| Author | Post |
|---|
CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3316 |
| Mana: |    |
|
Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 07:17 pm |
|
According to Rob Killion, the Executive Director of the Common Application, they haven't seen a significant chance in the number of applications sent per student in almost a decade. Research from UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute also hasn't show a significant increase in the number of applications being sent out per student. The US Department of Higher Education says the number of students going on to college is increasing between 1.3 and 1.8 percent annually. So, where are the media's claimed "record numbers of applications" coming from? (Please, don't tell me they're all coming from your kids!  )
Are Students Really Sending Out More Applications?
|
WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1215 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 10:02 pm |
|
The average number using the CA hasn't gone up but that isn't a total number of schools applied to, since many don't use the CA. S applied to one CA school but received an invitation to apply online using a shorter application, so he was able to bypass the longer CA and apply very quickly to one school.
|
CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3316 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 11:56 pm |
|
| Yes, agree with you - the CA numbers are only for about 300 schools. But the HERI data also doesn't suggest a tremendous increase in the number of overall schools each student is applying to. I was surprised to also find out that the US DOE estimates that number of students going to college is rising at less than 2% a year. That obviously accounts for some increase in total number of applications, but I'm not sure that means all colleges are getting more apps across the board.
|
limner
Member
| Joined: | Sun Jul 16th, 2006 |
| Location: | Tennessee USA |
| Posts: | 816 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sat Apr 14th, 2007 07:22 pm |
|
| Carolyn, this was very interesting reading. A thought: since the Ivies and other top tier schools did report more apps this year (I think Northwestern's went up by about 20%), perhaps USNWR's rankings are affecting the app numbers for those schools? So apps in general aren't rising substantially but people are more aware of the top-ranked schools. Just musing.
|
CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3316 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sat Apr 14th, 2007 11:30 pm |
|
limner wrote: A thought: since the Ivies and other top tier schools did report more apps this year (I think Northwestern's went up by about 20%), perhaps USNWR's rankings are affecting the app numbers for those schools? So apps in general aren't rising substantially but people are more aware of the top-ranked schools. Just musing.
Limner, I think this is a fair assumption.
The effect of the rankings on applications is probably circular - get more applications, get higher rankings; get higher rankings, get more applications. Some schools - especially in the northeast - do seem to be getting a trickle down effect as well. The top-rankers become harder to get into, so students decide to apply schools just a few notches down. And, so it goes.
Overall, though, I'm not sure it is a correct assumption to say that the total number of applications to ALL colleges has gone up as much as the media likes to claim. If US DOE numbers are correct, the number of students applying to college each year is definitely rising, but only by less than 2% a year. The HERI research and the CA numbers suggest that most students aren't sending out more applications. But, obviously, some schools are seeing more applications. But I suspect that is due some less to students applying to more schools, but rather to marketing/enrollment management strategies (including pushing for higher rankings). And, of course, there ARE more students going to college each year, but it's not a huge number more each year.
A kind of a different tangent, but I read an article recently that Arizona State has tied rising in the rankings to the President's performance bonus. I wonder how many other schools have similar plans.
Last edited on Sat Apr 14th, 2007 11:40 pm by CarolynLawrence
|
Thumper
Member
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 226 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sun Apr 15th, 2007 03:10 pm |
|
| Well...at our little high school, the number of college applications being processed by our guidance office has TRIPLED in just three years. The graduation classes are about 10 students more than prior to that time. Some of this increase is due to an increased percentage of students applying to college, yes, but most of it is due to an increased number of college applications by some students.
|
CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3316 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sun Apr 15th, 2007 09:42 pm |
|
| Thumper, now there's a way to measure things -- ask the high schools. Or, I suppose the CB could let us know if the number of test score requests are increasing (that might not work, though, as kids don't always end up applying to all of the schools that they send test scores too).
|
leftcoast
Member
|
Posted: Mon Apr 16th, 2007 08:07 am |
|
The problem with that analysis is that students may not be using the common app. My daughter applied to 12 colleges in 2006; my son had applied to 9 in 2001. Both kids appied to 3 UC, leaving 9 other apps for my d, 6 for my son. My son used common app online for some of his apps, and "embark" online for others. My d. had difficulty dealing with the online submission form for the common app, so she used the common app only for colleges that required it (3 at most), and she printed out and mailed the paper forms to all of those colleges -- so I doubt that the Common App people would even have any record of that. She also insisted on mailing the paper app in to Chicago - which did not use Common App -- and for the remaining colleges, she used their own online submission forms.
I think if someone were to take the top 100 US News universities and LACs and add up their total applicant numbers, comparing that with the totals for the same schools over the past 10 years, you'd get a more accurate picture than relying on the Common App data.
|
Current time is 01:08 am | |
|
