It’s that time of year again: high school seniors across the country are burdened with the college application process. As somebody who is suffering along with my fellow seniors, I can guarantee that most of us are not having a positive experience with college admissions, with the process often being described as “agonizing” and “overwhelming” by students who are applying. Despite college admissions being notoriously difficult today, it was not always the case. My mother Hiroko —  like many parents — is taking up the parental responsibility to assist me in the college process. She had graduated from Marymount College (which no longer exists as it has been purchased by Fordham University and is often confused with Marymount Manhattan College) and is constantly commenting on how much harder the process has become over the years. Now what exactly has changed over the last 30 years of college applications?

What’s in a College Application?

College applications consist of submitted forms that all come together to make a unique profile that is viewed by admissions officers at an institution that a student is applying to. With different institutions occasionally having different requirements, the process can become confusing for students who are applying to an abundance of colleges. Some required submissions include a high school transcript, a final transcript, letters of recommendation (from teachers or supervisors outside of school), standardized testing scores from the ACT or SAT (though most institutions are test optional as of 2024), and the personal statement — an essay with a 650 word limit that allows colleges to learn more about a student and their beliefs. This process is stressful and time consuming, often requiring a collaborative effort from an applicant’s family, teachers, and guidance counselors to submit the various forms required for the schools they are applying to.  Depending on the institution and major, certain colleges like UC Berkeley, Cooper Union, and other colleges that specialize in specific subjects like art, music, engineering, and business may require additional steps along with these elements such as supplemental essays, auditions, art portfolios, and interviews. Along with the strenuous work students are occupied with when applying to colleges, they also have to contemplate the financial aspect. 

Attending college has become ridiculously expensive, with the tuition for most kinds of college in the U.S. having risen by more than 135% since 1963.  Most applicants and their families often fill out financial aid forms such as FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and the CSS Profile (for those applying to private institutions) in order to reduce the costs of attending college, seeing how without aid, most families cannot even imagine affording four years at a “moderately” priced college. Speaking from experience, these forms are some of the most tedious to fill out, as an applicant usually requires information from all the taxpayers in their family to tackle the application. Overall, the wide variety of items that applicants must worry about when applying to college makes for a stressful and tedious process for multiple parties. With all of this in mind, the requirements that colleges have for their applicants have only become more strict. So what exactly has changed over the years?

The College Application’s Increasing Difficulty

Columbia University introduced the concept of the modern college application in 1919 after administrators noticed that selection based on merit alone skewed the percentage of their student body to a majority of Jewish students. Nowadays, the Common Application (since 1975) is most commonly used in the United States, as it currently serves 517 colleges as of 2024. Ever since the creation of the college application process, many schools have become a lot more selective in their admissions. To put this into perspective, we can observe some statistics from the University of California (UC) system. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-profit research organization, admissions rates significantly decreased from 2007 to 2017 at a majority of public universities a part of the UC system. For instance, UC Los Angeles went from a 26% acceptance rate in 2007, to a 16% acceptance rate in 2017, to a 9% acceptance rate in 2023. As of today, the acceptance rate at UCLA is 8.6%, signifying that – like many universities in the United States – UCLA is continuing to become more selective in which applicants are admitted into their institution. This trend is likely going to continue, so what exactly is causing these institutions to become so picky?

To start, the Common Application’s (college apps) incredibly widespread nature is allowing for more students to apply to college than ever before. According to the Common Application’s website, more than one million students use the Common Application’s online application process to apply to college, with a third of the applicants being the first generation of college students in their families. Back in the 1950s, having a college degree was less of a necessity for getting a job at the time, so the number of college applicants were also significantly less. The number of applicants is increasing significantly per year, with a 28% increase occurring in the 2019-2020 school year. Although the actual percentages vary over the course of the years, colleges do not tend to significantly change the number of applicants they admit to their schools. With more high school seniors applying to institutions every year paired with the unchanging number of students that a college can hold, it is a given that the application process has become much stricter. Colleges want the best of the best to attend, so by increasing the expectations for applicants, they are usually able to find top applicants to admit. 

Certain strategies around college applications have increased the competitiveness of college apps. For example, the concepts of safety schools, target schools, and reach schools have greatly increased the number of applicants that every institution gets. “Safeties” or safety schools are colleges that applicants are almost guaranteed to get into due to their academic credentials exceeding the average range of the last accepted class’ credentials. “Targets” (target schools) are colleges that accept applicants that have academic credentials which fall into the school’s range. Finally, “reaches” (reach schools) are schools that have expectations which are higher than that of an applicant’s credentials, meaning that it is unlikely for an applicant to be accepted here, but not impossible. 

Most applicants nowadays follow the concepts of safeties, targets, and reaches, as by having a similar amount of schools which fit into each category in their application, the likelihood of being accepted to a college that they have a liking for is increased. With the more applicants applying to institutions with this mindset, the competitiveness for being accepted into colleges only increases, making the overall application even more stressful than it already is.

 It doesn’t help that applicants in the United States are usually running on a time limit, with a multitude of different deadlines to consider when applying to college. For example, students have the option of applying by early decision, a binding contract that forces a student to attend their school if they are accepted, or early action, which is the non-binding version of early decision for students who wish to hear back from the applied institutions faster. Applications are typically due either November 1st or November 15th. Applying early can improve a student’s chances, as it shows interest in the school. There are also secondary options, such as Early Decision II and Early Action II, which have deadlines closer to the regular decision date, though they can vary by school. With the advantages of applying early, the college application process becomes even more stressful for applicants. They need to work much faster to complete their essays and forms than those who are applying through regular decisions. Additionally, it is uncommon for students to apply exclusively to one school early, causing multiple deadlines to collide.

Now with so many different kinds of applications and a seemingly random selection of due dates, managing the myriad deadlines involved in college admissions is essential for a successful and fulfilling experience. By employing effective strategies such as creating schedules and maintaining a balanced, low-stress approach, students can navigate their busy schedules more effectively, ultimately ensuring that they embark on a journey for their future that they will be proud of.

Now what exactly has changed over the last 30 years of college applications?