College Admissions Became Hyper-competitive This Year

Our team has poured over the data from this year’s college admission results and one thing is clear: the majority of highly selective schools have become hypercompetitive, with these schools seeing an average of 20% growth in applications from 2020 to 2022. In our analysis, we’ve identified three groups of schools that underscore this dramatic rise in competition at highly selective schools.

1. The University of California system


There are now 5 UC campuses receiving over 100,000 applications: Berkeley, UCLA, San Diego, Irvine, and Santa Barbara. UCLA leads the nation in application volume, with approximately 150,000 applications. The UC system is the most significant example of public universities that are tightening their enrollment caps to limit the number of out-of-state students that can be admitted each year.

June 2 Webinar: Results From The 2022 College Admissions Cycle



With results now in for admissions at colleges and universities around the country, there are some clear trends. Join us on June 2 at 6 p.m. CDT for our webinar, Results From The 2022 College Admissions Cycle, where we'll share our in-depth expert assessment of the trends that were different for the class of 2022, as well as the potential implications for the class of 2023 and beyond.


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2. BOSTON AREA SCHOOLS


Another regional phenomenon that stands out is the popularity of colleges in the Boston area. Each of these highly selective Boston colleges saw a rise in applications of at least 30% since 2020. The most extreme example in Northeastern, which dropped 65% in their admit rate.

3. NATIONAL PRIVATE COLLEGES


More and more competitive private schools have admit rates on par with the Ivy League schools in addition to an increase in applications driven by test-optional policies. Here are the schools that had the most significant admission rate declines during the pandemic.



Our founder and C.E.O Lisa Bain Carlton, M. Ed.has identified the 4 key trends that have the biggest implications for the class of 2023 and beyond.

Guide To Highly Selective Colleges



Applying to a highly selective college can be daunting, but if your student has their heart set on one, there are some guidelines they can follow to help them stand out from the crowd. This guide discusses what highly selective colleges look for in students, how to achieve "depth" in activities, and the importance of having a specific application strategy for the most selective schools.


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