In the mind of all highschoolers, there is one topic that simultaneously brings significant excitement and seemingly even more stress…and that is college. Though nowadays, the stress aspect seems more overpowering. But why?In today’s climate, getting into college can feel almost impossible.
As a senior myself, looming essay deadlines, scholarship opportunities, the insane cost of tuition, and other college riff raff is quite literally all I have been doing and thinking of as of late. Frankly, it feels almost suffocating. I constantly find myself asking the question, how and why did it become this hard? Why are you sending me hundreds of emails to get me to go to your school if I have no chance of getting in?
For starters, there are statistically way more teenagers applying to colleges than years ago. According to the Common App, in 2023 alone the total application capacity was up 30% than in 2019-2020. One of the biggest reasons for the surprising rise in applications can be linked to the test optional policy that many universities have applied during covid. In a interview with Karen Pollack, director of college counseling at Westminster, she explained to me various reasons why admissions have become so challenging:
“More students are applying to highly selective schools, and schools in general because of test optional admissions. When you don’t have to submit a high test score to get into a school, the application is looked at holistically…colleges will accept a higher range of students”
The test optional policy took off in 2020, during the restrictive and treacherous covid years. With the lock down shutting down many testing sites, colleges were forced to become test optional, and they haven’t looked back.
“Back in the day, if you didn’t meet [the colleges] ACT/SAT requirements, you couldn’t even apply. You were bared” says Nikki Hsu, college counselor.
Additionally, college is just becoming more and more desirable than it used to. Whether you’re wanting the Ivy league experience to earn that prestigious degree, or the southern state “Roll Tide” “Woo pig Sooie” school charm. Football gamedays, Greek life, freedom, college has something for everyone.
“I think it’s because of the weather, I think it’s because of the atmosphere, I think it’s because of social media and the way [social media] advertises schools as being really fun atmospheres…it just really appeals to students” says Pollack.
It’s not just the pretty college amenities that are making colleges harder to get into, a lot of colleges (no matter the rank) are continuing to amp up in academic rigor. It’s simple: more colleges (that aren’t ivy league difficult to get into) are becoming more “prestigious”, thus, leading to way more applicants, thus, plummeting acceptance rates. For instance, Boston University had an equitable 60% acceptance rate in 2005. In 2024? It’s down to a shocking 14%. Another example is the University of Washington. During the covid pandemic, they released new advanced research programs and institutions, such as the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (which is ranked nationally) which continues to draw in more and more kids.
However, not all hope is lost. Covid certainly shook things up for colleges and the college admission process, but like most things in this post covid environment, things are finally returning to normal. An example is the cost of college tuition.
“With the cost of higher education continuing to rise, people are going to say I can’t afford this anymore and so because of that, schools won’t become quite as selective as they are right now. This might be the most selective admissions of any historical year. I think it’ll slowly climb back up and become a little less selective again” says Pollack.
Don’t be scared of college, in retrospect, you’re probably going to get into the school you want to go to. Yes, it’s going to take a lot of time and work, but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Trust me, I have first hand experience.
