Apr 19, 2008

2008 a rough year for college applicants

By Jason Katz / Daily News columnist

Q: I was not accepted to as many colleges as I expected. I have heard that this was an especially tough year in terms of acceptances. Is this true?

A: Yes, this was definitely an especially tough year for college acceptances, for a number of reasons. First, the high school graduating class of 2008 will be one of the biggest in recent history. Second, high school seniors are applying to more colleges than in the past, thanks to the relative ease of use of the Common Application and the uncertainty of where you may be accepted. Put these two factors together - plus the fact that the number of freshman slots at most colleges remains about the same - and you have the perfect confluence of events to make acceptance rates go down.

Harvard and Yale both set records for their respective acceptance rates this year. Harvard accepted 7.1 percent of the 27,642 high school seniors who applied - down from last year's 8.9 percent. Yale offered admission to 8.3 percent of its 22,813 applicants - a drop from last year's 9.6 percent. The very low acceptance rates go on and on - Columbia (8.7 percent), Princeton (9.3 percent), Stanford (9.5 percent), Brown (13 percent), Dartmouth (13 percent), Georgetown (18 percent), Duke (19 percent), etc.

Additionally, the low acceptance rates are not just at the elite private institutions - public schools are seeing acceptance rates decline as well. This year, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "The University of Texas received 29,288 applications, up 9 percent. It admitted 44 percent, down from 51 percent last year. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, applications rose 6.6 percent to 21,496. It accepted 32 percent, compared with 34.1 percent last year."

However, the average acceptance rate for colleges throughout the United States is approximately what it was 20 years ago - 70 percent. Therefore, although the media tend to focus on what is happening at the elite colleges and universities, there are still many colleges and universities that would most likely accept you.

This is why it is so important for your friends who may be 11th- and 10th-graders to meet with a college counselor to discuss what they are looking for in a college, to help them set realistic expectations and to put together a personal list of schools that will be a good fit for them. Although it is unfortunate that you weren't accepted to as many colleges as you expected, you can use your experiences with the college admissions process to help your younger friends, siblings, etc.



Jason Katz is an independent

college counselor and is founder of

JKatz College Counseling in

Redwood City. E-mail Katz at jkatz@jkatzcollegecounseling.com.