How Hard Is It To Get Into An Ivy in 2013?

Dear Reader:

This year's admissions statistics are a doozy, but perhaps not terribly meaningful.  First, the stats:

• Harvard:  5.79%
• Yale:  6.72%
• Columbia:  6.89%
• Princeton:  7.29%
• Brown:  9.116%
• Dartmouth:  10.05%
• Penn:  12.10%
• Cornell:  15.15%

Each represents a slight drop from last year. 

Also, bear in mind that these figures include international students, athletes, minorities and legacies, so if you do not fall into any of these categories, the chances of admission are lower (so what do you think the "real" admit rate is at Harvard - 3%?).

2013 saw a huge increase in applications at many schools:

• Boston University:  20% increase
• UCLA, U Chicago, NYU:  about 10%
• Clark University:  28%
• Skidmore College:  42%

What do these stats mean?

Here's what I know:

• Colleges spend a ton of money and time soliciting applications: Northeastern employs 30 recruiters and send 200,000 plus emails and letters to potential applicants.  Harvard made $2M in application fees in 2011.
• 1,100 colleges buy lists of students from the College Board (at $.34 a pop).  The College Board also sells a $15,000 tool to colleges that allows searches by zip code, income level and other "selects."  (The College Board is a nonprofit, "Institution of Higher Education," by the way.)
• Common Applications are way up - 20% from 2011-2010
• Only 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs went to an Ivy League college
• Only 100 or so of the 2,700 four year colleges in the US admit 50% or less
• Approximately 70% of the teaching at universities is done by non-tenure track professors, i.e. adjuncts and graduate students.
• 48% of college graduates are employed in a field that does not require a degree

Are we applying to the right colleges?

I will take a closer look at this issue, and offer advice for Class of 2014 and younger kids, later this week.  In the meantime, if you're concerned about the financial aspects of college (meaning, trying to figure out what bank to rob!), this could help.

- Andy Lockwood

Andrew Lockwood is an attorney-turned-"late stage" college finance consultant in Plainview.  His main site is AndyLockwood.com