What Happened?

In an era when actually speaking to someone on the phone seems quaint, it is interesting to note that the timeless holiday-like tableau of high school seniors opening real life mailboxes with tangible envelopes from colleges around the country has retained its cultural cachet.

Yes, those letters have arrived, and, along with them, alarming statistics. It appears that the selective schools have gotten more selective as acceptance rates have dipped again for most of the prestigious universities. 

This is when parents have to try to reason how their children got rejected after having a flawless performance in every class since kindergarten. The test scores were high. The extracurriculars interesting. So what happened? 

There are a few factors at play here. For one thing, population growth. If there are more people applying to colleges, there are naturally more highly intelligent people. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the spaces at these colleges have grown. So, in short, something's got to give. 

Another point is that it has gotten so easy to apply to a dozen universities as a result of online tools and common applications that people are applying to more places now than ever before. Increased applications coupled with a static number of acceptances equals a lower acceptance percentile. 

Finally, universities have become as selective as the students who want to attend them. Having a lower acceptance rate actually helps a university's overall ranking, so it's in its best interest to cause temporary pain and suffering. 

But all is not lost. Again, the skills gained in college are more important than the institution's name on the top of the diploma.