College applications back in the old days

[DubaiSis]

Talking about the cost of schools, here in Dubai the cost for 1 year of school, even kindergarten, costs more than my 4 years of college combined. Seriously. It's about $25,000 per child per year. And I'm not THAT old. Of course, those kids can attend the college of their choice once they graduate. It's quite impressive the list of colleges these kids attend. And the good news is most people's employers pay it, so the parents just have to worry about college. Which brings us back to the above...

I WANTED to apply to George Washington but my parents wouldn't let me. They couldn't afford it, and not having gone to college themselves, they didn't know about the financial aid options we had. And at the time they were buhroke. I probably could have gone to a school like that for virtually free. I got a variety of pre-approvals to a bunch of schools. One was Northwestern. Woo hoo! Pre-approved to Northwestern! Oh, Northwestern IOWA. Never heard of it, and no thank you.

[Sciencewoman]

If you want to read a book that spells out the whole frenzy, try, "What Colleges Don't Tell You and Other Parents Don't Want You to Know" by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross. She's a for-hire college counselor who will help "package" your kid throughout middle/high school for thousands of dollars a year. I read it when my daughter was about 13 and it scared the pants off me! It was a real eye-opener. However, it also had extremely helpful information for helping kids get into elite schools, which I would never have learned otherwise.

Michigan used to be a state where you could get a good-paying, life-long job with one of the Big 3 or one of their suppliers, and have a nice middle class life without a college education. No more. Those benefits are going away and it doesn't look like they're coming back...hence the increased push toward college.

A couple years ago I met a woman in Denmark who was extoling the virtues of their "birth to grave" system. They pay high taxes, but her health care, retirement, children's university educations, etc. are all paid for. No one's getting rich, but no one's poor either. She said she appreciates having the stress removed from her life. There seem to be a lot of Americans who are trying to realize the American Dream, but in reality they're swamped in debt, college loans, etc.

[alum]

A major difference from my high school era vs the current time is the importance of "fit" and "demonstrated interest". Fit is discussed on CC extensively whether or not the applicant sees him/herself at the campus. Prospective families start doing college visits during sophomore year, some even during freshman year. Although my peers DID apply to 5 or 6 schools, few made college visits before the notifications occurred. But even in my era, kids were panicking about SATs and achievement tests, which teacher had been tapped out in terms of college recs, and whose parent worked for which college (a definite legup)

Legacy mattered. If your family had a long record of alumni/ae graduates, that was definitely a factor. It is not as important anymore. In fact, it is more beneficial to be a first-generation college attendee than to have multiple legacies on the family tree. Of course if there is a building on the grounds that bears your surname due to an ancestor's generosity, that's a different story.

One major difference I see (and I believe this is geographical difference as opposed to generational) is that going to a state school is not considered a choice of last resort. Of course my state flagship was UMass otherwise known as ZooMass the party school and my kids' are UVa and William and Mary. The only legacy benefit for UVA is for OOS applicants who then are considered instate applicants (although they will pay OOS tuition). VA resident legacy applicants don't get extra points for alumni family. A boy in my son's class has been admitted to Harvard and REJECTED from UVa, and he is instate, great stats, ECs, etc.

[Greek_or_Geek?]

I think a major difference is the way college costs are marketed now. An ultra expensive school presents parents with packages on exactly how the expenses can be covered. They didn't do things this way back in my day, essentially the family was on its own to figure out what combination of scholarships, grants, loans etc. could be qualified for and used to cover costs. I think there was less of a tendency to apply to stretch schools, especially when the costs were going to be high. Families generally tried to keep budgets in mind and applications were made to realistic schools, both in terms of costs and admissions. Now it seems it's more along the lines of "let's figure out the very best schools you can get admitted to THEN worry about the finances.

I am seeing a lot of young people and their parents with crippling education debt. People are making reckless financial decisions that will follow them for the rest of their lives all for the sake of attending a school they perceive as more prestigious.

[ADqtPiMel]

I grew up in a working-class family in a rural, low-income area, and went to public school my whole life. I moved to a more suburban, middle-class area for high school -- but still, an area where maybe 70% of the students go on to attend college, and a large percentage of those live at home and attend the nearby community college. I applied to more colleges than anyone else I knew -- Harvard (reach), Miami Ohio, Butler and UVA (matches) and Dayton and Ball State (safeties).

I knew from the get-go that I was on my own paying for college, so I knew it was very likely that I would end up at Miami, since it was the only in-state state school I applied to. I applied to Harvard just for kicks and was rejected. I was accepted at UVA but liked Miami just as much, if not better, and Miami was cheaper. I basically applied to the rest of the schools just to see what they'd give in financial aid.

I had almost all of my tuition covered by scholarships and took out a loan to cover living expenses when I lived on campus. I moved off campus junior year and worked full-time to pay rent and living expenses. I graduated owing very little, and I know I got a comparable education to what I would have had at UVA for significantly cheaper. I think if more kids had to pay for their own education, they'd be a lot more practical in the college search.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I actually went to two high schools. I did freshman and sophomore year at Collar County High, which was very mixed-income, and where I was the undisputed #1 in the class for the two years I was there. I did junior and senior year at Wealthy Suburban High, about forty minutes away.

There was a vast, vast difference between the two schools. At CCH, probably only about half the class, if that, was college-bound. I remember students in the top 10 going to Northwestern, Wash U., etc., but it was still considered pretty awesome if you were headed to Illinois or Depaul, and I don't remember anyone even applying to the ivies.

At WSH, everyone was applying to the ivies, and they were doing so early admission, which I'd never heard of before. I think the stat was something like 98% went on to education after high school. Two kids from my graduating class went to Harvard, probably a dozen or more went to Northwestern, and people had an absolute aversion to going to Illinois. I had friends ask me not to apply to certain places because it would hurt their chances.

So, I think the craziness has a lot to do with being from affluent area. Not only is it much harder to stand out from your peers, but there is far, far, far more social pressure. I'm sure the internet compounds that, which we didn't have in my day, and need-blind admissions is causing it to spread to less wealthy areas, as well.

[AlphaFrog]

I went to a private prep school (graduated 2001) where getting into a lot of colleges was a BIG DEAL. They even printed the list of where everyone was accepted in the graduation program. I was sort of an oddity. My parents would only pay for in-state. There were only 2 in-state colleges that had my major. One I was missing a credit for, and besides was only 45 minutes from home - too close. The other had a one-page application with no fee and I was already guaranteed acceptance into their honors college because of my ACT score. I had ZERO stress college hunting. I don't remember the particulars, but I believe tuition & fees were around $7500/semester and then $1500-2000 for dorms.

[melindawarren]

New-timer chiming in.

I knew I wanted USC or UCLA. Which one of the two I wanted always flip-flopped. Before my sophomore year of HS, I went to camp at UCLA, and at the beginning of the camp, I was obsessed with UCLA. After a week, I was pretty disenchanted. Then, the following summer, I did another program at UCLA and decided that UCLA was it. After that, I started researching colleges more seriously, and decided to tour USC. After the tour, I was...not sold. I happened to inadvertently pick the day of the involvement fair and it was unusually hot. Not very pleasant, and I left feeling like, "UCLA it is!" But then I went to another event at SC on a cooler day and an event at UCLA a few days later, and I realized that USC was the better fit. Nonetheless, I still applied to both.

Being me, I finished my applications crazy-early. I only applied to four schools: UCLA, USC, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Long Beach (safeties). My plan was to apply to UCLA and USC only, because I really only wanted those two, but I was (mistakenly) told that the Cal States would process my applications really fast and I'd get a response in about a week. Lies! I finished my applications over Veteran's Day weekend and went to Disneyland to celebrate. No Common App for me, just 3 different essays.

I heard from USC in January, during the scholarship admit period. I saw my acceptance packet in the mail and screamed for my mom. We jumped up and down, and then I ran into the house to call my dad (an SC alum) and began crying tears of joy. I have never worked harder or longer for one result, so it felt amazing to know that I not only got in, but that I got in so early (and the week before finals. Who am I kidding?).

When I got into UCLA, I just didn't have the same feeling. For everyone I've heard saying that the switch to email-only admissions is the way to go, I have to strongly disagree. There is nothing like the feeling of getting the "big envelope" and knowing that you're in.

I (obviously) ultimately chose USC. In the end, the main reason was that I was sick of being in a public school and having to struggle to keep programs alive. At basically the same time that I got my acceptance, the Dornsifes made their (very generous) mega-donation to SC and the College became Dornsife. I had the privilege of hearing Dana Dornsife speak in one of my classes last semester, and it reinforced a huge part of why I chose USC: Trojans seem to really care and want to come back and help later on. They just care so much about keeping the school excellent.

Back on track here: I am very fortunate to have a scholarship. Ironically, even though I come from a very name-recognizable public high school, I got the 5th best admissions offer. Not to look down on my offer, but I would expect more Ivies out of my high school class! It's just really, really hard in the modern application game to know whether you're right or wrong. The things that people told me I shouldn't do (I remember sending one of my essays to someone to read and getting the response of, "it sounds like you're so into [what you do] that you don't really want to be a college student, so you shouldn't send this essay") are the things that made me successful at applying. Instead of trying to buy into the "colleges want athletes/community activists/Nobel Prize Winners" dilemma, I picked activities that interested me and ran with them and had an amazing time. I made it so the colleges had to want me--my stats, my activities, my essays. It worked. I did not get one rejection.

My sister is currently a junior in high school and researching her options. She has a longer list than I do, with a distinct "top choice," several "I would be happy there" choices, and a few "I want to learn more, but I think this is a good place for me" schools. It's hard to explain safety/reach/match (and I hate those terms, because they are so ridiculous in the end), because she's applying to very specialized programs.

Either way, it's so different now, and I know I got a lot of flack for only applying to four schools (not to mention, I probably would not have gone to the other two for a variety of reasons) and applying on what I thought was right, not what the admissions machine tells you is right.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

For everyone I've heard saying that the switch to email-only admissions is the way to go, I have to strongly disagree. There is nothing like the feeling of getting the "big envelope" and knowing that you're in.

I threw out my admissions envelop because it wasn't some thick envelope or specially marked or anything. At that time, I was getting like ten letters/flyers/postcards every day from schools asking me to apply, and they all went straight in the trash.

I think my masters was done via e-mail, but I don't really remember. I went somewhere fairly non-selective, though, so there was no suspense.

For my doctorate, I was offered a fellowship from the graduate college that arrived (via e-mail) before the acceptance from my department (via snail mail).

Maybe I'll have to apply for a fourth degree so I can get an envelope :-)

[AnchorAlumna]

First generation college here.
My parents were Depression-era kids so they knew how to make Abe scream for mercy. They encouraged me to go to college, but I knew they were worried about the cost. I was a good student, but just average, so no scholarships for me.

My first dream was to go to the University of Tennessee (one of the few colleges I had laid eyes on), but with out of state tuition being double (then), that was out of the question. I applied to both Alabama and Auburn and was accepted to both, but I really only wanted Alabama. I could have gone to another smaller state university an hour away, and even gotten a scholarship to a Methodist-affiliated small college 20 minutes way, but my goal was to be close enough for my parents to drive down and back on a Sunday, but far away enough that it would not be an every-Sunday trip!

In the early 1970s, tuition was $350 a semester. $350! There was a $50 per semester student activity fee...I don't remember food costs. Living in the sorority house was cheaper than living in the dorm, and the food was infinitely better.

A few years before she died, my mom commented on how economical it was for me to go to college. She even said it was cheaper than me living at home!
No essays....I do remember it was $50 for the Alabama application and $75 for the Auburn one.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

In the early 1970s, tuition was $350 a semester. $350! There was a $50 per semester student activity fee...

I'm a decade or so later than you. but four years of college and three years of law school cost my parents around $6,000 tuition and fee-wise.

I applied to two colleges -- the one I wanted to go to and the one that I was nominated by my high school faculty for a full ride to (but didn't get). When it came time for law school, I applied to five.

[melindawarren]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I threw out my admissions envelop because it wasn't some thick envelope or specially marked or anything. At that time, I was getting like ten letters/flyers/postcards every day from schools asking me to apply, and they all went straight in the trash.

I think my masters was done via e-mail, but I don't really remember. I went somewhere fairly non-selective, though, so there was no suspense.

For my doctorate, I was offered a fellowship from the graduate college that arrived (via e-mail) before the acceptance from my department (via snail mail).

Maybe I'll have to apply for a fourth degree so I can get an envelope :-)

SC sends the prettiest admissions package ever. You get a really gorgeous folder that says "Welcome to the Trojan Family," and inside the folder, there's a nicely arranged certificate, the letter, and all the other information. Really, really nice.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by melindawarren

SC sends the prettiest admissions package ever. You get a really gorgeous folder that says "Welcome to the Trojan Family," and inside the folder, there's a nicely arranged certificate, the letter, and all the other information. Really, really nice.

Pepperdine's is gorgeous, too. Everything those two schools send out is beautifully done.

[dukemama]

I entered college way back in 1983 and applied to 15 schools. It was my father's idea, and needless to say I was notorious in my HS's guidance department. Fortunately most of them took the common application (is that still around?) so it wasn't incredibly time-consuming. I'm just amazed that my parents agreed to pay all of those application fees which even back then weren't cheap.

I got into 11 of the 15 schools to which I applied, but narrowed my choices down pretty easily. Duke wasn't even on my radar when I first started the process; I had my heart set on Northwestern until I stepped foot on Duke's campus.

[LAblondeGPhi]

I remember that my acceptance letter from Cal started off saying something like "This is it, you got the big envelope. The one with the acceptance letter."

Of course, I had already checked the website, so I already knew. Oh, and it was a spring semester admission. I understand that's somewhat unique among universities. I know the other UCs don't do it.