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UNC and a tale of one – make that four – acceptance rates

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June 7, 2020 Update: Do you want to learn how to get into University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? Watch this in-depth video.

March 22, 2018 Update: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admissions, Stephen Farmer, informed high school counselors that his institution received more than 43,000 applications during the 2017-2018 admissions cycle – another record and a six percent increase from last year.

“We’re grateful to every student who honored us by applying, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know them over the course of the last five months. At the same time, this increased interest has made our decisions especially difficult. With more applications, a class no larger than last year’s, and yields that we expect to remain healthy, we will reluctantly need to decline the applications of many students who would have received better news from us a year ago.” wrote Farmer.

Previously: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released its Early Action decisions on Friday, January 26, 2018; therefore, now is as good of a time as any to remind our readers that UNC at Chapel Hill doesn’t have one annual acceptance rate – the one that is published in popular college guides and online data sites such as CollegeBoard.org. In fact, UNC at Chapel Hill has a grand total of four annual acceptance rates for first-year applicants. Understanding this reality will put your recent acceptance or rejection or your future acceptance or rejection in proper perspective.

First, what the student on the street would say about UNC at Chapel Hill acceptance rates: “I will just go on Naviance Family Connection or College Board’s Big Future to figure out my chance of getting into UNC at Chapel Hill…Oh look, Naviance Family Connection says the university’s acceptance rate is 28%. College Board’s Big Future says UNC at Chapel Hill’s acceptance rate is 27%. That’s a bit odd. La di da di da…Let me compulsively check Snapchat…”

But as a reader of admissions.blog you are not going to be the student on the street. You are going think multi-demsionally and realize that University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill actually has multiple acceptance rates EACH admissions cycle, four of which are extremely important to know in order to properly place the university into either the safety, possible, or reach section of your college list.

For first-year applicants, UNC at Chapel Hill offers both Early Action and Regular Decision consideration each admissions cycle; yet, the university has quite different standards for students applying from North Carolina versus students applying from outside of North Carolina. Thus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill actually has four distinct acceptance rates each admissions cycle:

1. Early Action (North Carolina Residents)
2.Early Action (Out-of-State Residents)
3.Regular Decision (North Carolina Residents)
4.Regular Decision (Out of State Applicants)

We are only half-way there so far this admissions cycle, so we only have the two EA acceptance rates (reportedly 48 percent for EA North Carolina Residents and 18 Percent EA Out-of-State Residents).  Those two numbers tell us quite a bit, as it’s clear that UNC is statistically far more difficult for out-of-state residents to get in than it is for in-state residents. That trend will continue Regular Decision even as the exact acceptance rates for Regular Decision will differ from those EA. At the very least, please note that the 28% and 27% acceptance rates mentioned above for UNC that are reported on two of the most trusted online college websites are averages of the four distinct acceptance rates that UNC has each year. Long story short, right about now, with EA decisions sinking in, North Carolina residents are not nearly as impressive as they feel and non-North Carolina residents are not nearly as unimpressive as they feel.

While Naviance Family Connection and College Board’s Big Future don’t even try to explain to visitors the differences in first-year applicant acceptance rates between in-state and out-of-state applicants to UNC at Chapel Hill, we are thankful that UNC at Chapel Hill itself at least shares on its website that the overall first-year application acceptance rates for in-state and out-of-state residents differs quite dramatically.

We are big fans of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill here at admissions.blog, but we would appreciate if in the future the university could err on the side of even greater transparency by also reporting its bifurcated acceptance rates by admissions plan so that prospective students, their parents, and those who advise them are able to make more accurate assessments of students’ chances of admission in the years ahead. Until that happens, though, do note that UNC is slightly harder to get into for both North Carolina residents and out-of-state residents Regular decision than it is Early Action. So, if you didn’t get an admissions decision EA from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this January, buckle up for Regular Decision later this spring, which is sure to bring acceptance rates of lower than 48% for North Carolina residents and lower than 18% for out-of-state students. Good luck.

Northwestern ED Acceptance Rate Now 26 Percent

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Northwestern University received a record 4,050 Early Decision applications this fall, and the Evanston, Illinois university is only accepting 1,073 of them ED, taking its ED acceptance rate down to a slender 26 percent overall.

Northwestern aims to accept a bit more than half of its class through ED this year, which is in line with previous years.

If you do get the unfortunate deferral letter, please read this important article: How to Respond to an Early Decision or Early Action Deferral. If you get the stinging rejection letter, please read this article: How to Recover from Early Decision or Early Action Rejection.

Congratulations to those admitted.

 

Washington U. Accepts 40 Percent of Class ED

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Ronné P. Turner, Vice Provost of Admissions & Financial Aid at Washington University in St. Louis, has shared with counselors that Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) will accept forty percent of its Class of 2022 through Early Decision. This is a meaningful increase from WUSTL’s more typical thirty-six percent of its entering class being filled through the ED pool. Last year, WUSTL accepted thirty-five percent of its Class of 2021 through the ED pool.

In addition WUSTL received two percent more ED applicants this year – 1,850 – compared to last year.

Not shared was WUSTL’s overall ED acceptance rate this admissions cycle. Last year the university had an ED acceptance rate of thirty-eight percent and and overall acceptance rate of fifteen percent.

If you do get the unfortunate deferral letter, please read this important article: How to Respond to an Early Decision or Early Action Deferral. If you get the stinging rejection letter, please read this article: How to Recover from Early Decision or Early Action Rejection.

If you get in, congratulations!

Visit Admissions Intel’s College Acceptance Gift Collection.

Princeton Early Action Acceptance Rate Drops to 14.6 Percent

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Just 799 students were accepted out of 5,402 applicants who applied to Princeton this fall using the university’s single-choice early action deadline for Princeton’s Class of 2022.

Princeton’s Office of Communications shares that its single-choice early action pool was the “largest in the last seven years, representing an 8 percent increase over last year’s early applicant pool and a 57 percent increase from 2011. The admission rate was 14.7 percent this year compared with 15.4 percent last year, and 21.1 percent in 2011.”

Decisions were mailed to students on December 13 and they are also available online to applicants on December 13.

Of those applicants accepted, forty-eight countries and forty-four states, in addition to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are represented. Forty-four percent of the admitted students are U.S. students from “diverse backgrounds,” fourteen percent are the first in their families to attend college, seventeen percent are children of Princeton alumni, and eleven percent are international students.

The gender breakdown of accepted applicants was fifty percent male and fifty percent female.

Interestingly, twenty-one percent of the admitted students indicated they want to study engineering.

In 2011 Princeton began offering an early application round for prospective students whose first college choice is Princeton. Princeton’s early action applicants are allowed to apply early only to Princeton and public colleges concurrently. If admitted, such applicants may still wait until May 1 to accept Princeton’s offer of admission.

If you do get the unfortunate deferral letter, please read this important article: How to Respond to an Early Decision or Early Action Deferral. If you get the stinging rejection letter, please read this article: How to Recover from Early Decision or Early Action Rejection.

If you get in, congratulations!

Visit Admissions Intel’s College Acceptance Gift Collection.

MIT Received 16 percent more Early Action Applicants this Fall

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MIT Dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services, Stu Schmill, has provided context relating to the Early Action notifications that MIT will be sharing with students on December 14 at 6:28 p.m EST.

According to Schmill, MIT received approximately 9,700 applications, which is 16% more compared with last year’s Early Action pool.

“Last year, we admitted 657 students in Early Action; we plan to admit a similar number this year. As you may know, our early admission rate tends to be relatively low, as we try to avoid admitting a disproportionate percentage of our class in Early Action,” Schmill shared. Taking that information at face value, that would mean that MIT’s EA acceptance rate would be roughly 6.8% this year.

“Because our applicant pool is so strong, we defer many applicants to Regular Action for further review. While many of them are not ultimately admitted, we do admit some portion of our deferred applicants. In the last few years, we’ve typically admitted ~100–300 deferred applicants,” Schmill continued.

Finally, Schmill added, “While this is always difficult, we will give definitive decisions to applicants if we are certain they will be denied admission this year, so that they can focus on their other college options.”

If you do get the unfortunate deferral letter, please read this important article: How to Respond to an Early Decision or Early Action Deferral. If you get the stinging rejection letter, please read this article: How to Recover from Early Decision or Early Action Rejection.

If you get in, congratulations!

Visit Admissions Intel’s College Acceptance Gift Collection.

Admissions and Financial Aid Statistics to Keep Close at Hand | UPDATED

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Stanford University

Students and parents often find transparency in short supply when navigating the US college admissions process and when trying to determine the methodologies American colleges and universities use award financial aid. Many students and parents will spend hours – if not days – trying to splice and dice statistics gleaned from various college websites and guide books in order to determine their chances of earning admission and/or aid to colleges on their lists.

Sadly, colleges and  universities themselves have done relatively little create user-friendly transparency; however, that hasn’t stopped independent educational consultants Jennie Kent and Jeff Levy from trying to bring a degree of order and transparency to the task of gauging one’s relative likelihood of earning admission to and aid from American colleges. In recent years the two consultants have put out annual lists with the latest statistics in three distinct categories:

  1. Early Decision vs. Regular Decision Acceptance Rates: Excel | PDF
  2. Domestic Undergraduate Need-Based Aid and Merit Aid: Excel | PDF
  3. Financial Aid for Nonresident Alien Undergraduates: Excel | PDF

While entire articles could be written – and one great one by Nancy Griesemer already has – about the valuable nuggets of knowledge found within these lists, of particular note are the three following findings:

– Many of America’s most selective colleges continue to have Early Decision acceptance rates that are triple their Regular Decision acceptance rates. This continues to spur the movement motivating students to apply using binding plans early in their senior years of high school. Some particularly high ED Acceptance Rate to RD Acceptance Rate ratios of note include University of Pennsylvania (3.3 to 1), Middlebury College (3.4 to 1), Claremont McKenna College (4.7 to 1), Carleton College (3 to 1), Amherst College (3.2 to 1), and American University (3.7 to 1).

– Domestic undergraduate applicants should look very carefully at the average need met by colleges and universities on their lists, especially if these colleges are public universities or somewhat selective private colleges, as they appear to have the widest range of disparities concerning how much need they meet. While hyper-selective colleges (Ivies and their immediate peers) meet 100% of domestic applicants’ demonstrated need, public schools meet between 45% to 99% of domestic applicants’ demonstrated need and selective private colleges generally meet between 60% to 100% of domestic applicants’ demonstrated need.

– International students have more need-based aid options than they did years ago, but the majority of aid opportunities for international applicants still derive from merit-based aid and not need-based aid. Public and private colleges awarded no aid to international applicants (Auburn, Clemson, Boston College, and Carnegie Mellon University among others), only merit-based aid to international applicants (Baylor University, Boston University, Cooper Union, Rice University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign among others), only need-based aid to international applicants (all Ivies, Colgate University, Reed College, and Villanova University among others), or both merit-based and need based aid to international applicants (Brandeis University, Bringham Young University, Grinnell College, and Skidmore among others).

AdmissionsIntel.com has included links to all three lists above and on our Resources page.

‘Early decision’ stats every applicant should see

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Last year, Claremont McKenna filled 68% of its incoming class with early decision candidates.

Binding early decision (ED) is one of several tools colleges employ to control evaluative metrics like “selectivity” and  “yield” used by outside organizations seeking to rank or otherwise pass judgement on the quality of an institution.

By agreeing to apply ED to any one of many schools offering these plans, students are promising to attend an institution if admitted.  In other words, they are not only giving up the freedom to choose among future offers of admission but they are also providing colleges with virtually a 100 percent chance of “yielding” them into the institution.

And for colleges concerned about where they stand on the U.S. News pecking order of “best” colleges, this is a powerful device for crafting a class “to spec.”  So important, in fact, that much time is spent tinkering with enrollment management strategies to ensure optimal effectiveness of these plans.  And make no mistake.  Effectiveness is assessed by how well it works for the institution and not for the applicant.

Some of the considerations that go into deciding how to structure an early decision policy include target students (legacies, athletes, top academics) and their credentials, deadlines, percent of class to be filled, and what the competition is doing.

In other words, early decision gives colleges a great deal of control and they love it.  Even those schools publicly professing concern about the level of stress the admission process is causing high school students are quietly increasing the percent of class filled by these plans, moving deadlines around, and adding clever alternatives like ED II—a second chance to pledge undying love to an institution and guarantee a yield for the class.

So how can the average applicant regain some small part of control over a process that looks to be increasingly out of control?  First, by understanding what benefits colleges offer in terms of admissions advantage for early decision candidates. Obviously, a successful applicant will have a decision and lock in their college long before others in the regular decision pool. That’s good, but more importantly, some colleges sweeten the deal by appearing to admit a greater percent of early decision applicants. These schools might argue that the early decision pool is typically very strong and represents the best and most committed applicants.

The ED pool can also contain a disproportionate number of target students (athletes and legacies) making analysis of the admissions advantage even more complicated. But the deciding factor could ultimately be how much of the entering class is filled early decision. If that number approaches or exceeds 50 percent, an applicant electing not to go that route may be severely disadvantaged.

Other issues confuse the early decision strategy, and many of those focus on financial aid. Despite what they say, it’s hard to believe that a college that has admitted a student through early decision has much incentive to provide an overly generous financial aid package either in terms of total dollar amount or composition—balance of grant aid vs. loans and work study.

It’s only by understanding policies, gathering facts about how colleges use early decision and reviewing outcomes that students can begin to decide if applying early is in their best interests.

To help counselors as well as students and their families analyze and compare various early decision plans, Jennie Kent and Jeff Levy have assembled an amazing chart documenting early decision vs. regular decision acceptance rates at colleges and universities offering early decision.  They are making the chart available, free of charge, on their respective websites (see instructions below on how to access the chart).

“What we have learned from the data we compiled was that several trends in college admission are more concerning than we thought,” said Jeff Levy, an independent educational consultant (IEC) based in Los Angeles. “But we also found institutions standing firm against these trends and we were encouraged.  It turns out that the only generalization that holds true is that college advisers must really know the schools they are recommending or risk misleading students when talking to them about their chance of admission.”

The chart, based on data that is readily available to anyone taking the time to do the research, is organized alphabetically by college or can be downloaded and sorted by individual criteria.

According to Jennie Kent, an IEC working in Bogotá, Colombia, “This chart includes four main metrics:  early decision acceptance rate, regular decision acceptance rate,  percent of class filled from early decision, and the ratio of ED to RD acceptance rates.”

You won’t find anything like this analysis anywhere else. Levy and Kent meticulously research the data and spend hours putting it together. They provide an incomparable service to anyone with a need to know or desire to understand.

And some of their findings are startling.  For example, some schools give a very large advantage during early decision (ED vs. RD) include:

  • Claremont McKenna College: 32% ED to 7% RD
  • American University: 85% ED to 23% RD
  • Middlebury College: 43% ED to 13% RD
  • University of Pennsylvania: 23% ED to 7% RD

Some schools go in the opposite direction and actually have a lower admit rate for early decision:

  • University of Denver:  31% ED to 54% RD
  • Southern Methodist University (SMU): 31% ED to 50% RD
  • Virginia Tech: 47% ED to 74% RD
  • Goucher College: 67% ED to 79% RD
  • Northeastern University: 27% ED to 29% RD
  • NYU – 30% ED to 32% RD

Some schools practice a more equitable balance:

  • Carnegie Mellon University: 26% ED to 21% RD
  • Boston University: 32% ED to 29% RD
  • Brandeis University: 35% ED to 34% RD

Some schools fill a huge percent of their class early decision:

  • Claremont McKenna College: 68%
  • Bates College: 66%
  • Middlebury College: 66%
  • Carleton College: 64%
  • Others that fill more than 50% of their class from ED include Davidson, Washington and Lee, Vanderbilt, Wesleyan, Penn, Lehigh and Emory

Others—not so much:

  • Clark University: 5%
  • Goucher College: 5%
  • Northeastern University: 9%
  • Ithaca College: 10%
  • Ohio Wesleyan University: 10%
  • University of Denver: 11%
  • SMU: 17%
  • Carnegie Mellon University: 22%

And the schools with some of the lowest early decision admit rates include:

  • Harvey Mudd College: 18%
  • Pomona College: 20%
  • Brown University:  22%
  • Rice University:  23%
  • University of Pennsylvania:  23%
  • Duke University: 24%
  • Vanderbilt University: 24%

This is all enormously valuable information to use when making the decision whether or not to commit to an early decision application.

To access the complete chart, visit either one of Jennie Kent’s or Jeff Levy’s websites:

University of California Application: 10 Requirements Out-of-State Students Don’t Expect

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UCLA

Are you California dreaming? Do you want to spend your undergraduate years on a University of California (UC) campus?

The news is good — in spite of growing protests in recent years from many Californians (who believe resident students are being squeezed out), the percentage of out-of-state (and international) freshmen across all UC campuses is at an all-time high.

Out-of-state applicants, in fact, are now admitted at a higher rate than in-state applicants — to any UC campus, including flagship UC Berkeley. (In 2017 UC Berkeley admitted 22.1 % of out-of-state applicants versus 19.7% of in-state. At UC Davis,  72.2 % of out-of-state applicants were admitted, versus 35.9% of in-state!)

And although the UC Board of Regents has approved a policy to now limit nonresident enrollment to 18% on five of the UC campuses, more latitude will be given to UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA and UC San Diego, which “will be grandfathered in”  per 2017-18 enrollment results. (Considering last year’s numbers, these percentages will likely be between 20 and 25%.)

If you’d like to take advantage of the opportunity and apply to be a part of next year’s University of California freshmen class, there are some specific UC requirements you’ll need to know about.

1. You will complete the unique UC application, which allows you to apply to more than one UC campus. And no matter how many campuses you choose, you will only need to submit one official test score. Each campus you apply to, however, will require a separate application fee — $70 per school for 2017-18 applicants.

2. The only time you can submit the application is between November 1 and November 30. It’s available as of August 1, so you can carefully complete each section well before the submission window opens.

3. You will NOT send an official transcript at application, but instead, will self-report your grades. Make sure to report them directly from your transcript — if you later accept an offer of admission, your official high school transcript will be required… and must match up!

4. Do not include letters of recommendation with your application. They are not required and will not be considered.

However, some applicants to any campus this year may be given the option  — or, as the UC website states, invited — via email to send up to two letters of recommendation, due by January 15. (Note: For the past two admission cycles, UC Berkeley alone has invited letters from some applicants; those who chose to take advantage of the opportunity were admitted at a slightly higher rate than those who did not.)

5. You will need to take the additional writing section of standardized tests — that’s the SAT with essay or the ACT with writing. You will select this option when you register for the exam. (Subject tests are not required, but certain programs on some campuses recommend them, so be sure to check your desired program on each school’s website.)

6. There is a minimum GPA requirement for application — and it’s higher for non-residents at 3.4, versus 3.0 for residents. (For the most selective UC campuses, both residents and nonresidents must have a GPA well above 3.4 in order to be truly competitive for admission.)

7. This minimum GPA is calculated using only your high school grades from the summer before your sophomore year to the summer after your junior year; and only your grades from any of fifteen specified college-prep courses. Grades in AP and IB courses will be weighted. GPAs are not rounded up; and pluses and minuses are not counted.

8. Completion of the fifteen college-prep courses, with a grade of C or better, are required for admission. Eleven of the fifteen courses must be taken prior to your senior year.

9. There are alternate ways to meet the college-prep courses requirement, such as taking a one-semester community college course (equivalent to a year-long high school course); earning certain scores on SAT, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams; admission by exam; or admission by exception.

10. Instead of writing an essay, you will select four of eight possible personal insight questions; each response is limited to 350 words. The admissions website provides writing tips and techniques, as well as a worksheet with suggestions for each question.

There is also a step-by-step guide for completing the entire application; the guide takes you through each question to help you understand how best to present yourself.

Considering the favorable odds, the time is right for out-of-state applicants who meet the academic criteria. If you can manage the additional nonresident tuition and want to apply, California (still) wants you, too!

Bonus: Read Sandy Clingman’s University of California Application: 10 Rules about the Visual and Performing Arts Requirement Out-of-State Students Don’t Know to learn more about the UCs unique admissions requirements. 

Wisest Ivy League Major for 2017-2018 Admissions Cycle

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It’s a question undecided applicants are always asking: what should I put down as my intended major on my college applications? The answer of course will depend on the exact colleges one is applying to and the potential majors one will consider; however, this year, 2017, as students get ready to apply during the 2017-2018 admissions cycle for Fall 2018 freshmen spots at America’s most selective colleges, there is one major that certainly deserves your attention more so than others. Drumroll please….

Questions colleges don’t always like to answer

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The recent announcement of plans to drop four varsity sports from the University at Buffalo’s (UB)  roster of Division 1 offerings pretty much puts a face on what counselors and other admissions professionals have been warning about the impact of funding cuts on both public and private institutions.

UB recently revealed that men’s soccer, men’s swimming and diving, baseball and women’s rowing will no longer be sponsored. This decision affects 120 students currently on team rosters (30 other students on those rosters will graduate this year). Although UB’s athletes have been offered the opportunity to stay in school with scholarships intact, the reality is they won’t get to compete at the D1 level. And competition for athletes who have spent a lifetime honing skills is pretty fundamental.

For these athletes or department heads facing academic program cuts, it’s no secret that college administrators and boards are increasingly being asked to make hard choices as they struggle with demographic and economic realities in a battle for long-term survival and institutional health.

And a divide is opening between financially healthy colleges versus those that are not, making it imperative for students and their parents to understand how financial constraints affect colleges, application processes, and admissions decisions.

Given the current economic climate, here are some questions colleges don’t always like to answer:

  1. How has the admissions office been affected by budget cuts?
    Even in the face of increased numbers of applications to process, admissions budgets aren’t growing. As a result, admissions offices are making do with less. Glossy view books and travel allowances are becoming scarce, as colleges seek additional ways to trim budgets while continuing to respond to front office demands for more applicants. With tight budgets to manage, colleges are increasingly relying on enrollment management programs to guide and support the admission process, effectively allowing technology to take over recruitment and some elements of application review. As a result, students need to understand that their privacy is constantly under attack by colleges attempting to probe both qualifications and interest. Toward this end, seemingly benign third-party organizations seek to obtain and resell key pieces of information, ranging from standardized test scores to family income, to colleges hungry for data that can be fed into algorithms designed to assess credentials and guess at likelihood of enrollment. In other words, through skillful use of technology, admissions offices are not only saving money but also manipulating metrics important to ranking and outside perceptions of “quality”—both vital to long-term institutional health.
  2. Has the application process been affected?
    To gain better control over the process and factors affecting selectivity and “yield” (the percent of students accepting an offer of admission), colleges are experimenting with different early action and binding early decision plans. Rather than setting up a process that encourages a single windfall of applications late in the season, admissions offices are looking for a more even distribution of work from September to May. And the appeal of early decision candidates committed to attending at the front end of the process is undeniable for both management and yield. Some colleges find it more efficient to force hard decisions earlier by denying larger percentages of early applicants—it takes time and money to read and re-read applications. Others prefer keep all options on the table by rolling large numbers of applicants into the regular pool. And given uncertainties inherent in a process that indiscriminately recruits and makes it relatively easy to submit applications, colleges look for ways to cover all bets by enlarging and employing wait lists—secret weapons in the battle to improve yield and control investment in financial aid. Seeking an early understanding of policies and being aware of the institutional incentives behind these policies may help guide application strategies. But given the number of uncertainties affecting budgets, staffing and priorities, don’t be surprised if what you thought you knew is no longer true. It’s not unusual for colleges to make substantial changes in application procedures—sometimes late into the year. So feel free to ask the question.
  3. Are priorities changing in financial aid?
    While the new timeline imposed by an October 1 FAFSA start date and the use of “prior-prior year” income information for determining awards suggests a more sensible and timely approach to financial aid, the jury is still out as to how successful the new plan will be for both students and institutions. At the same time they are dealing with various logistical issues, colleges formerly boasting of “need-blind” admissions or “no loan” packaging are reassessing their policies to ensure adequate financial aid resources remain available to the greatest number of students. Most but not all colleges offer merit scholarships that are important recruitment tools in the process. But variations in the balance between grants and loans in financial aid packages make some colleges appear more generous than they really are. It’s not unusual for colleges to engage in “gapping” (not covering full need) when offering financial aid, but the gaps appear to be getting larger. And be aware that not all guarantee merit scholarships for four full years. To save money without harming published freshmen retention rates, colleges may not continue scholarships after two years—even if all academic requirements have been met. Although it really pays to be a savvy shopper before applying and committing to a school, keep in mind that financial aid offices ultimately hold all the cards and their incentive is to keep costs low while at the same time recruiting top prospects. Understanding the institution’s approach to financial aid from the very beginning could save disappointment later.
  4. Are budget cuts affecting programs?
    Ask Buffalo’s baseball players or Temple’s rowers or the swimmers at the University of Maryland why this may be important. While some cuts cannot be anticipated, others may be planned and colleges have a responsibility to make them public. Be aware that the question isn’t limited to sports. Responding to increased pressure to emphasize more marketable majors, colleges are re-configuring programs—cutting some and adding new opportunities. At a more basic level, colleges may be quietly increasing class size, making it more difficult to get some majors, relying more heavily on teaching assistants (TA’s), or offering specific classes less often—even eliminating them altogether. Short of finding that a program or major has been done away with, students may experience difficulty finishing in four years if classes are overloaded or simply unavailable, especially in areas where coursework is highly sequenced. And if the prospect of transferring sometime in your undergraduate career doesn’t appeal, make sure the programs (including athletic) in which you are interested are on firm footing with the institution.
  5. Will there be changes in requirements for graduation?
    Sometimes this can work in your favor. Loyola University of Chicago reduced the number of credit hours required for graduation from 128 to 120. But because AP/IB or other outside college credits earned during high school can mean significant money both to you and the institution, take the time to see how these credits may be applied (toward graduation or specific majors) and ask if the college anticipates changes in these kinds of arrangements. For example, Dartmouth no longer grants credit for AP or IB examinations. Placement and some exemptions may be offered instead. In other words, Dartmouth can now count on four years of tuition payments from undergrads. And the questions can be even more complex involving credit for internships, co-ops or research. If the goal is to graduate in four years or less, it’s worth investigating if there are plans under consideration that might affect your ability to graduate on time.
  6. What is the impact on student services?
    Applicants don’t always take into account the real value of the student services component when considering colleges. As schools discover they can make money from room and board packages, students may find themselves limited by restrictive housing policies and meal plans. For lots of different reasons—including financial—colleges are limiting students to on-campus housing for more years. The more captive the audience, the less risk involved in building glamorous new facilities. But beyond day-to-day living, services also include everything from library or gym facilities and hours, to tech support, career advising, health/mental health services or academic support for writing centers and math labs. These should be “growing” operations, and if they aren’t, budget cuts in these areas might be concerning.

Because colleges won’t always volunteer the information, it’s important that you do some in-depth research and ask the questions necessary to understand potential game changers.

Make it your mission to test whether the college “experience” promised today will be there four years from now, and make sure the process by which you get there is clear.