I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from parents.
Q: I read the other day that 475,000 fewer kids applied to college. Why is this? And does it help my kid achieve better results?
A: There are many reasons why fewer kids applied to college last year. COVID for one. The pandemic negatively impacted many families, more so lower income families who were struggling to get by, and often with larger health issues. This meant that teen children who might have applied to college did not, as they needed to stay at home and care for their families or work a job that precluded attending college. Hopefully, their family situations will improve and they can go to college some day soon. As for if this negatively impacts your kids’ chances—hard to say. If your child is applying to a top tier school, then it won’t as the lower income kids I wrote about earlier are likely applying to a state school or a community college. Even if your kid is applying to a school in the 10-20 or lower range, those admit rates are lower too than in recent years. The best advice I can give is to work and study hard and choose a wide range of schools to apply to.