If you haven’t had the chance to make a fall advising appointment, please make one now. We want to support students with the resources needed to prioritize their academics, the most important element of their college applications.
COLLEGE ADMISSION NEWS AND ADVICE
Standardized Testing and Policy Shifts: About 75% of colleges remain test-optional, but many selective schools, including Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown, have reinstated SAT/ACT requirements. Others such as UPenn, Stanford, and Cornell will require scores for this fall’s applicants. Even at test-optional colleges, students are submitting scores more often, with score submission rising 11%. In the SEC, the majority of colleges remain test-optional. However, Vanderbilt, UGA, University of Texas at Austin, University of Tennessee, and the University of Florida are not. Beginning next year, Auburn will no longer best test-optional either. Depending your college list, this trend can make it even more important to dedicate time to test prep.
Application Volume and Student Trends: The Common App reported a 4% rise in unique applicants (now 1.39 million) and a 6% increase in total applications (over 8.5 million). On average, students are now submitting about six applications each. Early decision applications rose by 17% and early action applications went up 4%. Applications to public schools surged 10%, especially in Southern and Southwestern states, compared to a modest 3% increase at private institutions. Last year, nearly 8,000 U.S. students applied to United Kingdom undergraduate programs, a 13.9% jump. Some argue this spike correlates with federal pressure on U.S. elite institutions, however, we believe it has more to do with the high cost of American college tuition.
The Demographic Cliff: The “demographic cliff” refers to a projected 15% drop in U.S. high school graduates starting around 2026–2029, a lagged effect of the 2008 financial crisis birth decline. Lower- and mid-tier private colleges, especially in the Midwest and Northeast, are already facing smaller applicant pools. Many affected schools are increasing acceptance rates, deepening merit aid, and some are on the brink of closure. The drop-off in absolute numbers begins meaningfully with the Class of 2030–2032. However, even a 10–15% dip in U.S. applicants will not move Harvard’s acceptance rate from 3.6% to 6%. The only real relief is likely to be at the margins of selective (but non-Ivy) tuition-dependent private schools. Also note that public flagships in high-growth regions such as Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Arizona are not seeing declines; applications in these states are booming.
Artificial Intelligence in Admissions: To assist admissions officers in evaluating applications, NC State and Texas A&M–Commerce employ the AI software tool Sia to extract insights about a student’s coursework, grades, and credit hours. Meanwhile, UNC Chapel Hill and Virginia Tech have also communicated that their admissions departments use AI to score essays. Enroll ML is another sophisticated AI tool that aims to help colleges improve their enrollment funnel, thereby increasing their yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll, a figure that colleges play extremely close attention to).The writing is on the wall that AI will soon play a role in every interaction between colleges and applicants.
REFLECTION CORNER
Over the next couple of weeks, ask your student to think through these questions:
This semester, where will I be able to show consistency, initiative, or growth?
Are there any small steps I can take to deepen an existing activity?
What will be this fall’s biggest challenges? What support do I need to succeed?
Warm regards,
The MCA Team