The 4 Latest College Admission Tips For 2023-24
Last Updated on March 1, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel
Now that the 2022-23 admissions cycle has essentially come to an end (except for those on waitlists), it’s time to start thinking about the next one. Looking at the trends over this past year, these are my latest college admission tips for the high school class of 2024. (And as always, it’s not a bad idea for this year’s sophomore families to begin tuning in!)
I can tell you that nothing has changed substantially in my advice. If you’ve been reading this site for a while, what I would tell you is that the advice I’ve offered in the past still stands. BUT, take it all up a level and really take it to heart. The trends, good and bad, are becoming even stronger. I don’t necessarily love the trends I’m seeing and neither do any other counselors I know.
1. Start Early
Yes, if you’ve followed me, this advice hardly comes as a surprise. But seriously, starting to prepare early has become even more important. Aside from making fall of senior year less overwhelming, the Common App reported that 37% of colleges offered an early admission option of some kind. In other words, it’s not rare. And while I am no fan of Early Decision in many cases, I am always a big fan of Early Action options. And that means that students need to be ready to submit applications possibly as early as October. According to the Common Data Set, there are many popular colleges that admitted half or more of their incoming classes via Early Admission. And, if a student gets deferred in an early admission round, then they get a second chance during the regular decision time.
I strongly suggest that you check to see whether the colleges your student is interested in admit a large percentage of students early. Because if they do, it WILL make the regular decision round more competitive for your teen, which makes applying early even more important. I won’t be surprised if even more colleges offer an early option in the upcoming year. From the college’s perspective, it just makes good sense – Early Decision is meant to be binding, so it helps colleges to predict their yield rates. Those students are theoretically locked in. Colleges like knowing that early. Additionally, it means that they can spread out the onslaught of applications over an extra couple of months, which can help their application readers.
2. Test-Optional is Real
Yes, there was a high-profile defection back to requiring test scores at MIT, and then a couple of other high profile colleges, that made this decision seem more difficult. The Common Application platform actually reported that only 43% of students submitted scores with their applications this year. Some colleges have even become test-blind (they will not consider scores even if submitted). I personally wish more colleges would become test-blind because I believe test-optional policies are confusing to most students.
I wrote an entire article about how to decide whether or not to take them and whether or not to submit scores at test-optional colleges, but basically, if you are in a position to easily afford the fee for the tests, I would say (reluctantly) that your student should take the SAT and ACT at least once. Check how your student did as compared to other accepted students at the colleges which they are considering. If their scores are in the top 25th percentile, then it’s easy – submit them. If they’re in the next quartile down from there, consider whether you both think they could do better if they did some test prep (again, if that is something you can afford), and consider re-taking. This 50th-75th% range is where it’s hard to know whether or not to submit scores. But, overall, it’s probably neutral and may be helpful if it supports what is on their high school transcript. But if scores are in the lower half of the college’s accepted student score range, skip submission.
Keep in mind that when looking at the score ranges for admitted students now, the ranges will skew higher, as students with the higher scores are the ones submitting scores.
3. Application Overload is Also Real
Demand just keeps going up for the most popular colleges. This has many trickle-down effects. First, due to the rising volume of applications they receive, the percentage of students admitted to those institutions just keeps getting smaller. Admission rates of under 10% have become the norm at these colleges. And, the majority of applicants are truly well-qualified, so 90%+ of qualified applicants may not receive an offer of admission. Due to holistic admissions, perfect GPAs and perfect test scores won’t guarantee entrance anymore (because there are more perfect scores than there are seats at Ivies, for instance!). While it is true that colleges do not read applications with the intention of rejecting applicants, it is also true that colleges have to find a way to eliminate applicants from the pool, when all other things may be equal. So, to be considered, applicants need to be sure that their application itself is exceptionally strong. That means strong recommendations, strong rigor of curriculum, strong essay (No, a Chat GPT essay won’t cut it) and short answers, and maybe most importantly, an application that overall tells a cohesive story about the applicant.
But, the good news is that there are SO many other colleges out there. I urge students not to overly focus on what Akil Bello of FairTest calls “highly rejective” colleges. College Confidential confirms that there are ~1,400 four-year colleges in the US, and only 200 of those accept fewer than 50% of applicants. Off the top of my head, I can easily think of at least a dozen+ quality colleges that admit more than 70% of applicants. Families should not feel like the application and admissions experience has to be stressful and ultimately filled with rejection. There are so many great options! Don’t feel that the only acceptable colleges are the ones where everyone else is also applying.
4. Applications Per Student Are Up
Closely related to number three above, each applicant is applying to more colleges than ever before. That’s partially why those highly rejective colleges have such low admission rates. The Common App reports that overall application volume is up 21% in the past three years, and each applicant is now applying to an average of 5.7 colleges. Anecdotally, I read and hear about some students driving up that average with an unbelievable number of applications – 20 or more! I see absolutely no reason for students to apply to that many and still recommend about 7 applications. That number can be a bit higher or lower depending on the applicant and where they want to apply and their financial aid needs.
Jeff Selingo talks about colleges as being “buyers” and “sellers.” The Buyers are the ones that are being inundated with applications. They don’t really need to work to attract students by offering great financial aid or other perks. The Sellers are the ones that are working to recruit students and entice them to attend. In addition to Reach, Match, and Safety schools, students should be sure that they are including current Sellers on their lists
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So there you have it, the four tips to go along with the latest trends. I remain a fan of looking at colleges beyond the big names for the best financial deals, and at least equal educational quality. I’ll remind you that outside of a handful of states with cheap public universities, students can often get a better deal at a smaller, private colleges than at a big university, despite what the sticker price may look like (but consider what size is a best fit for your student).
