Gautam Ketkar ‘24 | Jack Riley ‘24
Juniors are already in a panic over the college admissions process. However, they will be comforted to know that the college process is more than just one’s transcript. In recent years, the college admissions process has evolved with regards to various fields of the application, including SAT/ACT requirements, AP emphasis, and extracurricular expectations. Furthermore, acceptance rates at the most selective colleges suggest college admissions have become drastically more competitive.
According to US News rankings, acceptance rates at these colleges were much higher than they are today. For example, Penn’s and UChicago’s acceptance rate in 1989 were 41% and 45%, for 2021, they were 9.2% and 6.3% respectively.
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This increase in selectivity at schools perceived as top tier is undoubtedly caused in part by an increase in applicants for these schools, which in turn is encouraged by an easier application process. Cynthia Crum, Director of College Counseling, comments on the change in the application process, stating, “Back in 1983, you typed your applications. The Common Application, which many students use to apply to college, and most students will, probably only went to a couple dozen colleges in the country. You apply to Pitt, you had a Pitt application. You apply to Penn, you use the common app. You apply to Gettysburg, you use the Gettysburg application.” Applicants had to write more applications, deterring students from applying to more schools. Crum also explains how students wrote their applications, saying, “Remember, you are typing all of this, or you are writing very neatly.” As of 2021, however, more than 900 schools use The Common App, making it far easier to apply to more schools.
A more recent change that has inflated the amount of students applying to a small number of colleges is that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges and universities waived their SAT and ACT requirements. In support of this decision, Eric Morgan ‘22 states, “It’s good that they [the SAT/ACT] aren’t required because the tests aren’t for everyone.” Students who do well in school do not always have their classroom success reflected in SAT/ACT scores. This idea is corroborated by numerous research studies, including one from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research which found in 2020 that grade point averages predict college graduation five times more accurately than ACT scores do.
Kathryn Lynn ‘22 provides insight into these recent trends surrounding the application requirements and number of colleges students tend to apply to, explaining, “I know that most people in my grade are planning to apply to more than ten schools and that the majority of those are test optional. Personally, I’m applying to around twenty schools, all but one of which is test-optional.”
Standardized test scores have also recently come under scrutiny for having little correlation with college success, and instead higher correlation with wealth. According to a 2020 report by UC Berkeley Research Associate Saul Geiser, high-school grades have a higher correlation than SAT/ACT scores on college success. Data from the 2018 ACT shows that the largest group of students with scores ranging from 30-36 are those with a family income of greater than $150,000. Upper School English Teacher Anna Safford agrees with these findings, saying, “what I’ve read suggests that income and zip code reflect people’s test scores more than their ability.” Wealthier students, like many of those at EA, have greater access to test preparation and thus a disproportionate chance to do well on these tests. Nicolas Staley ‘22 says, “I applied to nine schools, some of which I submitted test scores to. I did pretty extensive test prep over the summer, with a meeting every week, with 2 hours of homework everyday.”
Another major change since the 1980s in the college admissions process is the amount of AP classes students take and the evaluation of the AP in the college process. AP classes are college level courses which require a deeper understanding of the material and more time dedicated to the subject. Nowadays many students at EA pack their schedules with the most rigorous AP courses because they believe this will make their college application stand out. Alec Riley ‘22 states, “I felt pressured to take AP classes because a large part of college applications is looking at course difficulty and I wanted to show that I challenged myself.”
While this is a commonly-held sentiment, Mariana Ramirez, Associate Director of College Counseling, explains that APs aren’t the only thing colleges look for, commenting, “They are making sure that you’re taking rigorous classes, which could be an AP but it could be an Honors, it could be Advanced, it could be a whole host of things. They’re making sure that you’re taking a variety of classes, so taking classes in each of your five academic solids, which include Math, Science, History, Language and English…Maybe you’re taking one or two electives over the minimum, so that you’re continuing to challenge yourself. APs have a part to play in that whole big formula, but APs on their own don’t really do much to influence and affect and impact the college process.”
However, the role of AP courses has not always been to show a challenging workload but rather for college credit. On this change, Crum comments, ”In the 80’s, the value of the AP courses, or the credits that you earn, that was what was important, and that was why these courses were created. Over the years, as the business of college admissions has gotten a little crazy, the focus on APs has shifted away from credits, and become an admission function.”
Crum continues, “[Currently,] the class is what is important for the admissions process, if it’s important, if it’s the right fit for a kid. The score is what is important for placement when they get to college. In fact, the scores have become higher and higher, and what colleges will and will not accept, for placement or even for credit, has changed over the years.”
Although much has changed regarding the college admissions process, the importance of extracurricular activities has remained constant. Crum says, “Colleges have their fill of really smart applicants. That’s great, every college wants a smart kid. But what is that student going to contribute to that community? What kind of roommate is that student going to be? What kind of student is that kid going to be in the classroom? How are they going to impact that community and one of the ways to assess that is what that student has done in high school.”
Crum sums up the importance of every part in the admissions process, stating, “The phrase that college admissions officers are going to use time and time again is holistic. Because you’re not just a transcript, and you’re not just your extracurriculars, it’s how does this all come together and the other piece you’re going to hear admissions officers talk about is character, what are your values, what are your beliefs, because when it comes time to college, you are living and learning alongside your peers. Who are you going to be as a campus citizen, who are you going to be as a roommate, making sure that they have a diverse and caring community.”