A multitude of colleges and universities are experiencing a surge in applications for the fall 2024 intake, continuing the positive trend seen in recent years.
The University of California system, comprising ten campuses such as UC Berkeley and UCLA, received a total of 250,436 applications for fall 2024 admissions, reflecting a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year. This rise in applications was largely fueled by a growth in submissions from transfer students, California residents, and individuals from historically underrepresented communities in higher education.
Michael V. Drake, the president of the University of California, emphasized that the uptick in applications highlights the exceptional educational opportunities and long-term social mobility that a UC education offers to underrepresented students.
In a similar vein, Northeastern University witnessed a substantial increase in applications, reaching 98,373 for the fall 2024 term. Over the past five years, applications to the university have surged by 53 percent, equating to an additional 33,914 applicants.
Meanwhile, Bates College, located in Lewiston, Maine, received a record-breaking 10,029 applications, marking the third consecutive year of setting new application highs. Leigh Weisenburger, the vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid at Bates College, expressed satisfaction with the college’s successful recruitment efforts both domestically and internationally.
The overall trend of rising applications is evident across the board. A survey conducted by the Common Application in March 2022, encompassing 853 member schools, revealed a significant 21.3 percent increase in submitted applications between the academic years 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. This surge was particularly notable among students of color and first-generation applicants.
While application numbers had been steadily increasing from 2014 to 2020, recent years have seen a notable acceleration in this trend. The pandemic prompted students to apply to a larger number of schools out of concern for the future, a pattern that has persisted to some extent. Moreover, the implementation of test-optional policies during the pandemic has reduced barriers to application submissions.
However, in a recent development, several universities, including Yale University, have reintroduced SAT/ACT submission requirements. Yale University, for instance, will once again require students to submit standardized test scores with their applications, although the university will accept Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam scores in place of the ACT or SAT.
Some experts anticipate that the reintroduction of SAT requirements may lead to a slight decrease in the number of applicants to top-tier schools, particularly among students who feel that standardized tests do not fully showcase their strengths. Nonetheless, insights from universities like Brown University suggest that reinstating these requirements could be advantageous for certain students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds who might not submit test scores even when such scores could bolster their acceptance chances.
Furthermore, test scores can provide valuable indications of a student’s preparedness for college-level coursework. Aaron Andrikopoulos, Co-Founder of AJ Tutoring in California’s Bay Area, notes that standardized tests like the SAT and ACT closely align with high school curricula, offering a standardized metric to evaluate students from diverse educational backgrounds.