With over 60% of secondary school graduates in the US pursuing higher education immediately after graduation, choosing to attend college has become an increasingly important decision. As more students hope to further their education, the requirements to get accepted into desirable universities have been extremely challenging for most people– even for prodigies. The admissions process to take part in any college program has changed dramatically over the years, and prestigious institutions have adopted more selective standards to promote the achievement of their student body. Student creation of passion projects and volunteer initiatives, paired with extracurriculars fueled by schools and other organizations, have helped mitigate challenges faced by students hoping to get into these increasingly picky colleges. Still, the mixture of rising attendance costs and admissions process frustrations have greatly impacted the difficulty of going to college, potentially discouraging future generations from receiving degrees after high school.
Standardized Testing Requirements
While numerous important factors require consideration when applying for college– including personal essays and extracurriculars– standardized testing is among the most commonly known and regarded data to determine whether you are accepted. Over 18 million students enrolled in some form of tertiary education in 2023 alone, emphasizing strong academics to be unique in the admissions process. Additionally, College Board reported roughly 1.9 million students took the SAT from the class of 2023, compared to 1.7 million the previous year, demonstrating further that going to college has become a key topic for high school graduates. However, many universities have become “test-optional,” meaning that not submitting test scores will not affect your chances of admission.
As entrance exams become more popular, and it’s important to understand that they’re not cheap ($68 plus any international fees), the necessity to obtain high scores has also grown immensely. With the acceptance rates of many colleges falling, especially those that are more selective, there is a greater importance to achieving higher scores to be “good enough” to attend college. According to a Pew Research case study, 61% of high schoolers feel pressured to just get grades deemed as “good” by peers– much more so by prestigious institutions and testing agencies.
Overall, many aspects stress today’s students, whether it be the actual achieved test scores or the social emphasis on their academic well-being. As the application process becomes more accessible, there is an even greater difficulty in getting into desired schools. Standardized testing isn’t meant to be a determiner or irritating when it comes to college, yet it has gradually changed in a challenging way for most students. It is important to recognize that the SAT or ACT is not a determining factor; most colleges consider the other factors in your application before making a decision.
Rising Costs of Tuition and Housing
It is not a fallacy that college can be expensive; students pay over $38,000 each year for overall tuition and living expenses, with out-of-state tuition for 4-year institutions being above $28,300 per year. The huge amounts of money to just attend college, not to mention the costs of travel, transportation, and late nights at food halls, have grown to a figure inconceivable to many families across the country. While the government and universities may provide financial aid, some groups need more to afford college. These rising costs not only make going to college harder, but also life after.
With the typical cost of attendance increasing 4.11% year over year, many alumni have been left with huge amounts of debt after graduation. This expanding figure represents prolonged periods of paying bills and an impediment to financial freedom for college graduates entering the workforce. Debt is difficult for everybody, not just college graduates, but the obligation to pay back huge student loans right out of college inhibits many lives after graduation. Those enrolled in graduate school feel these effects even worse, with the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of dollars being combined with federal student loan rates, which average around 6.5-9%, according to Bankrate. High rates on private loans strain the task of going to college even worse, though in general, the amount of debt poses a strong challenge for students.
As salaries for entry-level positions after college steadily increase, so does the cost of tuition. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) projects that annual salaries of college graduates with Discipline/Bachelor’s Degrees range from $60,000-$76,000 based on employer data. While these wages are fairly similar, they are primarily averaged based on entry-level positions. Now, there is no doubt that that isn’t a good amount of money– yet the costs of getting an education to achieve those jobs overshadow that figure immensely. Paying off the education debts disturbs the quality of life before and after graduating from university.
Housing has also been of growing concern, with many universities requiring first-year students to live on campus for a minimum of a year. With this steep requirement, the cost of college jumps yet again, adding more and more fees to the price of education. Rutgers (New Brunswick) reports that living in a dorm for undergraduates will cost between $9,000 to $16,000. For two years, that cost is over $20,000 just to stay on campus. Additionally, Rutgers is a public research university, meaning the government subsidizes it. Other schools, including out-of-state and private universities, may have higher costs of tuition and housing that will further the longevity of student loans. Moreover, most colleges allow students to choose their housing in their upper-class years, but students are still faced with inflated housing costs and economic inequalities in the normal world.
Personal Essays and Supplements
Considered strenuous and time-consuming, the personal essay is the most common form of essay required for college as it explains your background and who you are. Along with potential supplements to help admissions officers know you better, the amount of essays that universities ask for is hefty. With College Board recommending students apply for a minimum of 5 institutions, the majority of the application process will be writing the essays. Students who cannot decide on only a handful of colleges and apply to a greater many end up putting themselves in situations to spend even more time crafting narratives and responses to the prompts, which may prove challenging to handle with school work and “senioritis.”
While the personal essay may be hard, the supplements can be even harder, with some schools asking a couple of questions and ensuing hours of just brainstorming what to write. Looking for what colleges want you to write, and then executing it properly, makes being admitted to a college program very overwhelming. The infamous “Why us?” essays tend to be very labor-intensive, with schools looking for specific details about their organization that cannot be found on their main webpage. University of Pennsylvania reports that they look for three supplemental letters and essays, prompting students to “write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge… [write] how will you explore the community at Penn… [and] the school-specific prompt.” The questions may seem uncomplicated, yet administrators look deeply into the open-ended responses– deciding whether you get in or not.
Essays are not limited to admissions, however. Many of the high-ticket scholarships are based on either merit or athletic ability and ask for your plans for the future, background/influences, and other achievements. Throwing a greater workload onto high school applicants, the multitude of papers necessary for acceptance is very demanding. Without enough preparation, the essays may be heavier than you can handle.
How Can You Make It Easy?
College is hard. No doubt. Yet there are some things you can do to make it easier. Making yourself unique, highlighting why you’re a leader, taking initiative, and relating your values to the rest of your application (and showing them through ECs) are all characteristics of a successful application. Among most universities, impact and leadership qualities are significant when being considered for enrollment– whether it be volunteering or raising money for a foreign cause, it is crucial to document your influence and show it through your application. Knowing which schools are of interest to you not only removes the weight of acceptance but also lessens the burden of money throughout those four years. Having good marks, such as high SAT/ACT scores or a phenomenal essay, also strengthens the possibility of going to your desired college, yet not always attainable. Recall that institutions look at applications holistically, so having a good balance of achievements may notably increase your opportunities.
Scholarships are single-handedly the best way to make affording college easier, so applying for them based on merit or sports can change everything.
This article is definitely not enough to navigate you through the college process, so do your research about the specific schools you want to attend. Visiting the campuses, attending virtual tours and webinars, talking to students and admissions officers, and creating a list to record the pros and cons of going to each university can help you determine what is the best fit. Schools report specific data and statistics of their most recent student body, and their websites or social media pages can also provide valuable information on what values they look for.
