Do the Math

I find the top picture fascinating. It’s rare that people actually sit down and do the math on the number of high schools in the country and the resulting number of valedictorians and salutatorians. The graphic so clearly shows that if only the top two students from each high school applied to the eight Ivies, 57,000 of them wouldn’t get in because there just aren’t enough seats! Columbia just announced that they’re intentionally growing in size, so a few more students will be admitted. With that exception, these schools have remained the same size for decades. More and more students are applying for a myriad of reasons. If a student is denied from one of these schools, it is CERTAINLY not an indictment on their worth or stellar academic and extracurricular achievements!

The other chart is from Jeffrey Selingo and tracks admit rates over ten years to schools with a less than 20% admit rate. Notice how the admit rates are plummeting. The driver of this is an increase in number of applications and the fact that these schools are remaining the same size. Supply and demand - more applications for the same number of spots will make the admit rate drop with a thud. The recent test optional policies caused a huge uptick in applications for these schools as many students thought, “this is my chance!”

Tis the season to be creating balanced lists for juniors so they will be collecting a pile of acceptances in just a few months!