The Harvard University admissions rate is now 3%.....

[brooklynite]

Per a briefing from my High School (I'm on the Board) on college admissions. Many colleges and universities have dropped SAT and ACT scores as a requirement. As a result, students with low scores who would never assume they'd get in are applying because they have nothing to lose (except for the application fee).

This is also complicating the acceptance process, in that students are applying to MORE schools (for the reason above), and colleges don't know who's going to accept an admittance, so they're putting more students on waitlists.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. There are also deferred first years coming in this fall. Lots of institutions are scrambling.

[jimfields33]

2. Not having SAT/ACT tests has to make chowing candidates so difficult

At least with test scores, you can reject a certain amount immediately and start with those left. Now you basically have to look at every application. And as the article indicates, without tests, more kids feel they have a chance to get in so they apply. I definitely feel for the admissions board. Not an easy job at all!!!!

[Dream Girl]

3. What's a diversity acceptance rate?

Is Harvard no longer requiring SAT or ACT? How about AP?

[brooklynite]

5. Universities don't "require" AP scores...

They get you college credit if you're accepted.

[Dream Girl]

6. I Mispoke. Some elite high scold are moving away from AP courses.

[brooklynite]

8. More schools ARE moving to the International Baccalaureate program...

...which is similar but with internationally accepted standards.

[Dream Girl]

10. Few college actually give college credit for AP courses. Some allow students to skip out on basic

Intro classes. Wat AP does is boost GPAs. It’s how some students can earn 5.0 GPAs. Students fight to get in AP classes. Parents get pissed off, it’s too gameable. Trust me. I just went through this with my son.

[MerryHolidays]

4. Anyone who has Netflix should watch the Operation Varsity Blues docudrama

These admission numbers are insane. It causes a feeding frenzy to get into these schools, upping the number of applications and then a positive feedback loop into more "selectivity".

And it is the universities themselves that are hyping the selectivity (it's not just Harvard). That "selectivity" helps drive the cash into the schools, whether from tuition, contributions, etc. The cost of a college education is completely out of control, and I am not sure any other major country has this issue with higher ed than the US.

The reason I mentioned Operation Varsity Blues is that this whole sorry episode highlighted many things for me. But one stands out over all: I blame the "selective" universities/colleges more than any other person/thing for distorting US higher education. These institutions are effectively large corporations, with enormous research facilities, hospitals, sports teams etc. I truly wonder how much emphasis that there really is on education itself.

And when I see the number of Penn, Harvard, etc grads in the Trump administration, the Ivies and the "selective" schools are a bit of a joke. I used to be a big fan of these types of schools, but no longer.

As you point out, the standardized test waiver and the Common App are more obvious causes for the spike in applications. I honestly thought that this year it would have been easier to get into the "selective" institutions, but it was totally the opposite.

Ok, I mixed a lot of stuff here. It's 530 in the morning, and I've already been up for three hours! Hopefully, I can be forgiven for my less than lucid thoughts.

[keithsw]

11. My kids all have Advanced degrees,

5 kids who went to college. One is a Physician, one is a president of one of the largest Maintenance companies in America, One a Nurse Practitioner,etc. And the Company President son told me years ago, " You go to Harvard and Yale for the connections, not the education " And that has resonated with me for years.

[MerryHolidays]

12. I have advanced degrees too and went to these "selective" schools

Connections are meaningless....or they have been for me. It was the education and the hard work to get that education that made the difference.

The "selective" schools are very different today than they were during the time of the Kennedys. One good thing that the universities have done have widely increase the diversity of the student body. Many of those students don't have any connections. But the good thing is that there is a diversity of people and ideas.

Getting connected with Trump spawn from Penn is not my idea of getting a leg up!

[brooklynite]

13. Ditto...

My wife and I both have BAs from Penn; my wife also has a JD from Penn.

"Connections" had nothing to do with our professional success.

FWIW, we didn't hang out in the places where you'd make "connections".

[MerryHolidays]

14. Penn is a wonderful school!

I could not believe Trump during the Presidential Debates in the Fall 2020 when he boasted about going to an Ivy League and tried to slam Joe for going to Delaware for undergrad and Syracuse for law.

You, your wife, and basically the entirety of the distinguished alums of the University of Pennsylvania must have been collectively shouting to your screens "will you shut up, man!'

[MerryHolidays]

15. And PS....

I loved it when Penn made it to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in 1979....I remember Tony Price well, and that was a fantastic moment for the Ivy League.

(and here I am blathering on about basketball, rather than education!)

[Hugin]

7. Dang. There's an 'application fee' these days?

I guess it exposes my age, but, I blanketed the planet with applications. Most recruitment was done by unpaid alumni back then.

[Bucky]

21. Hmmm, are you certain?

I applied to colleges in the early 80s and I think I remember having to pay application fees.

Well, after 40 years, maybe the memory isn't perfectly reliable.

[Hugin]

23. Nope, not a cent.

I was too poor. If there was any money involved, I wasn't.

I definitely would have remembered a missed meal.

[dawg day]

9. Why would the 90% bother to apply?

Waste of time, sounds like.

[fescuerescue]

16. Because they all believe that they part of the 10%

Applies to many things in life I think.

[GumboYaYa]

22. Reminds me of Todd Sniders Statistician's Blues....

They say 3 percent of the people use 5 to 6 percent of their brain
97 percent use 3 percent and the rest goes down the drain
I'll never know which one I am but I'll bet you my last dime
99 percent think their 3 percent 100 percent of the time

[Yavin4]

17. We greatly misuse our colleges and universities.

Higher academia is there to prepare students for even higher academia. A decent undergrad program is designed to prepare you for a graduate program. Most decent graduate programs prepare you for becoming a professor and/or researcher.

We use our colleges and universities to prepare people for careers which is dumb. This is the main reason why so many college graduates find the transition to the career world so difficult and struggle with student loans.

What we need are more vocational training schools. I know that the word "vocation" triggers boomers because they immediately think of their high school shop class. But, all careers are a vocation where you train and apprentice. If you want to build a career in something, you should go to a vocational school.

We should extend high school to 14 years using the last two years as preparation for vocational training. If you want to work in finance, marketing, accounting, IT, etc. You would go to a vocational school for those disciplines for two years or so, and then you would work as an apprentice in that field. I would even do this for lawyers.

Colleges and universities would be reserved for those that want to work in academia and do research. Our higher educational system has become this stupid game of pursuing status.

[andym]

18. Maybe they can apply and actually get in to UPENN-- Trump's alma mater

probably has a higher admission rate for an Ivy now that their alumnus Trump has cast a shadow over everything associated with him.

[MerryHolidays]

19. Not at all

All of the "selective" schools have ridiculously low acceptance rates...and I mean ridiculous. And Penn is at basically one of the ones with the lowest acceptance rate.

I agree that Trump was such a buffoon about going to Penn, but he can't diminish all the great things about that school. Granted, it's not Penn's finest moment. Trump is a collector of brands, and that's all Penn mean to him: boasting about going to an Ivy League school.

There are so many deserving and earnest candidates out that I hope that they are not dismayed about his and his family's presence.

[Klaralven]

20. How'll they achieve their primary objective of recruiting students who'll become wealthy benefactors