Has the economy given the wealthy another advantage in college admissions? The recent behavior of colleges seem to indicate so. Colleges which were once need blind are becoming need aware in admitting students, particularly for students who are waitlisted and for international students. For instance Middlebury, Wake Forest and Tufts are looking at financial aid requests in admitting waitlisted students.

After eliminating early applications a couple of years ago, Harvard and Princeton have decided to reinstate early action applications. The experiement of allegedly trying to increase diversity in the applicant pool has come to an end. Since more and more students are using the early application route, it is likely that these universities believe they are missing out on some key applicants. The practical reason, however, may be that the admissions office is trying to alleviate the heavy workload with one deadline.

California public university financial woes continue to have a significant impact on other states’ colleges and universities. Earlier this week, Bill Graves, an education journalist with The Oregonian, reported in his blog at Oregon Live that Oregon universities and colleges are bracing for record Fall enrollments, not only at Oregon public institutions, but at its private colleges as well. One of the main reasons for this trend-“ California financially-strapped state universities”.

A refreshing and insightful article appeared this week in the UCLA Daily Bruin concerning the types of students being admitted by highly selective colleges, and in particular, UCLA.

I thought I had heard and seen almost everything concerning college admissions, yet I was awestruck by CNN’s report this week on highly educated moms taking a leave from their careers to usher their children through the college admissions process. Please say it isn’t so! While I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I probably got more involved than I should have in my sons’ journeys through college admissions, I would have never dreamed of quitting my day job.