College Search: The Current Admission Scene
Start your college search positively. Start with the knowledge that there are many schools out there that want you. Start with the idea that there are many good college choices for every student. Too often these days, articles on college admission make students and their parents apprehensive. You can have choices. You can get financial aid. You can have a happy, successful college career.
When you begin to think about college, you are embarking on a major research project. You have many choices available to you in order to get the best possible education for which you are qualified. This article is intended to help you think of some of the important variables in your college search.
THE CURRENT ADMISSION SCENE
Today there are approximately 1,650 four-year colleges and universities accredited. Most existing institutions have grown larger, and many have expanded their programs, offering master’s and doctoral degrees as well as bachelor’s.
Total graduate and undergraduate students has also grown, from under 4 million in 1960 to more than 16 million today. In fact, between 2000 and 2013 total enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities is expected to rise 19 percent, to 18.2 million students. Almost 40 percent are parttime students, including many working adults. Part-time enrollments are mostly concentrated in the two-year colleges, which enroll about a third of all students.
What does this all mean to you? There is good news and bad news. The good news is that most of the colleges you will read about in this book are colleges you can get into! In other words, the vast majority of colleges in the U.S. admit more than 70 percent of those who apply. Many hundreds admit all of those who apply. So, on one level, you shouldn’t worry that you won’t be able to get a college education. The bad news is for the student with extremely high grades who seeks admission to the 50 or so most competitive colleges in the country. These “brand name” colleges have many times more candidates than they admit. Even incredibly qualified students are sometimes denied admission.
The key to good college planning is, as mentioned above, research. Find out about what makes one college different from another. Find out what students say about their experiences. Rely on many sources of information— many people, many books, many web sites, and so on. There are lots of people and materials available to help you. This book is one of them. Let the information be your guide. But also let your instincts and your sense of what’s best for you play a part. The higher education opportunities in the U.S. are unlimited. The opportunity to let education help pave the way to achieving your dreams is a worthy goal of your college search.