A record number of high school students are enrolling in colleges straight out of high school. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 70 percent of high school graduates are enrolled in colleges or universities. Seventy-three percent of colleges and universities experienced an increase in applications from the previous year. Student acceptance rates have gradually gone down. Most recently, the average college acceptance rate has been 66%. It is important to note that Ivy League Universities typically accept 10% of their applicants.
Recent admission trends indicate that even with excellent GPA and SAT scores, it’s not a given that you’ll be accepted to your first-choice school, so it’s wise to apply to several schools. For example, Harvard recently turned down 1,000 student applicants with perfect SAT scores on the math section and Yale rejected several applicants with perfect 2400 SAT scores. According to the New York Times, only 58% of college applicants enroll at their first-choice college and 18% of students accepted to their first-choice school decided not to attend.
For these reasons, it is very important to apply to additional schools. The standardized Common Application makes applying to several schools extremely easy. Over 480 colleges and universities have adopted the common application, which allows students to fill out only one application that is sent directly to all the participating schools the students selects as opposed to having to fill out an application for each individual school. According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, one out of four teenagers submitted seven or more college applications.
Students studying at public high schools don’t receive the same extent of college guidance as students studying at private high schools. More specifically, only 26% of public high schools have at least one college counselor in comparison to 73% at private high schools. Compounding the matter, the average counselor/student ratio is 460:1.
For any college admissions advice, consult with our experts at Manhattan Elite Prep. Contact us to take advantage of our free admissions consultation either by phone or via email!