5 Questions Facing the Class of 2027 (and My Answers!)

My advice still stands that a student should take the test on which they will perform better, since colleges have no preference for which test is taken. But the new changes to the ACT, intended to make the test more attractive to students, have made things more complicated. First, there are fewer colleges that superscore the ACT. This is old news, but it's still relevant. Schools like Harvard, Penn State, the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will only take scores from one sitting of the ACT. Second, despite the ACT making the Science section optional, some colleges require or recommend that students take it. Boston University and Pomona College require the Science section if you take the ACT. Johns Hopkins and Duke recommend the Science section. And other colleges recommend Science for certain majors/programs. Third, even though most colleges have announced that the Science section is optional, some will count it in the composite, and others won't. This can change the student's composite score. A student who does really well on the Science section but applies to a college that doesn't count it at all might see their composite score go down a point or more. A student who doesn't do as well on the Science section might see their composite go down even more if a college counts the Science score. If you want to avoid all of these considerations, the SAT might be a more straightforward option. 

Business and computer science have been two of the most popular majors for years. Because of this, acceptance rates for these majors have been lower across the board, sometimes significantly lower than the college's overall acceptance rate. Interestingly, though, we are seeing a decrease in popularity for computer science over the last two years. Fear of job placement after graduation and AI have cooled demand. Will the same thing happen with business? Possibly, but right now, business is still on top. This leads some students to list a different major on their application to avoid the increased competition. You have to be careful, though. When a student shows a lot of evidence for one of these majors in terms of coursework and/or activities but lists a different major on their application, it can make the student look disingenuous. So, if you needed a reason to pivot to another major choice, this might be it. But make sure you have the evidence to support that other major choice.

Only a few colleges have admitted to using AI to evaluate applications (or sections of the application) so far. We know that Virginia Tech, Caltech, and the University of North Carolina are using AI in the freshman admissions process. We have to assume more colleges are using it right now, but they aren't admitting to it. If colleges use AI, it can change what makes an essay or an activities list successful. Or it can lead some colleges to rely solely on objective information, such as GPAs and test scores. This year, I edited student essays for Virginia Tech very differently, knowing that their admissions office is specifically using AI to evaluate essays. I made sure the student clearly answered the prompt, first and foremost. And I didn't use poetic license, even though it's one of the ways to keep a human reader engaged. I stuck to the grammar rules that AI follows to a tee. 

 

One of the fatalities of AI is our favorite literary device: the em dash. It has unintentionally (and sometimes falsely) become a sign that a student has used AI to write an essay. And that is incredibly sad for real writers like me! I read a student's personal statement last weekend, and it had six em dashes. When I ran the essay through AI-detection software, it indicated that 25% of the essay showed signs of possible AI-generation. I reduced the number of em dashes to one by adjusting sentences with commas instead. I would encourage students to limit their use of em dashes as well. We don't want admissions officers to think AI was used even if it wasn't. 

 

There is growing evidence that this generation of students is looking beyond elite colleges. They want warmth (both in temperature and campus culture), lower cost of attendance, and a true college experience filled with a robust social life. The large, public universities in the South fit the bill. Their admissions process is a lot more straightforward too. There are often fewer essays, and in some cases, no essays are required. Generous merit scholarships and well-established honors programs draw high-achievers from all over the country, especially the Northeast. If you are tired of the rat race, consider looking at the University of South Carolina, the University of Alabama, and Ole Miss. These colleges still have relatively generous acceptance rates. University of Georgia, Auburn, and Clemson are becoming the new "elite," though. Acceptance rates are dropping as their stars rise. 

There are a lot more questions the Class of 2027 will encounter. One thing is for sure: AI can't always answer them accurately. There is still tremendous nuance to how colleges admit students and how students navigate this process. Make sure you know the difference between an AI answer and a real one.