Dr. Kat Cohen, Founder and CEO of IvyWise, talks about how the higher education industry has evolved over the past 20 years, and what to consider as the college decision deadline approaches.

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How to Navigate the College Waitlist

joining us now is Dr Katz Cohen, founder and Ceo of ivy wise, dr Cohen you know would have been some of the biggest changes in the higher and industry over the past 20 years. Well I think some of the biggest changes were more recent with Covid. So not only with education going online but college visits going virtual and students having to do virtual activities, extracurricular activities but with Covid came a huge movement to go test optional. So right now this year there are over 1800 colleges and universities that were either test optional or completely test blind meaning they didn't even accept S. A. T. Scores or a. C. T. Scores. Um And then we're also seeing right now the S. A. T. Just announced they're making big changes. They're going to go to a completely computer based test. It's going to be shorter, it's going to be two hours. But it's gonna be tough because um with the computer based test you're not going to be able to look ahead and see questions and the question difficulty is going to be adaptive. So how you prepare for that test is going to be really important. What are some of the statistics and trends you're seeing when it comes to the class of 2026? Well what we saw this year is that it was another highly competitive year. Um And we've been seeing that over the last few years. So there's just a rising number of applications at many universities. The students are applying to more universities. Especially because of that test optional policy it's like opening the door for more students all over the world. Um And students are trying to hedge their bets of where they're getting in. So wait lists were very big this year. So right now um uh colleges are trying to manage very yield may 1st as the official you know decision day but what we're seeing in terms of admit rates is so many colleges. Um And at the very high end very selective colleges in the 3% range. Harvard, Columbia stanford M. I. T. And when you think about those numbers think about that 100% of the students applying think they have a chance of getting in and some of these schools are only taking 3%. So it's incredibly competitive especially um at those very selective universities when it comes to young women. What majors are they most interested in, what fields are they pursuing? But also you know how do you think this has changed in recent years? Well what hasn't changed in recent years? And the gap keeps growing and a lot of people don't know this. And if we look at just this year 59.5% that's that of women to men are attending us universities. So it's almost 60% 60 40 women applying to attending and graduating from U. S. Universities. So there are more women actually going to college and that's been going on for the last 30 years that we're seeing more and more women which makes it more competitive for young women in the admissions process in terms of majors. We're seeing women mostly in the health care profession, professions, biology, biomedical sciences, psychology. We're also seeing women more bridge the gap between stem and humanities. However, there really is a stark difference between um women and men with engineering degrees. We're seeing about 23% of women with those degrees versus 77% of men with those engineering degrees. You know, the college decision deadline that is quickly approaching, How can young students best evaluate and weigh their options for for such a huge decision? Well, I think if students right now are in that process of deciding where um where to, you know, deposit by May 1st, they need to go back to look at all the schools they've been admitted to and go back and do their due diligence, their research, they need to look at really, what is that experience gonna be like? So many colleges are offering are offering in person acceptance days or virtual acceptance days. So you want to attend those and you want to see what the college is going to offer you and look at everything from courses to professors to research opportunities, internship opportunities. What will, what will your experience really be like? And then the other thing we tell students is make sure you're comparing um financial aid offers. So maybe you've got a great offer at college A but not college B. You could actually call College B and say I got this amazing offer at College Aid can match it for me. Um And this is the time when I would say students have like the ball is in their court and they have a little bit more power when they're deciding for those who are, you know, wait listed. How can young students navigate? Um, you know, the wait list and the worry around that. So we saw rampant wait listing this year. And I think it's important to understand um for a student to understand what their priorities are. So if they have, if they're weightless at a school that truly is their number one choice. Um first of all you want to let the note, let the students, the school know that you want to remain on that wait list, right? So you have to fill out whatever they give you to remain on the waitlist. And oftentimes they'll ask for a letter of interest and in that letter that student can say you are still my first choice school. And if I'm admitted from the waitlist, I will definitely attend. You're making a binding commitment that goes a long way and then you can update the school and what you've been doing both in and outside the classroom since you applied. Um So showing that continued interest is important and I would say the other thing is if you're not interested in one of your weightless schools, please do not keep yourself on that wait list. Free up a spot for another student who really wants to go there. Such great insight and advice. They really appreciate your time, dr Katz Cohen, founder and Ceo of Ivy Wise.