As the school year draws to a close, there’s no better time to encourage your student to spend a few extra minutes after class, practice, or meetings thanking the adults in your life for their guidance this year. Positive relationships with mentors demonstrate maturity and gratitude, and also lay the groundwork for seeking their support in recommendation letters.
College Admissions News
In contrast to the COVID years of blurry test optional policies, testing is definitely back, and it has reshaped students’ odds of admission at many schools. The Common App recently reported: “Test score reporting applicants are up for the first time since 2021–22, outpacing non-reporters.” Submitting competitive test scores relative to the average admitted student scores is advantageous to students, and has finally been more explicitly acknowledged by selective colleges. For a deeper dive, watch this new YouTube presentation by Applerouth Testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj3QD_OaT5E
Federal funding funneled to Harvard and other colleges is under scrutiny in the current political landscape. Given the millions of dollars at stake, lasting resolutions to these issues may take years to untangle in the courts. If you are interested in the intricacies of these financials, watch this insightful video: https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-explains/former-college-president-explains-funding-strategies-behind-universities/9FD9B82D-8BAD-49B8-BA7A-5A08A8CA74D6
Federal funding is not the only financial matter impacting colleges. International student applications, often representing full-pay students and therefore a key source of revenue for schools, stagnated this year. All the more reason to ensure that your college list contains schools with healthy endowments that can endure fluctuations in international student enrollment.
Selecting “Target” schools for a college list has become increasingly difficult. Schools like Rice, NYU, and Notre Dame received record-breaking applications and are no longer considered backups for students targeting elite admissions. According to Forbes, “they are reach schools in their own right.”
Furthermore, “While universities maintain focus on admitting applicants with distinct core interests, they also reinforced the value of interdisciplinarity amongst applicants this admissions cycle.” We have noticed colleges highlighting admitted students who are able to convincingly connect divergent themes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2025/03/28/the-results-are-in-here-are-ivy-league-and-top-college-admissions-rates-for-the-class-of-2029/
Recommended Reading
If you don’t mind being a little unnerved (yet again) by big data in college admissions, The New York Times published this article on May 1st: “Colleges Know How Much You’re Willing to Pay. Here’s How.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/business/college-tuition-price-consultants.html?searchResultPosition=194
Our general advice column from the May edition of Over the Mountain Journal can be found here on page 18): https://issuu.com/otmj/docs/reduced_size_pdf_6baf3d88a6e4df?fr=xKAE9_zMzMw
Explore this unique college comparison tool published by the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/
Wishing you a fantastic start to your summer!
Warm regards,
The MCA Team