Harvard admitted less than 6% of the 35,000 applicants to their Class of 2018! This can be a discouraging figure!
But, don’t be discouraged. This tiny percentage represents the number accepted from 35,000 students who applied to Harvard. What this figure is really telling us is that more and more students are applying to Harvard, not that fewer and fewer students are getting in.
What, then, is the real possibility of getting admitted to Harvard or a like college?
Probably about the same as ever. There are the same number of slots to fill, maybe more; and those students who truly qualify to fill those slots will get accepted to at least one selective college, which is what they really want.
In other words, not everyone may go to Harvard, but there is Yale, Princeton, Brown, etc. In fact, some applicants might even prefer Princeton or Yale, but it’s easier and easier for them to apply to all three. The statistic that tells the true tale is this: 4 out of 5 of well-qualified students are accepted to at least one selective school!
How does this truer picture inform college applicants? It tells us that colleges like more applicants because when they accept the same number of students as always, it looks like they are more selective! So applicants:
• Don’t’ panic!
• There is no need to apply to 20 colleges to increase your chances of acceptance.
• And, if you work hard, earn good grades, and have good test scores, you will get a good education at a very good school!
