News December 2024
USA
International Data Shows Drop in US Applications from the UK
Source: IIE Open Doors
https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/all-places-of-origin/
Interestingly there is a drop of 1.5% in applications to the US from the UK.
UC Data Shows Study of Majors and Minors
Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/freshman-admission-discipline?
University of California draws readers attention to how to use this data.
Data and Affirmative Action: Inconclusive
Source: Data set: Diversity before and after affirmative action
Savannah College of Art and Design Launches Competition
Source: https://www.scad.edu/admission/financial-aid-and-scholarships/scholarships/scad-challenge?
Yale Sees EA Applications Drop
Source: About Us - Yale Daily News
The return of ‘test-flexible’, requirement for EA applicants sees a sharp drop in applications.
Domestic Applications Up More than International Applications: Common Application 2024
Source: Common App Deadline Update November, 2024 Growth of domestic applications exceeds international applications for the first time since 2019.
University of Chicago students borrow art
Source: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5162071/uchicago-picasso-art-borrow-museum-students-decor?
ED/ EA for US Colleges 2024
1. Fewer Schools Announcing Their Results
In November, Harvard announced a major change in its admissions practices: the university will no longer publicize admissions rates on the day that students are notified of their acceptances. Instead, this data will be released in the Fall of 2025, after the admissions cycle has concluded. Numerous other top schools that have implemented similar measures, including Princeton, UPenn, and Stanford. Cornell, too, announced a decision to withhold admissions data in 2020. These measures have been aimed at combatting these institutions’ reputations for exclusivity, as they seek to attract a broader and more diverse group of applicants. As Princeton Dean of Admissions Karen Richardson wrote in a 2022 op-ed for The Princetonian on the school’s decision to forego releasing admissions results: “neither prospective students nor the University benefit from the admission process being boiled down in headlines to a single statistic like the admission rate,” and “we do not want to discourage prospective students from applying to Princeton because of its selectivity.” This push for applicant diversity has only increased since last year’s admissions cycle, which was the first since the rollback of affirmative action.
Harvard’s announcement indicates that the trend of withholding data will likely continue. Although students can rest assured that they will receive their individual results on the release date, they should expect that many top schools on their list will remain silent about their overall admissions trends until a later date.
2. Emphasis on Diversity Metrics
The deferred release of quantitative data in the early admissions cycle will likely go hand-in-hand with an emphasis on qualitative data. As top schools seek to distance themselves from the reputation for elitism that accompanies single-digit acceptance rates, they also want to highlight their public commitment to building more diverse classes in terms of socioeconomic background, race, and geographic representation. Early admissions announcements will likely continue to showcase the proportion of admitted Pell Grant recipients, first generation college students, and students from rural areas. What remains to be seen is how colleges will write about racial data, which has been a part of demographic reporting in the past. While most schools withheld this data during the last cycle, the first since the repeal of affirmative action, it is unclear whether the racial makeup of the accepted class will appear in reported data.
3. Decreasing Admissions Rates at Second Tier Schools
As the Ivy League has entered a transitional phase in the last few admissions cycles amidst wide-ranging criticism, prestigious second-tier institutions have risen in popularity, filling a void caused by the plummeting Ivy League acceptance rates. Universities such as NYU, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, Duke, and Northwestern have become significantly more competitive over the last decade—a trend that is likely to continue in both the early and regular decision rounds of this admissions cycle. For instance, Vanderbilt’s regular decision acceptance rate shrunk to a mere 3.7% (less than half of what it was a decade ago) during the last admissions cycle; early admissions rates have also fallen significantly at these schools, as Duke saw a 12.9% ED admissions rate in the 2023–24 cycle, compared to 25% in 2013–14 (the school’s regular decision acceptance rate was 4.1% for the Class of 2028). A number of factors contribute to this trend—as these schools increase in desirability, more students apply for a small and relatively static number of spots, resulting in a larger applicant pool and smaller acceptance rate. In addition, the yield rates for many of these schools have increased, meaning that they must accept a smaller percentage of applicants with the knowledge that a larger proportion of those accepted will enroll.
EA/ED Release Dates for Top Schools
The following are the official early round decision release dates for top schools:
Columbia University: Early Decision, Mid-December
Cornell University: Early Decision, Mid-December
Duke University: Early Decision, Mid-December
Princeton University: Single Choice Early Action, Mid-December
University of Pennsylvania: Early Decision, Mid-December
Yale University: Single Choice Early Action, Mid-December
Brown University: Early Decision, Mid-December
Georgetown: Early Action, December 15th
New York University: Early Decision, December 15th
MIT: Early Action, Mid-December
UChicago: Early Action & Early Decision, Mid-December
UNC-Chapel Hill, Early Action, January 31st
Whether seniors awaiting their results or younger students tracking the trends at top schools, students and families can glean helpful information from the early admissions cycle and should therefore pay attention to the information that top institutions release. At the same time, the admissions process can be unpredictable and no one metric provides a totalizing image of the overall admissions cycle. As results are released in the coming weeks, keep in mind that a deferral or rejection isn’t the end of the road—many students find their best fits through Early Decision II or Regular Decision.
Source: Originally Published on Forbes.
UK
UK Universities and Funding
Source: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story
University of Cambridge’s Veterinary Course and Accreditation Risks
Trinity Hall, Cambridge Launches Podcast
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Data HE Data from the UK Early Application Deadline
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markcorver_university-activity
N.B These are most likely Oxbridge and Medicine applications. Data shows marked increase in female and ethnic applications and a much lower male, white applicant pool.
St Mary’s Launches New Medical School
Source: St Mary's University School of Medicine
The UK and Canada Partner for Legal Pathway
https://thepienews.com/leicester-and-humber-polytechnic-partner-in-pre-law-pathway/
Europe
News from IE University
Source:https://www.ie.edu/university/admission/access-to-university/freshmen-students/
Source: Admissions Test | IE University
Source: https://www.ie.edu/university/ieu-experience/pre-college-activities/jab/
Dutch Government to Reduce Places for British Applicants
News from Bocconi and HEC Paris
Schools
The Power of Bespoke Specialist Advice: UK School Offers Pour in for Applications
Huge congratulations go to students applying for school places this year particularly at Sixth Form level. Offers have come from Charterhouse, Sherborne Girls, Sevenoaks, St Edward’s Oxford, Wellington, Radley, Haileybury to name but a few. All students made multiple applications and had multiple offers. Students applied globally from countries ranging from Dubai, India, Turkey and Thailand and subject areas of interest include Economics, Biology and Chemistry as well as Maths, History and International Relations.
University aspirations include Cambridge, Yale, UPenn…
100% IB Success for Sixth Form Applicants
Congratulations to students who applied to study the IB in the UK this year. A stellar performance resulted in huge choice for students applying for the UK boarding schools offering the IB including specialist IB school with decades of experience in teaching the IB.
