It’s getting crazy out there.

“This Year's College Admissions Horror Show”

“Record Applications, Record Rejections”

“She Scored 1550 on Her SATs. Top U.S. Colleges Still Rejected Her.”

These headlines are designed to scare us, and they sure are effective. We may be college consultants, but we’re moms of teenagers too. We know first hand from our kids and their friends that the current college admissions landscape is causing students a lot of anxiety.

But it doesn’t have to. 

Things have changed; that’s true. Elite colleges are accepting fewer students, and even some tried and true “safety schools” have become more difficult to get into. But while the landscape may have changed, our mission at May First is the same: to understand our clients; to be a resource for families in understanding the admissions process; and to position students to apply to schools where they will thrive. 

Here’s what we know: there is an accessible, best-fit school out there for every student. And in order to understand what is and is not a best-fit, it’s important to have a broader understanding of college admissions in the current moment.

Warning: Some of this information is going to freak you out. We’re here to help.

Over the past 15-20 years, college admissions has become increasingly confusing, frustrating, and anxiety-causing. The 2022 admissions cycle in particular--and the frantic news coverage that has come along with it-- is bound to stress out any family. 

In case you’re unfamiliar with just how bananas things have gotten, check out the decline in acceptance rates for a handful of well-known schools (years represent date of high school graduation):

Amherst College: 2020 14%; 2021 8%; 2022 7%

Boston College: 2020 29%; 2021 19%; 2022 16%

Dickinson University: 2020 52%; 2021 48%; 2022 35%

Lehigh University: 2020 50%; 2021 45%; 2022 36%

Northeastern University: 2020 20%; 2021 18%; 2022 6.7%

So why the decline in acceptance rates? The easy answer is that students are applying to more colleges. Twenty years ago, a student with her heart set on Princeton might apply to two Ivy League colleges. Today, she’ll apply to all eight in addition to some Claremont and NESCAC colleges, increasing the total number of applicants for a limited number of spaces.

There are other complicating factors as well. Students who took a gap year in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic are back in the admissions pool, and students who struggle on standardized tests are seeing new pathways to elite colleges, many of which are now test-optional.

What do these low acceptance rates mean for me? The answer is, it depends (I know, we say this all the time), but here are some things to keep in mind:

Somewhere around 70% of students accepted to Ivy League colleges (and their well-known peers like Stanford and Duke) have some kind of hook: they are athletes or the children and grandchildren of alumni, or they come from families with a connection to a trustee or other college leader or with the ability to make sizable contributions to the college. So that means that of the 2234 students accepted to Yale University this year, only 641 had no connection to the college at all. To put that into perspective, 50,015 students applied. 

Without that hook, any school with an acceptance rate under 20% is a wild card, no matter your grades, class rank, or SAT scores. And while you may have worked very hard in high school, grade inflation is real. Nearly 50% of all high school students will graduate with a 4.0 or higher. 

Elite colleges can fill their classes at least 3 times over with students that look just like the class they accept. A student with a 4.6 weighted GPA, a 1520 combined SAT score, and a long resume of extracurriculars might get into Duke (6% acceptance rate) but rejected from Notre Dame (13% acceptance rate) and never understand why. That same student may even get rejected from a school with an acceptance rate in the twenties or even thirties, which means that rejection is less about the applicant, and more about the school’s particular agenda in a given year.

Schools that may have seemed accessible thirty years ago when your parents were applying to college might be considered reach schools for today’s students (in 1990, Northeastern University accepted 97% of applicants, compared with just 6.7% today). In just the past fifteen years, schools like Villanova and Boston College have moved to a more elite status. Even some northeast state schools like UMass Amherst and the University of Connecticut--which had traditionally been viewed as safety schools for strong students-- have seen steep drops in acceptance rates.

Come on! Is there any good news?! From our perspective? Absolutely. 

For some students, an Ivy League college might be the best fit, difficult as it may be to get in. But the reality is that there are thousands of colleges out there that will challenge, inspire, and change you for the better, and they don’t necessarily fall under a 20% acceptance rate. In fact, some very good schools, including Wake Forest, Fordham, and American Universities, among many others, have acceptance rates that have remained relatively steady over the past twenty years. It’s still true that good students can gain admission to good colleges.

There is nothing we enjoy more than getting to know our students’ unique personalities and interests and introducing them to opportunities that meet their needs and expectations, especially at schools they might not have considered. So keep doing what you’re doing. Get those summer activities lined up. Register for and chip away at the Common App. Prepare for your SATs. And work hard in your classes.

There’s a great school out there for you. If you’re a rising sophomore or junior, give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let us help you find it.