College acceptance rates lower than ever
University of California memorabilia (Cohen Ferrari, The Puma Prensa)
By Zach Lustberg, staff writer and, Cohen Ferrari, sports editor
The college admissions process in the US was more competitive than ever this year, with Common App alone receiving a staggering 7 million applications, a 30% increase from the 2019-2020 application cycle before COVID-19. There are more applicants than ever before, and these students are applying to more schools than ever before. Most of them are high school students, trying their best to distinguish themselves among their peers in hopes of getting into their preferred college. Some are more fixated on this goal than others, but the common consensus is: Do well in high school to get into a good college. However, things are not as simple as they used to be.
Many students’ “dream schools” would not be considered too much to ask for even just ten or twenty years ago. Take UCLA for example, a public state school in Los Angeles, California. In 2010, its acceptance rate was 23%. While that is by no means a high acceptance rate, it was certainly much less competitive than the numbers reflect today. In the decade prior to 2010, the rate was in the mid 30s. A decade before that, it was in the low 40s. In 2023, however, UCLA reported an acceptance rate of just 8.6%. This state school now has the same acceptance rate as Cornell University, an Ivy League school.
Marcus Holroyd, a sophomore at UCLA, managed to get in with a perfect GPA and 1560 SAT score. “Many of these degrees don’t hold the same weight for our parents as they now do for us. My mom used to always tell me that if nothing else worked out I could ‘just go to UCLA’ like she did. But when she went, it was much easier to just decide you were going to go there. Now, you have to pray that you get in, no matter how smart you are. UCLA is even harder to get into today compared to Harvard during her time in college,” Holroyd said.
This phenomenon is not unique to just UCLA. Other formerly less selective schools, many of which had bigger reputations for partying than academics, like the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California, have also seen rapid decreases in their acceptance rates. USC in particular had a 45% acceptance rate in the year 2000, a 27% acceptance rate in 2010, and this year, it saw a record low of 9.9%. Unfortunately, the problem with a selective private school like USC, if you are competitive enough to get in, is what happens after you get the coveted acceptance letter in the mail.
According to US News, all of the top 25 schools in the nation are private except for UCLA, UC Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. Private universities lack any funding from the state, so their primary source of funds come from tuition. “Since there are more applicants than ever, these colleges are in extremely high demand. When there’s more demand, these schools are able to rapidly increase their tuition because richer families will happily pay the inflated price tag to get their kid in,” said Pete Fingerhut, a private college counselor whose profession is to help people with the application process. To ensure that qualified applicants from lower income families are able to attend, these highly ranked private schools give generous financial aid to families that make very little. As a result, the sticker price of the tuition increases to compensate for those who would otherwise have no hopes of affording it, with most private schools in the top 25 listing $50,000 or even $60,000 price tags on their tuition. Moreover, total estimated costs including living expenses can total up to $80,000 or $90,000 dollars per year at many of these institutions.
I, Cohen Ferrari, one of the writers of this article, have experienced quite the sobering reality check this month. I was fortunate enough to receive an acceptance letter from the aforementioned USC, and was absolutely ecstatic. It was my dream school, and I could not wait to instantly commit after visiting and experiencing its vibrant campus life. However, when I read my financial aid package with my parents I was met with instant disappointment upon seeing that we got no aid and could not afford the $80,000 dollar price tag. For the past month I was determined to do whatever it took to afford USC. Desperate for any other option besides loans, I sent numerous aid appeals to no success, applied to countless external scholarships, and even reached out to every branch of the ROTC for scholarships that I would have to repay with military service. I then realized that, either way, I would be experiencing some form of enormous debt to enroll, so I instead decided that I would commit to UC Santa Barbara, a public school that I could afford without any debt. I am extremely lucky to even have the opportunity to defer to UCSB, because, along with the previously mentioned schools, its acceptance rates have also been tanking in recent years. It was hard to let go of my dream school, but I made the choice knowing that student loans are, as Pete Fingerhut would put it, “the number one way to screw yourself straight out of college.”
“The unfortunate reality is that it usually doesn’t make much sense for the middle class to attend these expensive private schools while paying full tuition, even if they are some of the most prestigious schools. The discrepancy between an education from a top 25 school versusa cheaper top 50 school is minimal, and is not typically large enough to justify the debt,” said Fingerhut. “You also need to take into account whether or not you plan to enroll in graduate school. If you plan on having debt later, you should do everything you can to minimize your undergraduate debt. It’s unfortunate that it has to come down to a game of finance after students work so hard for years to get in, but that’s just the reality right now. Parents need to be transparent with their kids about what a realistic college budget looks like for them, no matter the name of the school.”
Holroyd, the UCLA sophomore, sympathizes with the college applicants of 2023. “The journey from being in high school to starting college is becoming increasingly more difficult and competitive every step of the way, and it feels like new things to worry about keep popping up all the time. But, keep in mind that you will most definitely end up where you are meant to be. If I have any advice at all for new applicants it would be to relax. It’s so easy to get caught up in the numbers and to feel like the odds are stacked against you, but just do what you can and roll with the punches after that. Choose the place that makes the most sense for you and your situation. Adaptability is key, and with that skill you will absolutely succeed wherever you end up.”