Congratulations to the Dunbar Class of 2026!
Congratulations to our Class of 2026! You are the kids who transitioned from remote middle school during COVID to in-person high school, and you hit the ground running. We are so proud of all your acceptances and can’t wait to hear what you do in college. Here is a list of those acceptances.
Last week, our team gathered to review our results for the Class of 2026. Several trends we reported on last year continue –
- The importance of Early Decision commitments and early applications in general. (National data indicates that, for the first time, more early applications were submitted this year than Regular Decision applications.)
- For those colleges where students apply into a specific major, fit-to-major is critical. Therefore, if your student wants to apply as an engineer or business major, for example, they need either classwork or extracurriculars that demonstrate that interest and aptitude.
- We’re still seeing large numbers of waitlisted and deferred students as colleges hone their enrollment management strategies; this means that the admissions process extends into the spring for many students after the initial admissions decision.
- Demonstrated interest continues to shape admissions decisions, particularly at institutions where a student is above-profile, highlighting the importance of engaging with colleges through a range of interactions, including visiting campuses and attending online admissions events.
Beyond the universe of our own students, we are seeing other trends worth noting.
- More highly selective colleges are going back to requiring test scores as rampant grade inflation has made high school transcripts less useful. More students are now submitting test scores than not for the first time since the pandemic.
- More colleges are dropping their required supplementary essays for this year’s rising seniors, which will increase their application volume and reduce their admission rates. This decision has also been influenced by the prevalence of AI-generated responses.
- Colleges face increased financial pressure as the population of 18-year-olds declines, federal funds and support for student loans are reduced, and fewer international students choose to come to the US.
- As a result, many colleges are cutting back on student services and academic programs; in the extreme, some smaller institutions are going under. Full pay students will be even more appealing to colleges that rely heavily on tuition.
As always, we are taking everything we learn into consideration as we advise our students on their college lists and early application strategies!