Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

Battle of the Tech Titans: Caltech vs. MIT

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If you are debating between applying to (or attending) Caltech (California Institute of Technology) or MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) as an undergraduate, here are some factors I would consider before making such a momentous decision.

Enjoy this latest installment of College List Deathmatch below, and good luck!

More context about Celebrity Deathmatch and College List Deathmatch can be found here. To watch past additions of this series, click on the links that interest you below.

Penn vs. Georgetown

USC vs. NYU

University of Maryland College Park vs. Penn State University Park

WashU. vs. Northwestern

Colby Working to Help Rural Students Attend College

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Colby College has announced that it has been selected as an inaugural member of the Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network.

The STARS College Network is a group of sixteen colleges and universities across the United States working together to increase access, affordability, and college advising for students from rural and small-town communities. The other current colleges STARS colleges include Brown University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University in the City of New York, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, The University of Chicago, The University of Iowa, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University.

As part of its membership, Colby will help fulfill a critical role as the sole small liberal arts college in the network, ultimately committed to helping students from small-town and rural communities enroll in, succeed at, and graduate from the undergraduate program of their choice. Events, workshops, and college access opportunities in conjunction with this new membership are in the works beginning as early as this summer.

Colby College is a private liberal arts college located in Waterville, Maine, in the northeastern United States.

With easy access to outdoor recreational activities, including hiking, skiing, and rafting, strong academic programs, particularly in the fields of environmental science, biology, and economics, a student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1, a commitment to becoming carbon-neutral by 2025 and large investment in sustainable infrastructure and practices on campus, a vibrant campus community with a wide variety of clubs and organizations, and a strong athletics program, Colby College offers a unique combination of academic excellence, environmental stewardship, and a dynamic campus community in a beautiful location.

Colby College has an Island Campus on Benner Island.

University of Chicago shared more about the STARS initiative as well, including the fact that it is supported by a $20 million gift from Trott Family Philanthropies, the foundation of University of Chicago trustee Byron and Tina Trott.

Boston University shares some 2022-2023 admissions statistics

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Boston University admissions officers are just about as busy this year as they were last year after receiving 80,484 applications during the 2022-2023 admissions cycle. During the 2021-2022 admissions cycle BU received a record-breaking 80,797 applications from prospective first-year students.

Kelly A. Walter, BU’s Associate Vice President for Enrollment & Dean of Admissions shares that BU received 6,866 applications for admission through Early Decision (ED) and Early Decision 2 (ED2) rounds earlier this cycle, which represents an 8.8% increase over last year. BU expects to enroll approximately 57% of its first-year class through these two binding programs.

Meanwhile, in total, 41.2% of BU applicants indicated an interest in having standardized test scores considered, while applications from students from what BU calls “underrepresented groups” (URG) increased 5.6% over last year and represent 21% of the applicant pool. First-generation college students make up 25% of BU’s applicant pool. Enrollment of first-generation, low-income, and “URG” students continues to be a priority for BU.

BU’s urban campus in the heart of Boston, MA, USA.

Resources and mentorship from BU’s Newbury Center, a support-hub for first-generation students, along with its College Access & Student Success Office, work to ensure that students from “underrepresented groups” thrive on campus.

BU, being in Boston, is also popular with international applicants. International students submitted 15,788 applications representing 171 countries during the 2022-2023 admissions cycle.

Overall, BU’s enrollment target for the Class of 2027 is 3,100 students. Admission decisions for Regular Decision applicants to the BU Class of 2027 will be released on Saturday, March 25, and students will be alerts of decision availability via email.

Walter also noted that, “This was an especially exciting year as BU opened our new Center for Computing and Data Sciences – a monumental testament to BU’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and collaboration. Housing the faculty of computing and data sciences, which brings together students and faculty with a shared passion for societal impact, the Center is an icon not only for the BU campus, but also for the city of Boston.” Its structure is 100 percent fossil fuel–free, and it is the most environmentally sustainable, energy-efficient building at BU as well as one of the “greenest” buildings in all of New England.

As total application numbers seem to have plateaued, in advance of a Supreme Court decision many observers believe is likely to limit colleges’ ability to consider students’ race in admissions BU has decided to remain test optional for students applying for the fall 2025 and spring 2026 admissions cycles. This is in contrast to nearby MIT, which has already gone back to being test-required for first-year applicants and has made no indication, at least so far, that it will be switching back to test optional.

Common App Goes Live, Adds Clemson, Auburn, and 40 Others

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Clemson University

The Common Application, colloquially referred to as the Common App, goes live for the 2020-2021 application cycle on August 1, 2020, and in the process is adding forty-two new members, including big name southern public universities such as Clemson, Auburn, and Virginia Tech.

The Amazon of the American undergraduate admissions process, the Common App is user-friendly and entirely uninspiring. Yet, it keeps growing because colleges yearn for more applications year after year in a manner similar to a drug addict yearning for a greater hit high after high. The Common App’s ease of use is very good at delivering the application numbers colleges crave, which in turn helps colleges appear far more selective than they otherwise would appear if students had to actually take the time and energy to apply to each college one at a time using college-specific applications.

In any case, there are still some big-name holdouts that refuse to go Common App. These include University of Maryland (one of only two remaining colleges that accept first-year applications exclusively through to the failed and ever-ghoulish Coalition for College app), MIT, Georgetown, the UCs, and University of Texas among others.

Here are the colleges that couldn’t hold out any longer and were seduced by the Common App for the application season ahead:

Mid-Atlantic

Bryn Athyn College (PA)

Carlow University (PA)

Holy Family University (PA)

Medaille College (NY)

Mid-West

Baker College (MI)

Buena Vista University (IA)

Bethel University (MN)

Cornerstone University (MI)

Lake Superior State University (MI)

Indiana Wesleyan University (IN)

Loyola University Chicago (IL)

Northern Illinois University (IL)

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (WI)

Wilmington College (OH)

South

Arkansas Baptist College (AR)

Auburn University (AL)

Augusta University (GA)

Clemson University (SC)

Coastal Carolina University (SC)

Lees-McRae College (NC)

Milligan University (TN)

Norfolk State University (VA)

Palm Beach Atlantic University (FL)

Richard Bland College of William and Mary (VA)

Spalding University (KY)

Texas Tech University (TX)

Trevecca Nazarene University (TN)

Tuskegee University (AL)

University of Georgia (GA)

University of Louisville (KY)

University of Texas at Dallas (TX)

University of Texas at San Antonio (TX)

University of South Florida (FL)

Virginia Tech (VA)

Winthrop University (SC)

West

Fresno Pacific University (CA)

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (CO)

International

New College of the Humanities, London

With plague sure to shutter a growing number of colleges over the coming years, expect more – particularly small – colleges to join the Common App sooner rather than later.

August 12, 2020 Update: University of Maryland College Park, the land grant university of the northern-most southern state, Maryland, also joined the Common App for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle just twelve days into the official application season.

MIT to no longer consider SAT Subject Test scores

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MIT has made the decision to no longer consider the SAT Subject Tests as part of the admissions process. You can find MIT’s full revised testing requirements here.

MIT states: “…in fairness to all applicants, we won’t consider them (Subject Tests) for anyone. We think it would be unfair to consider scores only from those who have scored well and therefore choose to send them to us. They are neither recommended nor optional; they are simply not a part of our process anymore.”

While the announcement comes as the Coronavirus spreads from China to all corners of the world, MIT claims the decision was not taken in response to the pandemic. Earlier this week, Case Western University used the pandemic as its excuse for going fully SAT-ACT optional for the high school class of 2021.

For a full list of colleges that currently require, recommend, or favorably consider SAT Subject Test scores, visit convertyourscore.org.

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.