<p>The competition is really that intense. I would seriously cringe if my dream school received more recognition for winning some football games or excelling at some academics-related task. I wouldn’t even wear any clothing related to my dream school out in public because I don’t want to advertise it. I don’t want to have to face even more competitors than there already are.</p>
<p>Did anyone else feel the same way?</p>
<p>What are you talking about? How would wearing clothes or winning an athletics competition hurt your chances of being accepted? I think you need to read up on the basics of how the admissions process works…</p>
<p>More recognition doesn’t mean that your school is going to get more applicants to seriously affect your chances in one year. Decreases in acceptance rates are broad trends, but in 1-3 years they won’t change much - if Columbia’s acceptance rate is 6% this year, in 1-3 years it will probably be anywhere from 5-7%.</p>
<p>Besides, I think that some of the top schools are decreasing their acceptance rates without necessarily changing the caliber of students they accept. Certainly over the past 20 or even 10 years the students have gotten more competitive, but a lot of the plummeting rates has also had to do with wider knowledge of the top schools, more students going to college and advertising. Many of the large number of students who apply to Harvard or Columbia or Yale aren’t competitive for admission, but they want to apply anyway just in case. I had a few friends in high school who were at best borderline who applied to Harvard; they had no intention of going and most were at best borderline candidates, but their parents pressured them so that they could potentially brag that their kid got into Harvard (or they wanted to be able to brag themselves).</p>
<p>And if your school is a little-known top private university or college, then you’re probably going to elicit “What is that?” reactions from people.</p>