Megan Green Simonds’ Post

Niche Direct Admissions is helping 7️⃣ universities across Missouri boost enrollment and alleviate stress in the admissions process for students! 🚀 #collegeadmissions #highered #directadmissions #missouri

Starting in 2025, The University of Texas at Austin will lower its automatic admissions threshold from the top 6% to the top 5% of Texas high school grads. This change aims to manage growing demand while maintaining access for top students. As competition rises, how will this impact college admissions in Texas? #HigherEd #Admissions #UTAustin #CollegeAccess #TexasEducation #HigherEd #Admissions #UTAustin #CollegeAccess #EducationPolicy #DiversityInEducation #TexasEducation

Yes! Great news for prospective #collegestudents here in Georgia! The University System of Georgia’s new direct admissions program is off to a strong start, despite not getting off the ground until well after classes began last fall, system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said. Nearly 12,000 high school seniors had requested information about the GEORGIA MATCH program through Jan. 7 or taken it a step further by claiming a spot at one of the system’s 23 colleges and universities participating in the initiative. “It’s working as we hoped,” Perdue told members of the university system’s Board of Regents. “(But) it’s the beginning. We’re just getting started.” More than 132,000 seniors received personalized letters from Gov. Brian Kemp last October listing the public universities, colleges and technical colleges they are academically eligible to attend. The letters went on to explain how students can claim a spot being held for them at the institution of their choice. Georgia’s work force development needs drove the planning for GEORGIA MATCH, an effort the Governor’s Office put together in collaboration with the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the university system, the Technical College System of Georgia, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, and the state Department of Education. Three university system institutions — the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia College & State University — are not participating in the program because they have different, more stringent admission requirements. #highereducation #admissions #collegesearch https://lnkd.in/eyin-ADk

Talk about competitive admissions! It is already a 10% OOS acceptance rate which also includes international admissions. I visited UT-Austin along with Baylor and Texas A&M last week. Texas students in the top 10% of their high school are automatically considered for admission at Texas public universities. UT-Austin was at 6% percent, and now it seems has tightened it to the top 5%. They can be admitted to the university, but are not guaranteed to be admitted into their major at UT-Austin. UT-Austin received 73,000 applications. There are approximately 40,000 undergraduates with a total of 52,000 students.

"She was rejected by Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Columbia, and the University of Southern California" even with a perfect score on the ACT. This article highlights that the college application landscape is changing, and now, students need more than great GPAs and SAT scores to get into top schools. If you're a student or parent of one who's applying to college this year, please do not hesitate to reach out. I would be happy to chat and help 😁 #collegeadmissions #NewYorkTimes #highereducation #CollegePrep

What was introduced as the Top 10% rule for in-state automatic admission to The University of Texas at Austin in 1997 is now the Top 6% rule and will soon be Top 5%. The headlines about declining #highereducation enrollment in other parts of the U.S. all feel rather alien living here in #Texas. Our state's population and economy are booming and so is student demand for Texas colleges and universities. 📈 🤘 #HookEm https://lnkd.in/gGFkVHsG

Starting in fall 2026, Texas high school students must rank in the top 5% of their graduating class to gain automatic admission to the University of Texas at Austin, tightening from the current 6% threshold. The university adjusts this cutoff annually to ensure that automatic admissions fill 75% of the freshman class, with the remaining 25% admitted through a holistic review of factors such as GPA, extracurricular activities, and personal essays. https://lnkd.in/gbuBygVK

This is a fascinating read about the increasing complexity of admissions decisions. I especially appreciate the attention to how the most selective institutions' approaches and policies shape the actions of less-selective institutions, which of course makes an already challenging process even more difficult for students and families to navigate.

We just published the 3rd and final installment of our series on “Super Publics”, big public universities that are increasingly enrolling many more students with high board scores. This 3rd part speculates about what is causing this increase. Many Super Publics are located near big, expensive metro areas: "What do Binghamton, Rutgers, UC Santa Barbara and the University of Maryland have in common? Geography.” Located near pricy areas, wealthier suburbs surrounding cities like the NYC, LA and DC metro areas are desirable places to live and hence expensive, with many residents stretching their finances to afford them. Because financial aid processes don’t take into account the high cost of living in these areas, middle class families with decent incomes often find themselves stretched when it comes to college. And the fact that selective private colleges with large financial reserves are increasingly hard to get into and are failing to expand their programs force these families to look at alternatives. After focusing on one example of the dynamic affecting universities near and far from expensive metro areas in Washington state, the post puts forth one of the possible proximate causes - read the post if you want to know what it is - of this student sorting. The series concludes with a look at changes in the student test rankings of top public universities between 2011 and 2019. While the top 4-5 names in the rankings won’t be a surprise, the universities lower down in the top 20 will present some unexpected results, from showing that Binghamton in New York is most certainly a top 10 public university to the high quality of students at the overshadowed U of Texas-Dallas campus. We hope the series has done an informative job of presenting both some granular examples of this trend and some of the causes driving the evolution of the Super Publics. DM me with questions or suggestions. Thanks for reading. https://lnkd.in/eTDfsr7Q

While traditionally perceived as more cost-effective options than four-year institutions, community colleges now offer many of the same opportunities as traditional universities. Check out some underrated facts about community colleges: https://ow.ly/XTQ850R55eG