Page 4 - KnightTime News Fall 2019
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KNIGHTtime News
GUIDING YOUR COLLEGE PROCESS
 By Bea Hodavdekar
This past May, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC) conference with colleagues from Harker
School, Trinity College, University
of Michigan, and Menlo. I brought these particular colleagues together in an effort to analyze admissions trends, specifically those related
to engineering admissions. Each institution was chosen for a specific reason: as a former admission officer, I know Harker has a strong engineering applicant pool, and I thought their college counseling department could provide valuable insight into trends they have seen for this type of applicant. As a college counselor, I know students are attracted to the University
of Michigan for its engineering program, and on balance, Trinity College is known for being one of few liberal arts colleges to offer an engineering program. As such, both institutions could provide helpful insights. Lastly, Matt Mettille, Menlo School’s College Counseling director, worked at Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C., and could provide a unique perspective by comparing east and west coast engineering admission trends. Together, these
perspectives produced an interesting examination of engineering admission trends.
Perhaps the most noteworthy trend observed across these different institutions is the dramatic increase in engineering applications. For example, in the fall of 2014, the University of Michigan received 12,607 engineering applicants, of which 28% were admitted. By fall 2019, the number of engineering applicants had increased to 17,713, a 40% increase in just five years. In addition, the admit rate decreased to 19%. Similarly, Trinity College has seen an increase in students who indicate an interest in engineering (whereas at Michigan students apply
to a specific major, students at Trinity don’t apply to a specific major). In fall 2016, 5,884 students had indicated an interest in engineering; by fall 2018, that number had increased
to 6,079, and Trinity expects the numbers to keep climbing.
From the college counseling side, both Harker and Menlo reported an increase in the number of students applying to engineering programs, especially to those out-of-state.
And, as the table below indicates, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign (UIUC) have all seen significant increases in the number of applicants from both Menlo and Harker.
Trends in Engineering Admissions:
Perspectives from WACAC
        University of Michigan
Georgia Tech
Urbana- Champaign (UIUC)
      Number of Applicants
         2010
Harker - 11 Menlo - 23
Harker - 1 Menlo - 0
Harker - 11 Menlo - 2
         2019
Harker - 66 Menlo - 41
Harker - 41 Menlo - 9
Harker - 66 Menlo - 13
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