Stop Stressing Out About College Acceptance Rates
Jeff Selingo
Bestselling author | Strategic advisor on future of learning and work | College admissions and early career expert | Contributor, The Atlantic | Angel investor | Editor, Next newsletter | Co-host, FutureU podcast
Did you get in?
It’s the question asked way too often in recent weeks as anxious high-school seniors trying to get into the nation’s best colleges have finally heard whether they’ve been accepted or rejected from their dream school.
The result is a new sort of rankings: the colleges with the lowest acceptance rates. The New York Times reported last week that seven of the eight institutions that make up Ivy League had lower acceptance rates this year than last (only Dartmouth went up). Harvard accepted only about 6 of 100 students who applied (and 35,000 of them applied this year).
It’s human nature to want to be part of exclusive groups—picked for teams and chosen for clubs while others are rejected. Exclusivity means quality in the minds of some. The U.S. News & World Report rankings take into account a college’s acceptance rate, which is why some colleges care so much about the number.
But in many cases, a lower acceptance rate is just a function of colleges getting more applicants, not necessarily better ones. Indeed, some colleges have worked to increase their application numbers to make themselves more selective (as The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Eric Hoover pointed out in a story a few years back).
It’s important to remember that the 50 wealthiest and most selective colleges and universities in the United States enroll fewer than 4 percent of students. So the vast majority of colleges accept most students who apply.
What prospective parents and students should concern themselves more with is not about getting in, but getting out. In other words, pay attention to a college’s graduation rate (you can view the rates for nearly 3,800 colleges here: collegecompletion.chronicle.com).
Just over 50 percent of American students who enter college leave with a bachelor’s degree. Selective colleges, of course, don’t have a problem graduating students, but there is a wide variation in graduation rates among the remaining institutions. And graduation rates vary within institutions as well—by major, by gender, and race and ethnicity.
Too few prospective students and their families even ask what the graduation rate is for students like them. As you’re trying to figure out where to go, ask this question and rate your colleges with that measure at the top because the real benefits of college only go to those with a degree at the end of the journey, not those who just started it.
Photo: mediaphotos/the Agency Collection/Getty Images
Jeffrey Selingo is editor at large at The Chronicle of Higher Education and author of the forthcoming book, College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students, scheduled for release on May 7.
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Higher Education Consultant and Author
11 年Jeff is right about the getting out part. Families should focus on the graduation rates, student satisfaction, job placment rates and alumni engagement as barometers of the quality of the experience a college will provide over and above the prestige factor. The reality is that the prestige comes as a result of the top schools having done well on all those fronts and so having the capacity to continue to do it. If other schools are also graduating talent effectively then they should get our attention and be deemed also worthy of attending and being proud alumni. Finding the right fit for a student is more important than whether it is Ivy.
geo-political analyst - M.S.University,Baroda
11 年In India, education in good school means instill huge money in the pocket of trustees and supporting politician's business whose objective is to make huge profit and exploit the parents. Their aim is not assisting the society but creating the academic scarcity within the society and produce the waste in the academic field. Where ever congress/BJP and other politicians who are intervening in the academic field have completely mess up the healthy educational system. There are schools, colleges and universities which are running by the politicians are producing useless waste out of the educational institutions. The educational degrees are a salable product in the market. Very few colleges and universities have the best grade and have the prestige in the educational field.
Former Head Department Of Education
11 年Every intelligent student wants admission in a a reputed university but it does not happen, every institution should increase the seats,provision of admission test with General Knowledge, Reasoning, Logical Math, Subjective Knowledge should be judged and Communication Skill at the time of Interview by the Faculty Members to avoid biases.
College Admissions and Financial aid advisor at Alexander Hamilton Scholars
11 年I hope what students get out of all of the data and surveys is that they, to a large extent, can make their own opportunities with a little ingenuity and a lot of perseverance. One study even showed that Harvard grads did NOT make more money than those who were accepted to Harvard but chose to go elsewhere, including to lower cost alternatives.
Writing Specialist @ WriteWell.us
11 年One problem I see is that colleges are accepting fewer people who need financial aid and are looking to recruit overseas candidates who can pay big bucks. Case in point: University of Michigan which my daughter could get into but they would not give her any money so... it doesn't matter if she is accepted.