As we head into another admissions cycle, for the Class of 2024, here are 5 trends to consider when deciding on your college list, whether to submit your standardized test and how to write a great essay.

Applications: The volume of applications being submitted has been on the rise exponentially over the last few years. According to the Common Application, the total number of applications has risen 30% from 2019-2023. Students are applying to more schools on average. For example, Fairfield University’s acceptance rate dropped 14% in just one year (2022-2023) due to a record number of applications and New York University saw 120,000 applications in 2023, a 13% increase for a 8% admit rate.
Test Optional: College and universities are staying test optional. At least 80% of colleges and universities remain test optional for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle. Fewer students are submitting their test scores each year, too. 47% submitted in 2023 compared to 78% between 2019-2022. Please note: this has caused the average submitted score to skyrocket. What was once a competitive score is now not necessarily in the 50% mean, check each college’s average before submitting.
Early Decision: Early decision round is becoming the new Regular decision round at many highly selective schools. More and more highly selective schools are also offering ED1 and ED2 rounds as well. They are bringing in close to, if not, more than 50% of their incoming class through their early decision round(s). Typically, early decision rounds have a higher acceptance rate than regular decision rounds but they are becoming more competitive. And more and more students are being deferred from ED to the regular round due to the volume of applicants.
Video Submissions: Video submissions are on the rise at schools such as Brown, Tufts, WashU and Bowdoin. It is a great way to introduce yourself in a more informal manner to the admissions staff. And with ChatGPT, it may become more prevalent across college admissions.
Business, engineering and computer science majors: These majors are the most competitive majors in college admissions. Make sure you take the appropriate courses in high school to prepare for these majors in college. Also, make sure your college list is the right combination of likely-target-reach schools for a balanced list.