College Applications Up for Township Seniors in 2011

Seniors at Lower Merion and Harriton high schools are applying to more and more colleges this year, “as 12th graders reacted to news of lower admission rates by filing more applications to improve their odds,” according to the Parent-to-Parent newsletter recently published by the ISC Guidance Committee.

ISC is an independent, parent-run organization that fosters communication between the Lower Merion School District and its 10 public schools.

“More applications led to lower admit rates, and so the frenzy continues,” wrote Mary Broach and Beth Burrell, members of the committee, in the newsletter.

The committee said that this year, Lower Merion seniors sent out more applications than in 2010, despite a slightly smaller combined class size.

The newsletter quotes Cigus Vanni, a former assistant dean of admissions at Swarthmore, as saying that “selective schools” have become more particular as they consider increased numbers of “special pool” applicants.

Vanni said that many students apply to multiple top schools which are “perceived as pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, as opposed to the uniquely precious metal that a student would discover ... attending the college that was truly his or her best fit.”

Even if you don’t have kids in high school, it’s an interesting read.

“Why is it harder to get into college now? It’s a supply and demand issue,” Broach and Burrell write. “Supply is steady—the same number of freshman spots are available,” while “demand is growing—[there are] 3.3 million high school grads now; that number has never been higher.”

The percentage of high school graduates going to college is higher, too, increasing from about half to around two-thirds since the 1980s. There are also more international students applying to U.S. schools.

Other factors that the writers say make it tough on colleges choosing among applicants include:

• “Academic bunching”—More kids taking college level courses
• Grade inflation—More than 50 percent of SAT-takers have a GPA between 3.4 and 4.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
• Some schoosl have multiple valedictorians
• The prevalence of test-prep courses result in higher and “bunched” SAT and ACT scores
• Test options (SAT or ACT)—“Kids can find the better fit and present a higher score.”
• Personal “polishing”—Savvy kids building college “resumes” and strategizing essays
• Pressure on teachers and counselors—to give “inflated” recommendations

Go to the newsletter online (the final two pages of the PDF) for tabulated applications data for 2011 compared to recent years, along with the most popular colleges Lower Merion graduates have been seeking admittance to.