General

Lots of changes this year

By Lee Shulman Bierer
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Admissions policies, testing expectations, and the number of essays a student needs to write are all fluid pieces in the puzzle of college admissions.

This year, like many other years, much has changed. Below is a list of the changes in admissions plans for the Class of 2024.

Colleges that have added Early Action (EA) non-binding – deadline 11/1)* or EA2 – 1/15 deadline:

  • Auburn University
  • Cornell University (replaced Early Decision (ED) 1 with EA)
  • Earlham College – EA2 added
  • Florida Gulf Coast University
  • Juniata College
  • Union College
  • University of Detroit – Mercy
  • University of Southern Maine

Colleges that have removed EA:

  • Dickinson – EA1
  • Pace University – EA2
  • Trinity University – EA2

Colleges that have added ED 1 – (deadline 11/1) or ED 2 (deadline 1/15/20)*, all are binding:

  • Bentley – ED2
  • Boston College – EA replaced with ED1 and ED2
  • College of the Holy Cross – ED2
  • Howard University – ED1
  • University of Virginia – ED1

In addition to these changes, the 2020 Princeton Review Best 385 Colleges** has recently been released. Here’s some new information that may help in your college search:

Top 5 schools where professors get the highest marks:

  1. Sarah Lawrence College
  2. Reed College
  3. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
  4. Mt. Holyoke College
  5. St. John’s College (MD)

Where professors get the lowest marks:

  1. University of Hawaii of Manoa
  2. Stevens Institute of Technology
  3. Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge
  4. University of Connecticut
  5. University of Kentucky

Where students are satisfied with their school:

  1. Vanderbilt University
  2. Tulane University
  3. Kansas State University
  4. Brown University
  5. University of Wisconsin – Madison

Happiest students:

  1. Auburn University
  2. Vanderbilt University
  3. Kansas State University
  4. University of Oklahoma

Least happy students:

  1. Xavier University of Louisiana
  2. Simmons University
  3. Seton Hall University
  4. United State Naval Academy
  5. St. John’s University (NY)

Best food:

  1. University of Massachusetts – Amherst
  2. Bowdoin College
  3. Washington University in St.Louis
  4. Cornell University
  5. Virginia Tech

*Check each school’s deadlines, they may vary slightly

**Last year’s guide was the Best 384. They added a new one this year – shoot me an email (lee@collegeadmissionsstrategies.com) with which one(s) have been added and if any have been removed and I’ll send you a great book for your college admissions library!

Please also let me know if you are aware of other changes in this year’s applications or essays.

Bierer is an independent college adviser based in Charlotte. Send questions to: lee@collegeadmissionsstrategies.com; www.collegeadmissionsstrategies.com