It was already shaping up to be one of the most chaotic college application seasons ever, with high school seniors facing the end of affirmative action, glitches in the federal financial aid system, concerns over soaring tuition costs and anxiety fueled by the ever-increasing competition to get into top colleges.
Then came the protests and arrests, canceled commencements, confrontations with police and angry debates on campuses across the U.S., reviving tensions that began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza.
The renewed turmoil serves as a backdrop to the May 1 deadline for many high school seniors to pick a college. For the brightest students across America, it’s a choice that used to be easy: Go to the best college, regardless of cost. But skyrocketing prices and greater awareness about the burden of student debt have gradually shifted that calculus. Add on everything else, and it could further encourage decisions that might have been unthinkable in years past.
Consider the choice for Lila Anafi, a high school senior from the Philadelphia suburbs: attend the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Even though she would have gotten a roughly 75% tuition discount at Penn because her dad works there, putting estimated costs at about $40,000 a year, she picked UNC — where she got a full ride. She said she’s heard tales of “cutthroat” competition at Penn and thinks UNC might be a better fit culturally. Still, she worries about passing on the Ivy League.
“I worry I’m going to have a more difficult time getting jobs than I would otherwise,” she said.
That nagging concern about the return on investment is why making snap judgments based on the current environment is tricky, especially for those who got into top schools, said Leelila Strogov, chief executive of the college counseling company AtomicMind. Parents with children who have committed to highly ranked universities that haven’t been gripped by protests are glad they’re avoiding the Ivy League, where the spotlight seems to burn brighter, she said.
Yet, the draw of the most elite institutions remains strong for those who got accepted.
“It’s hard to resist the Ivy League when you have it in your pocket,” Strogov said. “Once you have the opportunity, for the most part, you are taking it.”
Campus protests
The Ivy League has been at the center of the campus turbulence. Students at Harvard, Yale and Columbia have erected pro-Palestinian encampments, demanding that the schools divest from Israel. Some protesters have threatened Jewish students and expressed support for Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. The universities are trying to figure out in real time how to balance free speech with maintaining order.
Dozens of students at Columbia entered a building known as Hamilton Hall after midnight Tuesday and barricaded themselves inside, saying they wouldn’t leave until the school yields to demands to divest its Israel holdings, according to the university’s student newspaper. At Yale, meanwhile, police began clearing an encampment and threatening to arrest protestors.
In the fall, some Jewish high school seniors, concerned by the antisemitism that burst into public view, decided to skip applying to Penn, Harvard and Columbia in favor of places where the atmosphere was less tense. Last week, Brandeis University extended its transfer deadline, seeking to woo students concerned about their safety by offering “an environment striving to be free of harassment and Jew-hatred.”
Yeshiva University said it was reopening its portal for transfer applicants and that it has created new faculty positions for professors “interested in being part of an institution whose core values align with their own.”
“No Jewish student should have to face the threats and intimidation that have sadly been taking place,” Ari Berman, Yeshiva’s president, said in a letter.
Prestige and costs
This year’s decision day also comes with heftier price tags. Many elite colleges now charge more than $90,000 a year, even with persistent questions about whether the most selective universities are worth the cost as millions struggle to cover student loan payments.
Getting into college is more competitive than ever, and with many wealthy families subscribing to an “Ivy or bust” mentality, parents have been willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to luxury consultants who all but guarantee admission to top schools.
Kristy Garcia, a first-generation college student from New Jersey, is waiting until the last minute to decide between Harvard or Duke. Garcia, a Peruvian-American who wants to study computer science and public policy, said she’s weighing whether to prioritize prestige and brand name, which would lead her to Harvard, or cultural fit, which would point towards Duke.
“It’s difficult for me to choose,” Garcia said. “It’s hard being swayed by the Harvard name because then it’s like, do I really like Harvard? Or am I only going because of the prestige?”
Affirmative action
The unique challenges that have collided this year began before current high school seniors began applying to schools, when the Supreme Court banned affirmative action. That left many students and families with questions about whether or not to mention race in their applications, and forced schools to find new ways to hit their diversity goals.
Rokhyatou Toure, a high school senior from Detroit, heard about the decision while she was writing her college essays. She spent days pondering whether to include anything about her race, gender or even socioeconomic status.
She ended up writing about her family, which is originally from Senegal, and their traditions. She’ll attend Columbia in the fall.
“There was a lot of contradiction because campuses are saying on the website that they want diversity and they want broad perspectives,” she said. “It was a very scary time for me, especially navigating the whole process alone and not knowing what could happen.”
Francesca Maglione, Bloomberg , 2024-04-30 20:24:50
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