Fat Envelopes

Despite the recession, the college admissions process is as competitive as ever.  The high school class of 2010 is huge, and more of them are applying to more schools — including the most selective — than at any time in history.

This month, Staples’ June graduates head off to schools around the country (and world).  They’re eager to start the next stage of their lives.  They’ve got their laptops; they’ve texted their roommates, and their parents have slapped decals on the backs of their cars.

For many, the school they head to is not the only one they could have attended.  Last spring’s acceptances were good news for many seniors.

How good?

The guidance department has compiled a list of how many students got in where.  The numbers are remarkable.  Here’s a partial list:

• Boston College:  8
• University of California-Berkeley:  3
• Colgate University:  8
• University of Colorado:  24
• Columbia University:  5
• University of Connecticut:  66
• Cornell University:  11
• Dartmouth College:  6
• Duke University:  9
• The George Washington University:  10
• Harvard University:  3
• Hampshire College:  4
• Lehigh University:  12
• McGill University:  6
• University of Michigan:  25
• New York University:  18
• Northwestern University:  9
• University of Pennsylvania:  6
• Princeton University:  4
• Syracuse University:  26
• University of Texas:  5
• Tulane University:  27
• Washington University in St. Louis:  9
• Yale University:  4

But Staples students applied to — and were admitted to — a host of other schools too.  For example:

• University of Auckland:  1
• Berklee College of Music:  1
• University of the Arts:  2
• University of British Columbia:  1
• California State University at San Bernardino and San Marcos:  1 each
• University of Edinburgh:  1
• Fashion Institute of Technology:  1
• University of Mississippi:  1
• Montana State University:  1
• University of North Carolina School of the Arts:  1
• University of Nottingham:  1
• University of Oklahoma:  1
• Parsons School of Design:  5
• San Francisco Art Institute:  1
• University of St. Andrews:  2
• University of Utah:  2

Getting in to college is tough.  Choosing among several is difficult in its own way.

Reading these random results — there were a few hundred I did not have space to list — shows that Staples students do fine in the college game.  They are accepted at schools that are right for them — accepted at several, in fact — and they have good choices to make.

Rising seniors:  take note.

And parents of rising seniors, juniors, sophomores, freshmen, 8th graders, 7th, etc.:  take note too.