Recent reports from Ivy League schools and other prominent universities across the

Recent reports from Ivy League schools and other prominent universities across the country indicate record numbers in applications for admissions, continuing a trend seen in the last few years.

The news of this competitive environment has caused great concern for Korean-American parents in New York City, who consider academic success for their children a priority.

Some Korean parents talk of sleepless nights and of their sons’ or daughters’ anxiety while waiting for the admissions letter from their first-choice university. This concern is shared not only among Korean parents here in New York but back in Korea as well, with parents whose kids apply to schools in the United States. Waiting for the good news is intense.

Mr. Kim, a resident of Flushing, Queens, hasn’t slept well and worries about his 12th grade daughter. She applied to 10 universities, including Cornell and Columbia – her top choices – where competition is fierce.

“My daughter was OK until she spoke to her friends at school, where they talk of the high number of applications and how the ratio of successful applicants will drop rapidly; I see she is upset.”

Mr. Oh, a resident of Bayside, Queens, is in the same situation – his son applied to Binghamton University, a SUNY school. Although he has not knowledge about the application rates to public colleges, he is concerned; his son has been told by his high school counselor that there has been an increase in the number of applicants with high SAT scores to public universities.

“My son has applied to nine universities including Binghamton. I don’t know how I can wait to hear the results,” commented Mr. Oh.

The number of applicants to major colleges for fall 2011 is the highest in recent college history.

This year, Harvard University received 35,000 applications, up 15 percent from last year, when it got 30,489 applicants. Applications to Columbia University went up 32 percent from last year, with 34,587 applicants. Both Pennsylvania University and Dartmouth University saw an increase of 15 percent in requests for admission. These are record numbers for the universities.

College experts said that one factor contributing to the increase in college applications is being able to apply online, which makes the process easy and convenient, an option available for most colleges. Another factor is that Ivy League and other universities have increased their financial aid. Other experts point to psychological factors, such as a sense of insecurity in the student, which results in applying to many schools. As a general rule, school counselors recommend that students apply to five to eight colleges; this year, however, high school seniors did not follow that practice.

“As far as I know, some high schools, like Stevenson High Schools in New York City, have changed from a policy to limit the number of applications to a system where students can apply to as many schools as they choose,” says Michael Son, at KAPA Academy Institute, an educational organization that helps parents and students with college entrance tests.

The fact that the number of students being admitted to the university has remained steady compounds the problem of competition posed by an increase in the number of applications. For example, last year, Harvard University and Columbia University had the lowest rates of admissions, 6.9 percent and 9 percent respectively. As well, early admissions account for more than half of those admitted. At Yale University, early admissions accounted for 56 percent of students accepted, and 71 percent at Georgetown University.

By Kangy Jong Haeng, The Korea Daily News, 18 January 2011. Translated from Korean by Sun-Yong Reinish.