and, indeed, those are not categories on the spreadsheet 
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Congrats to them! Sounds like theyâll have a fantastic time together. So they both rejected CMU? What were the final factors? How did they both measure âhappiness?â
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Iâm not sure the Daily Mail is a reputable news sourceâŠ.
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I didnât see any statistical evidence to support the factual premise. They cited a nationwide decline in undergrad enrollment since 2018, but nothing I saw supported the specific shift they asserted. And in fact we know from other statistical reviews that the decline in enrollment has hit primarily regional and local colleges, mostly publics, across the country, and not ânationalâ private colleges (in any region).
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Did they cite something about applications declining? I canât remember.
Either way it all falls apart next year when some of the schools move away from test optional. Itâll be a mess. Right now kids just fire them off. I know a kid with an 1170 on his SATs who applied to Yale, but ONLY because it was test optional. If those kids stop applying, those schools will see applications plummet, and therefore experience a requisite expansion in acceptance rate.
Schools that stay test optional might get even MORE 1170s applying, so they will look even MORE selective.
Itâll take years to shake out.
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Not that I saw (and for the record, as I understand it has been a mixed bag this year, with some prominent Northern privates up again in applications, some down).
As far as I can tell, they had that one statistic about a national decline in enrollment, and then just a few anecdotes about kids from the North who went South for college. This is not exactly new.
Oh, and they cited Elon getting an A grade from the ADL, which is great for Elon, but the other A grade was Brandeisâso I am not sure what that shows either. Similarly the Ivies specifically did not do great, but a bunch of Southern colleges got the same grades, so again, not sure what that is supposed to mean. Like, Harvard got an F, but so did UNC and UVA, so . . . .
Anyway, strange article. I note it originated in The Free Press, which very much has a strong editorial stance on these issues. And that is fine, but again I amâletâs say puzzledâby the sourcing.
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@helpingthekid73 random question on the passing the road test and telling insurance â do you not have to get the insurance before they can use the car? Like when they were practicing for their permit hours and then taking the road test? I have a daughter finally who wants to get her license this summer â I assumed she would need to be insured ahead of passing tests.
Oh I didnât even realize this was Daily Mail. I originally saw in The Free Press.
It does have a little data here. But seems to show that apps are growing more in the South than in the North:
Both Brown and Harvard saw dips in their application numbers this yearâby 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively. (Early decisions to Harvard were down 17 percent.) And while applications to private colleges in mid-Atlantic (25.3 percent) and New England (29 percent) states have risen since 2019, the gains have been small compared to Southern colleges, which saw a 42 percent increase overall. The surge is even more pronounced at state schools. Public colleges in the South saw a total 62.4 increase in applicants, more than double their Northern counterparts, according to Common App data from earlier this month.
I note Common App trend data can have some quirks based on whether or not people actually use Common App to apply, and sometimes shifting patterns between platforms. Like it looks like Texas specifically had a big growth in Common App applications, but I think you would at least need to also include ApplyTexas applications in a comprehensive trend analysis. Same deal in California and such.
Edit: So I was curious about the longer articleâs citation of Northern enrollments being up at Southern schools. The thing is, we know enrollments are not actually down at most of the well-known Northern colleges, so if more Northern kids who would have enrolled at such colleges in the past are now enrolling in the South, someone else must be replacing them.
To spot check this, I looked up the Class of 2023 and Class of 2027 profiles for Yale:
So obviously the biggest single change is Yale upped its other/international percentage from 13.2% to 16%. Given that, here are the changes in the domestic-only share (note there are some rounding issues):
Northeast +0.7%
Mid Atlantic -0.8%
South -0.9%
Midwest -1.3%
Southwest +1.5%
West +0.6%
So thatâs interesting. Not really a North to South thing. Actually, more an East to West thing, except NOT including the Northeast.
Not sure I have any big narrative to offer about that, but it is interesting to me.
Edit #2:
Last of these I promise, but I thought it would be interesting to look at just the Most Selective trend by region in Common App applications, since that was the nominal focus of the commentary. Most Selective is <=25% acceptance rate:
Mid-Atlantic +39.2%
Midwest +35.2%
New England +38.4%
South +37.7%
Southwest NA
West +31.0%
To be honest, that is mostly just very consistent! Meaning it doesnât look like there were big regional differences in the increase in Common App applications among Most Selective colleges.
This implies to the extent there was a disproportionate increase in Common App applications in the South versus the North, it was happening within the not-most-selective colleges. Again, though, I caution with Common App applications, that may be missing a lot of relevant applications not done through Common App that could affect the trend analysis.
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We didnât need to get the kids on our insurance before they passed their tests. Not sure if that changes from state to state. Iâd also check with your insurance.
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Well, this is the last week of regular school. The last day is Wednesday! She has to continue to go back for IB tests for 2 more weeks though, so not quite done, but at least itâs not daily and she can sleep in a bit more. And at least homework will be done. I canât believe we are finally here. I am really looking forward to being fully done with high school, but have 2 more years.
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I believe they are covered under your homeowners before they have their own license since they are never driving alone
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Talk with your insurance broker but generally until they have their license they donât need to be added to your auto policy. They will be covered under it while driving with a learners permit.
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Our kids were added to our car insurance while still only having permits, but it didnât cost us anything to have them there until they got licenses.
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D24 has made her decision official- she is going to William & Mary! So excited for her, and hope that she has an amazing four years there!
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They did turn down CMU (others too; they were blursed with many options).
I think âhappinessâ came down simply to their assessment of where they believe theyâd be happiest (while also getting a top notch education).
So, personal and subjective of course, but in their case it had to do with the liveliness of Ann Arbor and the campus itself, the fact that pretty much every weekend all Fall and Winter the place absolutely lights up for sports (which, theyâre not necessarily super into in a vacuum, but, the spillover effect is that everyone is out enjoying themselves even in the cold. No hibernating). That sort of thing.
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Just love that University of Michigan football reignited love for the Killerâs âMr. Brightsideâ
Edited to add this link re: 1st time it was played and tags to Sushiritto and DroidsLooking for
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D24 confirmed yesterday that she is not thinking about college at all except when someone (teachers, friends, siblings, and I) ask her. Otherwise she is just not actively considering the decision. Then I suggested that maybe she knows but is not ready to share her decision with others yet. Nope, she insists that she doesnât know and has made no progress in decciding. Nice! Glad we cleared that up. So two more days and something will happen, I guess.
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Jeff Selingo was posting about this recently. He said âLots of talk in recent days about decline of Northeast and rise of South when it comes to college. Not denying thereâs something to it at the edges, but important to remember that applicants arenât enrollments and the South has a lot of big publics with large applicant pools.â And he reposted this fellow:
https://x.com/JonBoeckenstedt/status/1783573604401311850
It contains charts showing ipeds data from 2010-2022.
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