Colby’s Class of 2024 Breaks Records

gointhruaphase
Wed, 19 Aug 2020 02:22:01 +0000

Trying to provide some clarity on admissions policies. Colby has not charged a fee for electronically-submitted applications since 2005. See 2005-06 Common Data Set. In any event, not charging an application fee seems like an odd criticism of a college admissions office, given that that some argue these fees are a cash cow to colleges and certainly they are a barrier for lower income applicants.

An article from the archives of the Colby Echo suggests that the supplemental essay was dropped in the 2010-11 application cycle. See Colby Echo, Echo News Brief at 2 (Feb. 16, 2011).

It is true that Colby became test optional in 2018 (Wesleyan went test optional in 2014, Bates in 1984 and Bowdoin in 1969), but honestly, it looks as though a lot of schools are moving in that direction, pandemic notwithstanding.

It is true that Colby doesn’t offer evaluative interviews anymore, but neither does Middlebury, Amherst, or Williams.

None of these changes occurring over the last two decades, and which straddled administrations, is unusual. In fact, one could point to other schools (such as Chicago) which have gone through similar changes and similar reductions in admissions rates (Chicago’s admission rate in 2005 was 40%). As noted, you should focus on the education offered, not admissions.