A Postcard From Philadelphia - More Post-Mortem of the 2022 Admissions Cycle
I’m writing this from the Philadelphia airport as I prepare to fly home from an intensive three-day conference of the IECA (Independent Education Consultants of America). It’s been a tough and somewhat unpredictable year for admissions, and the coming year promises to be at least as weird. I attended keynote presentations, panel discussions, a massive college fair, and had dozens of conversations with other consultants from around the country. I’m not going to try to combine all the information I gleaned into a smooth narrative; it’s just too varied. Instead… bullet points.
Don’t fall in love with one college
This may have been the single best piece of advice I heard from another consultant during a casual coffee conversation. College acceptances have become so unpredictable that almost no school is a guaranteed admission, especially when it comes to “dream” schools. During your process, yes, you can have a favorite, but don’t get too attached to any one school. Keep your mind and heart open, and be prepared to be open to a school you may not have even heard of before you started the process.
30% - 50% of some freshman classes come from ED
Early Decision is a controversial topic at the best of times. It forces you to commit to a single school if accepted, meaning that you have to accept them on their financial terms. What I can tell you is that at a panel featuring admissions directors from Carnegie-Mellon, Villanova, and Swarthmore, each said they take 30% to 50% of their freshman classes from the ED pool.
Schools are aggressively seeking diversity
Colleges are not being subtle about this; they want a more diverse student body. That means first-generation college students, economically disadvantaged students, Black students, Latinx students, and neuro-diverse students. Whatever you personally think about this, it is current practice.
Test-optional schools leaning on essays, recommendations
Several panels were devoted to the question, “how do schools evaluate applications in a test-optional milieu?” There were a variety of answers, but the two big takeaways were (1) admissions offices are leaning more heavily on essays, transcripts, and the high school profile, and (2) several schools noted that they don’t bring test scores into the process until late; in other words, the schools won’t look at the scores until they have determined that a student is on the cusp of admission.
All IECs agree: it was a horror show for applications this year
You probably know this already, but applications were up and acceptances were down. This is true more or less across the board, but especially among top-tier universities. I don’t expect it to get better this year.
Some schools use deferrals and waitlists as “polite” rejection
Again, you probably suspected this, but in conversation with a lot of admissions professionals, they admit that sometimes deferral of an EA application or a waitlist placement from an RD application is simply a “kinder” way of rejecting a student. I don’t like it, and most consultants don’t. I doubt this will change anytime soon. The takeaway is not to let a deferral or waitlist fool you. Think of it as a rejection, and if it isn’t (that happens sometimes, too), you can be pleasantly surprised.
Data is still out on test-optional, for now
Test-optional admissions is still fairly new to most schools. As a result, they have not yet decided whether it’s sustainable. If you’re applying to college for Fall of 2023, most schools will be test-optional (but not all). Fall of 2024 and beyond is anyone’s guess. Most schools are not yet test-blind, though, so it’s worth taking an SAT or ACT (or several) to see if it MIGHT be to your advantage.
Schools want social justice-oriented students, character and kindness, less emphasis on traditional service
Schools are unabashedly looking for demonstrated interest in social justice, but traditional service activities are no longer impressive (40 hours of work at a soup kitchen, while laudable, won’t get you much further towards admission). What was prominent was an emphasis on kindness and empathy as VERY desirable student traits. What is NOT clear is how to have, as one admissions director called it, “demonstrated kindness.” I suppose this might come through in letters of recommendation and in essays.
Set your safeties lower, yesterday’s target is now “a reach”
Consultant after consultant agreed; college lists need to include more safety schools. I have spoken to several students over the past month (not my clients) who found they were rejected from their “reach” schools, waitlisted or rejected from their target schools, and were fully accepted to only one or two of their safety schools. Keep your “reaches” on your list (unless they’re “super-reaches,” e.g., a 2.8 GPA student applying to Yale), but maybe recalibrate what you think of as target or safety schools.
In conclusion? It’s been an odd year for admissions, and the coming year promises to be just as challenging. Keep an open mind about your college list, don’t be too swayed by rankings and “best of” lists, and pay careful attention to your essays and activities. And consider working with an admissions consultant; we know the landscape, we’re tracking these changes and trends, and we can help you find good fit colleges and then maximize the impact of your applications to those colleges.
IECA Conference, Philadelphia, May 2022