News Reporter
Choate once again has had a very strong year for college acceptance. Head of College Counseling Mr. Dean Jacoby sums things up in just two words, “Great Year.” Not only did Choate students get into quality schools, but most students also found schools that fit them rather than just focusing on a name. Individual stories are positive and it is fair to say Choate students were definitely successful.
As most people who have had experience with the college process, either personally or through a family member, can attest, getting into college is a long and grueling process. Now in May, the process for most of this year’s seniors is over. The numbers look quite favorably for Choate. Forty percent of Choate students who applied to Ivies got into at least one. Just under 70% of Choate students who applied to Baron’s Top 50 Colleges got into one as well. Choate students who applied to schools early decision or early action also had success. Of the 66% of the senior class who applied early, over 50% percent were accepted. Considering the extremely high number of applicants this year, the numbers look quite good.
Comparing Choate’s acceptance rates with other New England prep schools is difficult because schools like to keep their college acceptance statistics to themselves for privacy reasons. However, Jacoby notes that given the high level of applicants across the nation, he is sure that other schools were similar to Choate.
This year’s success won’t have any major impact on Choate students. The College Counseling Office isn’t starting any radical new programs, but it just plans on continuing the process that helped generate high admittance numbers for the class of 2007. This includes continuing initiatives from this year like small group meetings, adding more counselors to decrease the student to counselor ratio and essay tutorials at dinnertime. Jacoby shares the belief that most Choate students are prepared for college, and this impresses college admission officers. This in turn then builds up a favorable reputation for Choate students. Every year the process repeats itself. Future Choate students are then looked on favorably by colleges increasing their chances of getting accepted.
The nation had a record number of applicants apply to colleges this year. The total of 3.2 million was 100,000 greater than last year’s number and 800,000 greater than the amount who graduated in 1994 (New York Times). Ivy league schools had acceptance rates commonly lower than 10%. For example, Columbia received a total 18,018 applications (New York Times). Columbia only accepted 1,618 of these applications (New York Times). That gives Columbia an 8.9% acceptance rate (New York Times). Comparing that number to Choate’s 25% acceptance rate really puts things into perspective about the competitiveness of college admissions.
Jacoby notes part of the success “is a reflection of the hard work of students who did a lot of researching. They did a lot of work to find what’s best for them.” Jacoby was impressed that students didn’t just shoot for big name schools like Yale and Harvard. Most students tried to find the right match for them.
Sadly, every year not everyone is happy. Some students aren’t a hundred percent happy about where they might end up next year and the College Counseling Office is still at work. Thus all numbers are not final. Jacoby says “to expect a couple of changes.” In fact Jacoby and other members of the College Counseling Office are planning on visiting schools in the New York area such as Columbia, Barnard, and NYU to try to help get Choate students off waitlists and into these schools.
Every year, the college process happens, and every year there are those that are pleased and those that aren’t. This year it seems that most Choate students are happy where they will be next year. Those that aren’t can still have hope because college counselors are still working for them. Although one can describe the college process in many ways with many expletives, Jacoby sums up the Choate college process simply, “The college process is not fun, but working for Choate students is fun.”
