Ain't Over ‘Til It's Over: A Timely Snapshot Of College Decision-Making In The High-School Class Of 2021
Survey
May. 2021
Sample Size:
1,132
Demographics:
High school students
Topics:
Covid-19
Admissions And Enrollment
Educational Pathways
Top Findings:
- Forty-two percent of students who reported being waitlisted said they would attend the waitlisted school over their current first choice if they were offered admission from the waitlist.
- In total, 21 percent of the respondents who plan to enroll full-time in a 4-year college or university in the fall said they were put on a waitlist at one institution or more.
- BIPOC students were much more likely to report being on a waitlist (29% vs. 18% for Caucasian). Men (29%) were more likely than women (16%) to report being on a waitlist. Higher-income (32%) were more likely than middle- and lower-income groups (18% and 19%).
- Eleven percent respondents report that they are likely to apply to additional schools.
- Eleven percent are uncertain if they’ll submit additional applications.
- Seventy-four percent of respondents have applied to all of the institutions they planned to.
- Forty-one percent of students applying to a reach school named an institution ranked among USNWR Top 25 National Universities (and 61% cited one in the top 50).
- Thirty-eight percent of 4-year college-bound respondents reported applying to a school that they consider to be a reach school. Thirty-seven percent of these because test scores were not required. Twenty-three percent because they thought they’d have a better chance of getting in.