- lesscollegestress
- Apr 17, 2023
During lunch with our new local admissions rep in November, I was shocked to learn that the University of Tampa's population has roughly doubled in ten years. I’ve watched the school grow more popular each year, but more applications don’t usually translate to that kind of growth. Stories about students unable to secure housing seemed to be related to pandemic restrictions, but they continued. While Covid may have been a factor in 2020 and 2021, the reason today is that admissions received 44,365 applications to fill 2,400 spots. Over 1000 students were offered the waitlist.
If you wondered why you were waitlisted by the University of Tampa, a school you counted as a likely, now you know why. (Don’t take it personally–it’s never about you, but institutional priorities). Each year, Tampa becomes more selective as more applications roll in.
It’s not surprising that students, 70% from out of state, are attracted to a beautiful, midsized campus on the waterfront that offers a high quality of life. A new tech building, housing data science and cybersecurity, was recently added to already-impressive facilities for business and the arts. There are 200 majors, an Honors program with exclusive housing, 20 restaurants, 21 D2 sports, and access to a city offering internships and nightlife.
For the first time, Tampa’s admit rate dropped below 50% in 2022. This year’s admit rate was 26.9%, not so different from Tulane’s longtime pre-pandemic number.
How will the Tampa admissions office handle the tsunami of applications likely to roll in from the class of 2024? For the first time, an ED option will be added to the choices of rolling and early action. The University of Vermont found ED to be an effective enrollment management strategy this year. They admitted 85% of the 400 ED applicants and even awarded them merit aid.
So if you love the “very popular” University of Tampa, the news is that it’s no longer a likely for many applicants. Consider applying ED.
- lesscollegestress
- Apr 9, 2023
We can only speculate about AI’s future capability.
There are doomsday scenarios where AI gets smarter and smarter, transcends human intervention, and causes catastrophes. There are other theories about how quickly it could accelerate scientific research to benefit humans. We know that it will continue to develop (hopefully at a slower rate than it has since November 2022), but the topic is far too nuanced for any extreme prognosis.
Since AI is driven by tech companies, the energy behind its growth will always be market-driven. Markets are ultimately controlled by people, and those people need AI to be safe along with performing rudimentary tasks such as writing emails and doing specific research (which may have errors). People have created these systems as well as the information they can access. It’s up to us to intervene–or at least to be able to interpret–what AI is telling us and where the information it uses comes from in order to validate it. Until then, we can’t really trust everything it says.
Where is this going and what does it have to do with college applicants? Many students will go beyond using AI for simple tasks like writing high school papers but need to grapple with it at a higher level in college. Even students taking high school Computer Science courses learn little about it. Those inclined to learn more can take advantage of online courses and summer programs.
Two highly-regarded programs are Inspirit AI and Veritas AI, both of which offer mentored research projects. Free courses offered by Coursera or Great Learning offer fewer hands-on opportunities but are a smart way to gain better knowledge.
At the moment, humans control AI–let’s not check our brains to it!
Below are links to some programs and a podcast that delves more deeply into what I’ve discussed here.
- lesscollegestress
- Apr 2, 2023
In 2016, institutions, educators, and individual members began the Character Collaborative initiative to focus on non-academic factors and character-related attributes in the admissions process. It struck a nerve. Then Harvard created the Making Caring Common project in 2018. Many scoffed. How could Harvard, admitting <5% of applicants, consider itself to be caring?
But the importance of this philosophy has grown, even if we don’t see it in the most literal sense. We know that colleges cannot accept every qualified applicant.
No question: numbers still matter. But for admissions to the most highly selective institutions, perfect grades and test scores are simply a toe in the door. Grade inflation, which escalated in the pandemic, has made an A the average grade in many high schools. Test scores, which vanished from applications by necessity during 2020, have returned, but at a far lower percentage. Many state colleges accept 70% of their students test-optionally, and even institutions like Tufts admit 50% without scores. When grades reveal less and scores are absent, what matters in an admissions office?
While I can’t say that every community-minded student with the right numbers will be admitted to their dream school (especially if it denies >80% of its applicants), I notice that students who are committed to extracurriculars that serve others often have better outcomes than those who do fewer activities, or focus only on themselves.
Find what matters to you, then spearhead any kind of service effort, either real or virtual. Join an existing club or organization and stay for the long haul. Work at a job that requires you to interact with the public, teach a skill or share your talent. Think about who you can help in your neighborhood.
Colleges know that ethical students become involved classmates and loyal friends. They get immersed in projects–regardless of major–that address the good of all. That’s why schools seek students who are not only exceptional academically, but are exceptional humans as well.
