From the Wall St Journal: A select group of colleges is making it easier to apply—but probably harder to get in. Top schools including Tulane University, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are reducing the number of essays applicants have to submit. Colleges say that they are trying to ease students’ stress, and that artificial intelligence has made it harder to tell whether students are actually doing the writing. The moves will likely increase applications, potentially making admissions more cutthroat, college counselors say. Texas Christian University experienced a roughly 14% jump in applications after removing two of its supplemental essays last year.
Schools are “trying to become more competitive,” said Caroline Koppelman, founder of an admissions firm. For students deciding where to apply, an extra essay “can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back a little bit, or at least the straw that makes you not apply to that school.” A lower admissions rate improves schools’ rankings and “protects their prestige,” said Christopher Rim, chief executive of admissions firm Command Education. “A lot of that is really artificial.”
With the population of college-goers shrinking in coming years, higher-education institutions are fighting over a smaller pie—and supplemental essays can deter applicants...
Full story at https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/colleges-essays-supplemental-applications-admissions-9e7f8651.
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