What’s Trending This College Season?

The Class of 2018 is winding down from the highly competitive college admissions process. Most students have committed to schools or they are stuck in the waiting game, hoping to move off the waitlist of their top college. With another season of applications complete, there are new trends to report from a graduating class that applied to some of the most diverse colleges and universities in SHS history.

The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, rings in another win this year for the most applications from Scituate High seniors. This was expected, as over 20 students from the Class of 2017 currently attend UMass Amherst. But this year, a new UMass trend popped up in the Class of 2018 applications: UMass Boston. According to SHS Guidance Counselor Sharon Mohr, UMass Boston is becoming “increasingly popular amongst students.” She believes UMass Boston is on the rise and will become more competitive within the next few years, as the campus is expanding with more dormitories and housing options.

According to statistics collected from Naviance (the software that SHS uses to connect students to the college application process), the number of applicants from SHS to Fordham University and The University of South Carolina doubled this year, as about 30 people applied to each school, compared to around 15 to each in 2017. Providence College remained a consistent 35 applicants for two years in a row. Applications to The University of Tampa tripled, as 12 people applied this year, compared to only four in the past two years.

As much as Scituate students are branching out to different schools, many others have remained popular over the years. The University of New Hampshire and Roger Williams University have “always been popular,” according to Mohr. Boston University consistently had about 30 SHS applicants for the past three years. Mohr said the “Three B’s,” Bentley University, Babson College, and Bryant University, “have always been popular choices for potential business majors.” However, applications to Bentley and Babson drastically decreased this year in comparison to previous years. Over two years, applications to Bentley decreased from 24 to 8, and applications to Babson decreased from 10 to 4. Applications to Bryant, conversely, increased from 20 in 2016 to 24 in 2018, after a slight decrease in 2017.

Some local colleges saw a decrease in SHS applicants, including Boston College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.  According to Mohr, the availability of merit money may have been a factor. “Kids are looking to apply to target schools because they can get more money,” she said. Students may be applying to fewer “reach” schools because they are looking for scholarship money. Mohr emphasized the importance of finances, as it is a major factor in determining which college to attend. 

College application fees, ranging from $30-$80, didn’t deter some SHS students from applying to multiple schools. According to Mohr, some seniors sent 10-14 college applications, instead of the suggested 7-8 applications. However, Mohr commented that “students do a good job looking at target, reach, and safety schools.”

Mohr emphasized how important it is for a student who gets into a highly competitive school performs well in college. She explained, “It’s sort of like a trend. The schools tend to accept other students from Scituate High if another student does well.” Mohr mentioned this occurred about ten years ago with schools like the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University.This year, there were several new schools added to the high school’s record of acceptances. For the first time in years, potentially even the first time in SHS history, students were accepted to Columbia University and The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.