She was able to reduce the angst by applying early decision to Gettysburg, a college that she had fallen in love with when she visited. A midfielder lacrosse player who said she was recruited by the University of Pennsylvania, Washington and Lee and Bucknell after the summer of her junior year, she said she worried that if she chose one of those schools she might spend too much of her college life playing sports. "I kind of wanted a school where the academics was more important than the athletics," she said.
In addition to the peak in high school seniors, the increase in applications was also due to several other factors, including the ease of applying online and the decision by a number of large universities - including Harvard, Princeton, University of Virginia and the University of Delaware - to do away with early decision.
Students who apply early decision make a binding commitment to enroll at the college if accepted. Colleges liked the certainty of filling at least part of the freshman class early, but it was considered a disadvantage to less affluent students who needed to wait until spring to compare financial aid offers.
Latting, the Johns Hopkins admissions dean, said that meant more top students were going to apply to multiple schools. Hopkins got a record number of applicants and "our applicant pool was stronger than ever before," Latting said. The average SAT of those accepted went up by about 10 points, which was significant, he said, because it was spread over 4,000 students.
That might sound like great news for Hopkins, but Latting said his staff spent a lot of time trying to estimate how many students to admit to get a certain yield. Being cautious, they decided to admit 130 more students this year, he said, and they increased their waiting list to 1,500.
Another factor in the equation, Latting said, is the worsening economy. Fewer people might be able to borrow against home equity or they might have seen a decline in savings.
Guidance counselors agreed, saying that financial aid and scholarships had become very important to families as the cost of college kept rising.
Centennial High School senior Nickolaus Trevino was still waiting to hear about whether he would get a music scholarship to the University of Richmond. If he didn't, he said, he would probably be going to either the University of Delaware or College Park.
Guidance counselors have clearly seen an increase in the number of applicants to in-state schools and community colleges. "We definitely see them use the state schools for financial safety," said Tim Hayden, chairman of guidance at Hereford High School.
And Catonsville High School guidance counselor Kristina Boxley said she believes a higher percentage of her graduates will go to community college this year.
"There are more kids with B averages and decent scores who aren't even applying to four-year colleges. They say I am going to the community college and transfer."
"We tell kids all the time, your degree says College Park or your degree says Duke, it doesn't say CCBC," Boxley said.
While Community College of Baltimore County officials say it is too early to tell if their registrations will be up this year, Howard Community College has seen a large increase.
liz.bowie@baltsun.com
