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May 6th Webinar at 6:00 pm CDT
Inside 2026 College Admissions: A Deep Dive into the Data and the Students Behind the Results
This year's college admissions results tell a powerful story. Beneath the headlines and admit rates are real patterns, real decisions, and real students whose applications rose to the top. Join Lisa Bain Carlton, founder of ESM College MatchPoint and President of IECA, as she moderates an in-depth conversation unpacking what the 2026 admissions cycle actually revealed — moving beyond speculation to examine the data, trends, and lived experiences of students who earned admission.
In this session, the panel will explore the numbers that mattered most in 2026, how colleges evaluated academic rigor, testing, and course selection, the role of summer, leadership, and meaningful engagement, what distinguished admitted students from other high-achieving applicants, and early signals that may shape the Class of 2027 and beyond.
This is not a surface-level recap. It is a thoughtful, data-informed analysis designed to help families understand how admissions decisions are being made right now — and what that means for their student. If you want clarity, context, and a strategic lens on this year's results, this conversation will deliver it.
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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.
We have a unique approach at ESM Prep College MatchPoint. It all begins and ends with our ultimate goal: for our students to thrive in their selected college.
The college application process can feel overwhelming, no matter how strong the student. But at ESM Prep College MatchPoint, we believe it should be organized, personal, and even fun, and we provide a framework that reduces the stress throughout the journey.
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This year’s early admissions cycle delivered a wake-up call for many families. Applications surged again. Admit rates tightened. Strong students were deferred or denied at schools that once felt within reach. At the same time, admissions offices quietly expanded their use of AI-assisted tools to triage the flood of applications. Not to make final decisions, but to sort, flag, and manage extraordinary volume before human readers ever begin their work. When tens of thousands of files arrive at once, systems step in first. That reality matters.
If you are the parent of a sophomore with aspirations toward selective colleges, it is easy to feel reassured right now. Your child is active. They are on a team, in several clubs, volunteering, maybe even holding a leadership title. On paper, it looks strong. In many ways, it is. But this year’s admissions results at selective universities reinforced something important: activity lists are long everywhere. What is far less common, and far more compelling, is progression. Selective colleges are not counting commitments. They are evaluating development over time.
If you are the parent of a sophomore in Austin, this year’s UT Austin admissions results should feel personal. Not dramatic. Not alarming. Personal. Because what just happened to this year’s seniors is exactly what your family will face in two short years. Strong students were admitted. Strong students were denied their first-choice major. And in competitive colleges like McCombs, Engineering, and CNS, it became clear that grades and rank alone were not the deciding factors. Preparation was. Alignment was. And for families with current 10th graders, that realization makes this spring far more important than it looks.
This year, some of the most surprised students were not those who were denied by UT. They were the ones who were admitted. Top 5% seniors with strong transcripts, rigorous coursework, and impressive leadership earned admission to The University of Texas at Austin, yet many did not receive their first-choice major. For parents who assumed auto-admit meant security, the results felt confusing and even unsettling. What changed is not the caliber of students. It is where the competition now lives. The real pressure point has shifted inside the university, and understanding that shift is essential for every family watching these results unfold.
If you are the parent of a teenager, there is one number from this year’s admissions cycle that should stop you in your tracks: 65%. That is the share of applicants in the Class of 2030 who submitted at least one early application. Two out of three students are now competing months before regular decision even opens. Early is no longer a strategic side path. It is where much of the class is taking shape. And that reality changes when preparation truly begins.
For a few years, the message seemed clear: standardized testing was fading from the center of college admissions. Test optional policies expanded. Headlines declared a permanent shift. But the Class of 2030 early data tells a more nuanced story. Score submission is rising. Test-required policies are spreading. And in early rounds where admit rates sit in the single digits or low teens, strong scores are quietly strengthening competitive positioning. If you think testing no longer matters, you may be reading yesterday’s news. Let’s look at what the numbers actually say.