High school is the crucial time when students have to start thinking about and looking forward to college, but what is there to look forward to when colleges are accepting fewer and fewer students?  20 years ago, the average acceptance rate at big-name universities was about 20%, today that rate has dropped down to 5%. As college acceptances become more competitive, the requirements to get in have grown substantially. 

Most students who want to get into selective private colleges know the rigor and workload that is necessary. They study daily for advanced classes, they score high on the SAT and they take every AP and DC class available to them. They devote their lives to their academic work for four years. But now, even top-scoring students aren’t guaranteed to get in. Colleges now use holistic admissions, meaning students can’t get in just on smarts. Colleges want well-rounded students, but at the same time, still expect the same amount of academic rigor. They expect students to join several clubs, demonstrate leadership, do community service outside of school, excel in their interests, produce passion projects, demonstrate a way they have struggled in life and much more. This lengthy list puts even more stress on high-achieving students. The most gut-wrenching part of this is that even if a student manages to complete all of this, they still may not get in. Oftentimes, a denied student isn’t any less impressive than an admitted student. On average, admissions officers will spend less than 15 minutes on an application before making a final decision, for Ivy League applicants, that number is even less. That means the entire four years of a student’s blood, sweat and tears are only given a brief look over.

Being accepted or denied by a college is often by no fault of the student, especially when a large determining factor is their parents’ financial situation. Wealthy students are twice as likely to get into an Ivy League school than middle-class students with comparable scores. Unfortunately, this is due to the fact that colleges are businesses, and every applicant is treated as a business decision. Another contributing factor to the dropping acceptance rates is that the number of applications to colleges is growing exponentially each year. Instead of colleges growing to accommodate the influx of students choosing to go to college, they keep class sizes the same and raise expectations of students they will accept.

On top of colleges being harder to get into, they’re also becoming incredibly expensive. Between 2000 and 2021, the average cost of tuition rose 69%. For the 2022-2023 school year, the average cost of tuition at a private university is $39,000. Many students, even if they are demonstrating academic excellence and full capability of being successful at a prestigious college, feel heavily discouraged from going just because of the cost.

While the odds may seem against students, there are several steps they can take to increase their likelihood of acceptance into their dream colleges. Students can apply as early decision, apply for as many scholarships as they can and another option that’s grown in popularity is getting their basics done at a public college and then transferring later. Early Decision applications are typically due a few months before regular decision, which means it has to be prepared sooner. However, since fewer students apply early decision, the students who do have a greater chance of being considered and accepted. Early decision also shows colleges that the applicants are truly interested in pursuing their education there.

Applying for scholarships is a great way to pay for college. There are scholarships for a number of different skills, abilities and even disabilities, as well as offering another opportunity for students to prove themselves to colleges. Another intelligent course of action to take is to get the first two years of college done at a public university, and then transfer to a private college when the classes are more focused on the student’s specific major. This increases the chances of acceptance because the student has demonstrated capability at the college level, making the admission officers more confident in the student’s likelihood of success. This is also a more cost-effective route because the cost of tuition at a public or community college is much more manageable for a young adult.

The most important thing to do, however, is to have a plan. Starting junior year, make a plan for the last two years of high school. This should include the classes students take, when to start studying for the SAT, what clubs to be involved in, starting their common app, applying for scholarships, college application due dates and anything else needed to succeed in the next two years. As college admissions become more competitive, it is important that students adapt and prepare for that change by planning ahead and making it work to their advantage.