissions strategy and what should you do to best leverage yourself and your applications. I’ll be answering all that and some more in a few.
Be CollegeBound with IvyBound is a series designed for people like you– high schoolers and their parents, where I advise, guide and support you through your college admissions journey, offering you admissions tips, tricks, and secrets to stand out and present your “best self” on your college applications. These strategies are easy to implement yet very impactful, helping you to get admitted into the college of your dreams, and create a future that you would love.
Do you want to get your dream school? Of course you do. Well, stay tuned.
We began our year well with our previous episode talking about Your 2020 Goal Setting and Planning. I hope you and your child downloaded this invaluable worksheet and set the wheels turning for your 2020 academic, extracurricular, testing and personal goals. I honestly believe, if you write it down, then you are more likely to achieve your goals. So, let’s make it happen! For any reason, you missed episode 1 or didn’t download Your 2020 Goal Setting and Planning IvyBound Worksheet, click on https://ivyboundconsulting.com/001 to get started.
So, I’m going to give you the lay of the land of college admissions, by discussing the results and trends of the Early Admit Rates for Class of 2024 so that you’re well aware of your chances of getting in your desired college, and what to expect in this highly competitive battle field of college admissions. Don’t worry, we’re going to get through your college admissions journey together. Yes, we’re in it together.
And at the end of each episode, I offer live office hours with myself, Ruchi S. Kothari, where I answer three college admissions questions that high schoolers or their parents post. Today, I answer the following questions:
- When is it better to apply early or to wait to apply during the regular round?
- When applying early, is it better to risk it and try for a high-reach school or play it safe, in hopes of getting in?
- How can I keep myself on track with all the things to think about, like my test schedule, academics, and extracurricular activities?
If you have a burning question, please leave it in the comment box, so I can answer your question next time. I’m so thrilled to help you in any which way I can.
Just so you know, every other week I release an episode as a podcast. And, the following week the same episode as a YouTube video. So I encourage you to go check it out if you need a visual example of the topic discussed. You can find my YouTube channel by searching up Ivybound Consulting. Feel free to check out all of my podcasting videos. And, please don’t forget to subscribe to theBe CollegeBound with IvyBound podcast and YouTube series, and leave me a review in the comments. Thanks so much.
A quick shout out to all the parents who are listening right now, because I get you and all that we do to keep our children constantly nourished, happy and safe. I can even bet, some of you are probably driving your children around, shuttling them from one class to another. I HEAR YAA!!! So, download my podcast series, and when you’re on the go, keep listening. You might pick up some quick and effective college admissions tips, tricks and secrets. Take what you want and leave the rest.
And, all the high schoolers who’ve tuned in a quick shout out to you as well. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to my podcast series or watch these series on YouTube. Choose the platform that works best for you to pick up quick and effective college admissions tips, tricks and secrets to help you stand out and create winning college applications. Take what you want, share it with your friends, and leave the rest.
Today’s episode is sponsored by IvyBound Consulting, a college admissions company that I created with my life’s mission in mind– to help each and every student of mine to get admitted to the college of their dreams. You can say this is my calling, and I can’t even tell you the delight I feel when I hear about my students pursuing their interest, or excelling in their academic area, or better yet getting into the college of their choice.
You can say, anything and everything about education lights me up– from the quality and type of education, the comprehensiveness of curriculum, the best educators chosen, and the safety of our children have attracted me to this field. I am currently serving on my town’s Board of Education for the second term, I’m an alumni interviewer of Northwestern, and a member of the professional organization of Independent Educational Consultants of America.
As I bring massive clarity and integrity into the college admissions process, I have helped many high schoolers through their journey with the products and services offered at www.ivyboundconsulting.com. And, I hope to help countless more…
On a personal level, I’m a proud mother of three: a high school junior, an incoming high school freshman, and a fifth-grader. Gosh, I love them to death! They are my pride and joy. During my episodes, you’ll be hearing a lot more about my high schoolers and their college admissions journey– the ups and downs, and everything in between.
Ok, let’s get started with your goals for 2020…
I created this interactive bonus just for you: It’s called the Your 2020 Goal Setting and Planning IvyBound Sheet. The link to this pdf is provided in my show notes for this episode at https://ivyboundconsulting.com/001. No need to frantically take notes, I’ve got you covered. Download the transcript and the Your 2020 Goal Setting and Planning IvyBound Sheet, and follow along.
WHAT can I say, I am a big proponent of calendars, goal setting and planning ahead. In the college admissions journey, believe me, planning and preparing for all the deliverable-action items needed for your college applications, are oh soooo important. Real quick, let me tell you about some of these deliverable-action items. They are:
- Your grades and the academic coursework you are taking.
- Standardized test scores (which does require pre-planning, and of course, plenty of time to study)
- Extracurricular activities (including sports)
- How you spend your summers, and
Of course, your essays in your college applications.
If you have any college admissions question, please leave it in the comment box, so I can answer your question next time. I’m so thrilled to help you in any which way I can.
Just so you know, each other week I release an episode as a podcast. And, the following week the same episode as a YouTube video. So I encourage you to go check it out if you need a visual example of the topic being discussed. You can find my YouTube channel by searching up Ivybound Consulting. Feel free to check out all of my podcasting videos. And, please don’t forget to subscribe to the Be CollegeBound with IvyBound podcast and YouTube series, and leave me a review in the comments. Thanks so much.
A quick subscriber shout out to Sam from Houston, Texas. Sam downloaded the 2020 Goal Setting and Planning IvyBound Sheet, and made it a family activity by completing it with her parents. Sam writes “Thank you Ruchi for making me think and then actually plan out all that I want to accomplish in my Junior year. Sitting down with my parents, I got them on-board. We, now have even planned my entire year planned out, including the two vacations to give me a breather in between my testing and school schedule. One of them is with the college visits we’ll be doing during spring break. I highly recommend all students to complete this exercise that Ruchi recommends, you’ll stay on track and you won’t feel the last minute panic when things aren’t done. I can’t wait to listen to more episodes so that I’m “Collegebound with IvyBound!”
Awh, Thank you so much, Sam. Your kind words mean a lot to me, especially when I see that students are downloading the worksheet and finding it useful to plan out their entire 2020, helping them to reduce some of their overwhelm during their high school to college journey. Sam, there’s a lot you need to get done before Senior year hits, and it seems your well on your way. Keep at it and keep listening for more admissions tips, tricks and secrets coming your way.
If you have something to say, I’d love to hear from you. Subscribe to my podcast or YouTube series and leave me a comment. I enjoy reading each and everyone of them.
Today’s episode is sponsored by IvyBound Consulting, a college admissions company that I created with my life’s mission in mind– to help each and every student of mine to get admitted to the college of their dreams. You can say this is my calling, and I can’t even tell you the delight I feel when I hear about my students pursuing their interest, or excelling in their academic area, or better yet getting into the college of their choice.
You can say, anything and everything about education lights me up– from the quality and type of education, the comprehensiveness of curriculum, the best educators chosen, and the safety of our children have attracted me to this field. I am currently serving on my town’s Board of Education for the second term, I’m an alumni interviewer of Northwestern, and a member of the professional organization of Independent Educational Consultants of America.
As I bring massive clarity and integrity into the college admissions process, I have helped many high schoolers through their journey with the products and services offered at www.ivyboundconsulting.com. And, I hope to help countless more…
On a personal level, I’m a proud mother of three: a high school junior, an incoming high school freshman, and a fifth-grader. Gosh, I love them to death! They are my pride and joy. During my episodes, you’ll be hearing a lot more about my high schoolers and their college admissions journey– the ups and downs, and everything in between.
Ok, buckle up and let’s get started with today’s topic at hand…
As you may know, during the last half of December, many early applicants and most of my students anxiously awaited their fate of their college admissions. As the results of the early admissions started trickling in, emotions were high: Some were ecstatic that they got admitted to their dream college, and, of course, for not having to complete applications during their winter break. A big congrats to you if you’re one of them or a parent of one!
While, some may have been tears (literally and figuratively) of being denied. So sorry to hear the news. And, others were just confused about getting deferred. What next, was the common question asked. Those of you who are not on sure how to approach a deferral and ultimately get admitted into the college of their choice, please refer to a bonus checklist I have for you. It’s called, Tips to change your deferral into admissions! Download it and follow the steps to change your deferral into admissions! It’s like you’re getting a personal counseling session that I have with my students on how to best approach a college deferral. Isn’t that awesome? Good luck. Also, you may leave a question in the comments below if you have one. I’d love to help in any which way I can.
I apologize to those of you who were denied to your early school. I’m about to dive deep into the reasons why you may not have been admitted, and you’ll soon discover the truth about admissions at some colleges. So, don’t fret! I’m going to repeat a popular ancient proverb that I swear by whenever I hit a bump on the road, “This too shall pass!” Yes, “This too shall pass” for you.
After the initial blow, most students go on to find schools that are comparable alternatives, proving to be a better fit for them. And, In the long run, you end up at a better college for you. And, that’s what matters, a “good fit” for you! So, keep at it. You’ll receive early decision 2 (or ED2) and regular decision results soon enough, usually mid-February for ED2 applicants and mid-March to early April for regular decision. Don’t worry, it will ALL work out in the end. I know, you might be thinking, it’s easy for me to say this because I’m an adult, not personally going through the college admissions process like you are. But, believe me I, too, suffered my share of blows when I was deferred to Princeton and waitlisted into Columbia, but eventually admitted. That seems ages ago, and I happily lived through it. We’ll have a conversation about being waitlisted in Spring when waitlists come out, so keep tuning in.
Ok moving along, let’s talk about the topic at hand: Early Admit Rates for Class of 2024. If you’d like to follow along, download the transcript from my show notes for this episode at https://ivyboundconsulting.com/002. No need to frantically take notes, I’ve got you covered.
Analyzing the early admit rates for the Class of 2024 of the top colleges, I have created a table that shows 12 colleges, with their corresponding number of applicants, the number admitted and early admit rates for the Class of 2024. I would suggest you to look at this table when you can, if you’re driving or can’t get to your computer, view it at your convenience at https://ivyboundconsulting.com/002.
It’ll make the numbers and percentages I mention a whole lot easier for you to comprehend. Just so you know, the colleges covered in this chart are in order of rank by US World News & Report. The colleges, I will be talking about are Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, and Georgetown. The numbers are still coming in for Columbia, Northwestern, Princeton and for many other colleges. For the purposes of this podcast and YouTube video, this chart focuses on these twelve universities. Please feel free to analyze the specific numbers and trends between Class of 2024, 2023, and 2022, at your leisure. If you’re a little quirky like me, you might actually enjoy it! I sure did.
Just a quick side note about Stanford. From last year, Stanford has stopped sharing its admissions rates. Stanford’s Provost Persis Drell states, “By focusing on the admit rate, talented students who would thrive at Stanford may opt not to apply because they think Stanford seems out of reach.” Interesting statement, I like the intention, even though Stanford still has the lowest admit rate, even beating Harvard.
As I discuss admissions rates, I’ll be pointing out the trends I see and how it may affect your college admissions strategy of which colleges to apply and when. That’s me hitting the bullseye, and I want this to be your takeaway from this episode: How will these trends affect your admissions strategy and what should you do to best leverage yourself and your application? I’ll be answering that in a few, so stay with me here.
A quick synopsis on the data on this table. Before we move on, there are three numbers that you are looking at per college. The number of applications, the number of students admitted, and the admit rate, which is as a percentage of the two previous numbers I mentioned. All three are dependent on the other. A rise in the number of applicants, with a limited amount of freshmen seats, usually signifies a decline in admit rates. The vice versa also applies. What does this mean? It means a lower admit rate doesn’t mean less interest in the college, but it may just mean the number of applications increased. So, the results are not self-explanatory.
Now, looking at this results of Class of 2024, unlike past years which usually has shown a rise in early applications, current results were mixed– some colleges displayed a rise in their applicant pool, while others were down from previous years. For instance, Brown and Cornell were the only two universities (in this table), for the Class of 2024, to receive an increase in the number of applications for their early round, but the only two colleges (in this table) to have a slight decline in admit rates, with drop of 0.68 percent for Brown and 0.5 percent for Cornell from from the previous year. Again, this may be due to the increase of applications.
While, some colleges displayed a rise in their admit rates. Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale all saw a rise in their early admit rates, while the number of students who chose to apply early to these schools actually declined. Please refer to table for the numbers to make sense.
Based on reported data, MIT takes the prize for having the lowest early admit rate for the Class of 2024. Ok, brace yourself, with a mere acceptance rate of 7.4 percent, MIT admitted only 687 students of the 9,291 students who applied early. That’s brutal!
(Just a side note, when you do the mathematical computations to get these statistics, it makes sense to see the result like 7.4 percent, but when you sit and do the calculations, it comes out to like 687.5 students. I often wonder, where in the world do you get half of a student? That always makes me laugh, so I play it safe and just round down. In MIT’s case, its 687 students that were accepted in the early round.
The reason for decline, in this case, or rise of admit rates may be due to a number of factors which I am about to discuss.
Before we go into these reasons, I quickly wanted to give you some information about Harvard. Listen up, for those interested in applying to Harvard. Harvard saw its early action pool decrease by 7.7 percent, the first time since the fall of 2013. That’s a huge. In all, 895 of 6,424 early applicants were offered early admissions to the Class of 2024. Even though less students applied, the 13.9 percent acceptance rate represents a 0.5 percent increase from last year.
What does this mean? That it was a good year to apply early to Harvard this year, of course, if you met the academic parameters of the college and you had the interest to attend Harvard. But, again this knowledge is hindsight. Or, maybe students were more strategic in applying early to more schools that they would have a more likely chance of getting in rather than shooting in the dark and applying to Harvard.
Ok let’s talk about the five factors that impacted the early admissions process for the Class of 2024 of each universities listed in this table.
- Unforeseen circumstances:
Many colleges and even Harvard’s Dean, Fitzsimmons claimed natural disasters such as wildfires in California, which actually brought about a decline in Harvard’s early applicants from California by nearly 17 percent. That’s a big number. School shootings, economic uncertainty, power outages, natural disasters, and teacher strikes are some of the unpredictable reasons that accounted for the reduced number of early admission applicants. As you know, these situations and circumstances change year by year.
- Playing it safe versus aiming for the long shot:
As most of us know that applying early usually increases your chances of admission, pending your application is competitive with the applicant pool. For many, the early round is the “Trump card,” excuse my choice of words. No pun intended! Ok, let me rephrase that. Applying early is your “wild card” for getting admissions into your dream school. This year, many students seemed to have played it safe and applied to schools they had a more likely chance of getting into, rather than risking it at colleges where their chances were difficult. It could also be that savvy students are being more strategic in how they use their early option, aiming for a surer bet rather than going for the long-shot. This may explain the rise in applications for Brown and Cornell, and less at Harvard, Yale or Columbia.
The third factor that may have impacted the early admissions for the Class of 2024 may be:
- Students are more strategic on where to apply during the early round:
I have to say, I’m noticing students are becoming more and more smarter in their choices of colleges to apply early and choosing the early plans that work for them. Following the guidance of their high school counselors or independent advisors, like myself, students are creating a comprehensive plan of action of where to apply early and where to apply during regular rounds. Students are also optimizing on various early options of Early Action or Early Decision 2, rather than just opting for the binding ones of Early Decision or Single-Choice Early Action. For example, a student may choose to apply Early Action to Tulane and Northeastern, wait to get their responses, and then apply ED2 to University of Chicago, as Tulane and Northeastern are non-binding early options. This strategy enables you to apply to colleges of various degrees of selectivity and really gives you more options. It’s a win-win situation!
Don’t worry, when the time comes to apply early during the Fall of this year, I’ll thoroughly discuss the various early admissions options you have, and how you or your child can best leverage yourself to maximize your options for admissions. So, continue your college admissions journey with me, it’ll be a smooth ride…
Moving on to the fourth contributing factor, which is:
- Institutional priorities:
Institutional priorities of a college have a significant impact on the students admitted and what the specific college is looking for in their incoming freshman class, whether its during the early or regular round. These priorities may be determined by the president, or the business or academic heads of the school, they may change annually, and are predetermined before the admissions round of the year. Something important for you to understand. You and I do not have any control or influence over the college’s institutional priority.
Is the college looking to create a more diverse class by admitting more minorities, females, or first generation applicants? Is the college looking to increase global engagement by attracting more international applicants? Or, is the college looking to fill more biology applicants for the new lab it constructed? These are all institutional priorities.
An institutional priority for Yale for the Class of 2024 and the previous classes has been to increase its socioeconomic diversity, by offering more than 1,000 undergraduates Federal Pell grants in the past several years.
Harvard’s Class of 2024 tipped in favor of women. Definitely an institutional priority. What’s interesting to note is that women comprise 51.7 percent of the admitted class thus far. Up from 0.5 percent from the previous cycle of early admissions. For the Class of 2022, it comprised of only 47.2 percent female students. That’s an increase of 4.5 percent in 3 years. Wow! Do you notice an upward trend? I do. Hint. Hint.
Furthermore, Harvard admitted more women in physical and computer sciences during this round. This year, 57.4 percent of admitted students who said they intend to concentrate in the physical sciences are women, compared to 52.9 percent last year and just 33 percent the year before. For computer science, 49.1 percent of interested students are women, an increase from 42.9 percent last year, and 29 percent the year before. Thus it is safe to say, one of Harvard’s institutional priority is to level out the playing field by admitting more female students, especially in the less-female represented fields of physical and computer sciences.
Something interesting to note and consider if you are a female applying to Harvard. Calling all my female students, this is an admissions tip for you. If you are interested in the physical or computer sciences fields, have the grades and test scores to match the profile of Harvard students and are interested in the college, then you should consider applying to Harvard early. Consider it, and reach out if you want to have a conversation with me. Just DM me @ivyboundconsulting on Instagram, or PM me at @ivyboundconsulting on Facebook.
However, there is a lot more than your major of choice or your gender that goes into applying to a highly-selective college like Harvard. As I continue to bring more content in my podcasts and videos, I’ll reveal more admissions tips, tricks and secrets to empower you or your child to present your “best self” during your college applications process.
If you haven’t subscribed, please do so. Continue listening to my podcast or watching a visual version of this podcast on my YouTube Channel at IvyBound Consulting, or click on the link www.ivyboundconsulting.com/002 to access the episode directly. And, don’t forget to leave me a comment if you’d like me to cover a topic.
Moving along to the last, but the most interesting factor that may have a major impact on admissions rates, whether its the early or regular round. Number 5 is
- Tags/Hooks of Applications:
I’m going to about to reveal an admissions secret for you so pay attention. Once your electronic application is received by the college, your application is tagged with certain indicators, also referred as tags or hooks. There are many of these, ranging from demographic tags, to socioeconomic tags, to academic areas of interest (or your choice of major) tags. Most of the time, you don’t have any control over these tags or hooks.
Some common tags/hooks are:
- Race or Ethnicity
- Lower-Income Household
- First generation Applicant
- Legacy
- Athletic Recruit
- Special Talent
- International Students
- VIP/Celebrity Status
There are more, but again these are the more popular tags or hooks that concern your applications. Most applications are tagged this way, and depending on the institutional priority of the college, the applications are reviewed accordingly. Not having one of these hooks may be the reason for your deferral or denial. Again, a lot of different factors, beyond our control, determine our admission or not into a college. So, don’t beat yourself up. Or, don’t get upset at your child for not getting into the college that he or she applied to early.
That being said, I’m going to say, the majority of applicants don’t have one of these tags. Yes, this comprises the masses, the students in the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum. They may not have legacy, cannot apply as an athletic recruit or not have a special talent that the college is looking for. Or, they may not be the under-represented minority.
I have an admissions secret for you. Calling all–Indians, Korens and Chinese. Ok, listen up, you may be considered a minority, but your ethnicity or race comprises of an over-represented group of the minority group. Yes, that’s why, I’m sorry to break it to you… thousands of highly-qualified Asian students may be denied admissions at high-selective colleges.
These students, who don’t meet the admissions tags or hooks are like you and me. Students who are working hard, highly motivated and striving for academic excellence. So, what’s the answer? Or, the magic mantra. Unfortunately, my friend, there is no straight-forward solution. College admissions, in todays competitive age, is not a sure bet. There is no guarantee.
But, you can still aspire to get into a highly selective college, you’ll have to work harder and smarter to make all components of your applications stellar. As you we continue on with Be Collegebound with IvyBound series, I’ll delve deeper on how students who do not have these special tags or hooks can create winning college applications that can impress the admissions officers.
Looking at students of color for the early Class of 2024, which usually includes minority, biracial and multiracial status students: (Please note, this category doesn’t include International students). I’m going to throw some more numbers at you, so brace yourself. Again, if need be download this transcript from the show notes at www.ivyboundconsulting.com/002. Ok going back to:
- Students of color:
- Made up 52 percent of Penn’s early-admitted students,
- 48 percent of Princeton’s admitted pool,
- Almost 40 percent of Cornell’s admitted students, and
- 46 percent of those admitted early to Duke, were students of color.
- Going back to Harvard. I know, I know, you might say, I’m obsessed with Harvard. But, that’s not the case at all, giving you a disclaimer here. By no means do I promote or prefer Harvard over other institutions. I’m happy to say, America is blessed with one of the best post-secondary education systems in the world, with over 4300 colleges. Yes that’s 4,300 accredited colleges. It’s just the media and people like you and me who drive college ratings. So, companies like the US World & News Report, Kaplan and others capitalize on this and make us obsessed with rankings of the Top 50 or 100 colleges and universities in the US.
- Going back to Harvard and students of color. You’re going to love hearing about this. Harvard was a bit tricky in its acceptance of students of color for the Class of 2024. Let me explain… Although the percentage of student of color showed an overall increase, in reality, the percentage of admits who are considered underrepresented minorities is up while the percentage of admits who are considered overrepresented minorities is down. Again, these overrepresented minorities are Indians, Koreans, and Chinese. Interesting, indeed! Do you recall that Harvard suffered a lawsuit the previous year, just for that? To add to their cleverness, for the Class of 2024, Asian Americans comprise 24 percent of Harvard’s admits, the year in which Harvard claimed victory in a federal lawsuit in which the school was accused of discriminating against Asian American applicants on the basis of their race. It is down 2.1 percent, from 26.1 percent last year, when the school was much more worried about losing the federal suit. Don’t you think that’s some sneaky stuff? I sure do. So, it seems like Harvard is back to its usual business.
- First generation applicants:
- 10 percent of admitted students at UPenn
- 13 percent at Princeton, which also accepted 16 percent students of low-income household, and
- 15 percent of early admitted students at Dartmouth were first generation applicants.
- Legacy:
- Dartmouth accepted 15 percent of its early decision students who were children of alumni.
- Cornell recommends its legacy students to apply early, with 22.1 percent of the Class of 2024 being students of alumni.
- University of Pennsylvania is known to be a big proponent of accepting legacy students during its early round kept its record by accepting 24 percent of its early decision students having legacy of parents or grandparents who attended the institution. That’s 304 students admitted early of the 1269 students who applied.
Here’s an admissions trick for you, if you have legacy to a college, especially a highly-selective one, your best chances of admission are during the early round. If you are interested in the college your parents went to, then it would be to your advantage to apply early. So, take advantage of it!
I do have one thing to say, this is important. So, if you’re multitasking, please come back to me. There are many, I mean many students who may have legacy at two colleges, and apply to one during the early round, and for the heck of it apply to the other during the regular round. And, they have no intention to attend one of them. Ok, let me give you an example. My daughter actually brought up this scenario as she mentioned a senior in her high school, who got into Single-Choice Early Action at Yale because of his legacy status and then applied to Harvard for the fun of it during regular round because his other parent attended that institution. Can you believe it– for the fun of it. Why? Have fun another way– go out with your friends, go bowling, watch movies, go on a vacation– those are fun. Not, Taking another person’s seat and their one chance of getting admitted, That’s not fun at all.
Please, please don’t do that. Taking advantage of the legacy tag or hook, you are taking away a seat of another student who may really want to attend this college that you applied for the heck of it. I know there are no guarantees, so students overcompensate by applying to 15, 20 or more colleges. It is the increase of the number applications per student has driven the exponential rise of applicants per college, and consequently decreased the admit rate. It is a new norm for colleges like Harvard, Stanford and Columbia to receive applications over 45,000 during an admissions cycle. NYU announced just a few days ago, “the University had received a record-shattering 84,481applications for this admissions round, with only 6,500 seats available.” So, now do the math– do you think the admissions rate will rise or drop, here. The question to ask is how many of these students actually want to attend NYU? Definitely note 84,000 of them.
What I urge you, and all my students to be— Is to be ethical about where you will apply. Please be mindful. When the time comes, we’ll talk about building your manageable “balanced” list of reach, target and safety schools.
My daughter has already told me that she will be intentional about her college list and will not try to take up a seat of another potential student. Thus, her list will only comprise of colleges that she really wants to attend– a short and concise list– because she doesn’t want to steal another person’s seat. I’m so proud of her!
- Recruited Athletes:
- Of the students that Dartmouth accepted, 25 percent of them were recruited athletes. That’s a big number. That’s 136 students out of the 547 accepted.
- Cornell accepted 12 percent athletes, a 1.4 percent decrease from the previous cycle.
- International students:
- Made up 11 percent of admitted students at Princeton,
- For Cornell, the percentage of international students admitted early decision also rose, with these students composing 13.6 percent of early admits, and
- International students made up 6 percent of Duke’s early pool of accepted students
- Now, going back to infamous Harvard. It seems as if international students were not an institutional priority for Harvard this year as only 9.6 percent of admits, a figure that’s down from 11.2 percent for the Class of 2023 were international students. However, it’s still up from 8.2 percent for the Class of 2022.
- Unforeseen circumstances
- Students playing it safe versus aiming for the long shot
- Students are more strategic on where to apply during the early round
- Institutional priorities
- Tags/Hooks of applications
- Create your academic, extracurricular, testing and personal goals early and take action. For example, create your testing plan for the year now, write the dates down with their registration deadlines so that you don’t miss it, and pencil in study time in between. I provide you the detailed, actionable steps you can take in my previous episode, and the worksheets I provide with it. So download Your 2020 Goal Setting and Planning IvyBound Sheet and 2020 Standardized Testing Dates and Deadlines IvyBound Sheet. This will definitely set in the right track.
- Setting aside institutional priorities and tags/hooks, focus on the application components that you can have a direct impact on your applications and, ultimately, your admissions decision. These components include:
- Your grades and the academic coursework you are taking,
- Standardized test scores,
- Extracurricular activities,
- Your summer plans, and
- Of course, your essays in your college applications. Don’t worry, in upcoming episodes, I’ll delve deeper on how you can strengthen each and every component that is needed in your college applications so that admissions officers are WOWed by your applications at the get go, and you are admitted to the colleges of your choice. Some vital and pretty cool stuff, right?
- When the time comes, create a viable, balanced college list and an admissions plan of when and where to apply early, and when and where to apply during the regular round. In the coming months, I will talk more about creating your balanced college list and strategies to apply early, and or regular admissions. So, stay tuned.Here’s the last strategy I have for you to create a successful admissions strategy that will enable you to best leverage yourself and your application.
- Become a savvy and smart consumer of the college admissions knowledge. You can do that by listening to or watching the Be Collegebound with IvyBound podcast or video series. I’ll be bringing in the latest and most up-to-date trends and news in the college admissions playing field, and how they may impact your applications and admissions into a college.
- If you follow, the four actionable steps that I have just talked about, you will see great results. Trust me. My students for the Class of 2024 have received early admissions to Princeton, Harvard, Babson, Tulane, Fordham, NYU, Yale, University of Michigan, Columbia, Dartmouth, Northeastern by following these four steps, and implementing the admissions tips, tricks and secrets that I provide along the way. So please subscribe and if you find value in the information and strategies I am giving you, and don’t forget to share these episodes with your friends and family.
Ok, we’re at the home stretch. Before I move on to the Live Office Hours with Ruchi S. Kothari, I wanted to announce our three lucky winners of the jumbo 2020 dry erase wall calendars. The three winners for last week’s podcast and video episode are: Jammal from Downers Grove, IL, Francis from Basking Ridge, NJ, and Dana from Phoenix, Arizona. Thank you guys for becoming a subscriber, I hope you find the calender helpful in 2020 goals setting, and wish you the best in your college admissions journey.
In hopes that you have a successful year ahead, I have a special gift for three more listeners or viewers this week. The gift is a jumbo 2020 dry erase wall calendar, which includes 2 planners: 1) The entire 2020 year in review calendar, where you can write all important dates, and 2) A reversible monthly or weekly calendar. Isn’t this something exciting?
Anyways, three lucky subscribers will win this cool gift. In order for you to win, you must:
In order for you to win, you must:
- Subscribe to Be Collegebound with IvyBound series
- Screenshot yourself listening to this podcast or watching the YouTube video
- Share it on your stories along with your biggest takeaway
- Tag 3 friends
- And don’t forget to tag me with @ivyboundconsulting and #ivyboundconsultingpodcast or #ivyboundconsultingYouTubevideo.
Results will be announced in the next podcast. So, stay tuned!
Before we wrap up, let’s have a quick Office Hour session with myself, Ruchi S. Kothari, where I end each episode by answering three real-time college admissions questions.
The first question is from Jennifer from Queens, NY.
1.When is it better to apply early or to wait to apply during the regular round?
Hi Jennifer that’s a really good question because it seems like every student is applying during the early round, without knowing if applying early will give them the results that they are seeking– to be admitted into the college of their dreams. The three reasons I advise my students on not to consider to applying early, and rather waiting for the regular round are: 1) You’re not sure if you want to commit to a specific college, this specifically refers to the binding early plans like ED or Single-Choice Early Action. 2) You want the to freedom to compare your financial aid packages. And, 3) A student who wants to take one final standardized test and improve their academic record. This point is important, improving students I would recommend you to wait until the regular round.
Moving along to question 2. Chris from Ipswich, England asks:
2.When applying early, is it better to risk it and try for a high-reach school or play it safe, in hopes of getting in?
Good question Chris. So, there’s no straight-forward answer to this. Applying early has to do with two things: 1) Your preference of playing it safe or risking it for the biscuit. This year’s early admissions results shows more students who played it more safe by applying to Brown and Cornell versus Harvard and Yale. And, 2) Whether or not your credentials match up to the range of the college’s admitted students. So, each year I have some students and parents, yes, parents, who have their heart set out for a particular college, like Columbia, Stanford or Harvard. I look at their qualifications, and if they are in the college’s range. Once that is line, I give them the preference to play it safe or risk it for the biscuit. I hope I answered your question Chris.
Our final question for the day is from Layla from Miami, FL. Layla aks:
3. How can I keep myself on track with all the things to think about, like my test schedule, academics, and extracurricular activities? I’m overwhelmed.
Don’t be overwhelmed Layla. I’ve got just the resource for you. If you haven’t already, please listen to or if your a visual learner, watch episode 001 of my series. Download the invaluable tools I provide. This will definitely set in the right track and make you feel less overwhelmed. Let me know how it helped.
Ok folks, that’s all the time we have for today. I’m thrilled that you are tuned in to listen to the Be Collegebound with IvyBound podcast or watch the YouTube video series. I have a lot of exciting episodes planned for the year. It’s everything and anything under the sun about college admissions, so please subscribe, rate, and leave me a review. If you have a burning college admissions question that you want me to answer in the Live Office hours with Ruchi S. Kothari, then write the question in the comments below.
Don’t forget to join me for the next episode where I discuss the college admissions scandal, Varsity Blues, and Five Ways to Ethically Approach College Admissions.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and thanks so much for tuning in. I’m leaving you with something to think about: Make it Your Own!
Your college admissions journey is unique to your experiences and circumstances. Use your intelligence and your talent, and yes you have many of them, to make the best of your journey, so Make it your Own! Bye for now!
