Many applicants to the most selective university programs share high grades, high test scores, solid recommendations and generous doses of community service and volunteer activities. Yet, if they want to set themselves apart from the pool of exceptional students, a significant research experience in STEM or the social sciences helps.
The competition for admissions, including early admissions, among the most selective colleges continues to be ever more competitive. While this fact is not particularly newsworthy, some of the facts behind it are.
Foremost, the number of seats available in selective schools are declining.. Looking at the Ivy League schools along with Stanford and MIT, the total admits for fall 2009 was 28,600. For fall 2018 the total number admitted was 25,360, a decline of 11% over the decade.
Low student to faculty ratios and small class sizes are often cited when considering the quality of a school's educational experience. This year, Harvard reported a 7 to 1 student to faculty ratio, while the University of Florida reported a 22 to 1 ratio. Does this mean that Harvard's educational experience is better than Florida's?
Virtually every college counselor preaches the importance of discovering something, anything, and pursuing it passionately. The earlier in one’s high school career that one discovers this passion, the better, because the longer one dedicates yourself, the sooner you might gain mastery over a hard to acquire skill that just might place you near the top of the applicant heap.
There is a tendency for many students to take ‘relevant’, pre-professional courses as they commence their college studies. After all, most want the quickest path to economic success after graduating: that is, after all, in their self-interest, which, according to Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations, is the backbone of our free enterprise system.
Ambitious students conduct research and develop plans for their undergraduate years to ensure that their careers and personal goals are met. Learning to write well and communicate effectively, along with securing meaningful recommendations from professors, are probably goals included in many plans. Yet, beyond setting goals, there are other reasons to plan. As Dwight Eisenhower noted, “plans are nothing, planning is everything.”
