Part 9
And finally, parents didn’t help the situation . . .
At the same time that these social and technological changes were occurring another factor began to affect the admissions environment. Education began to take its place as an important national concern. Responding to parental outcries, states and individual school systems across America developed metrics to evaluate and improve their performance. Over all improvement was the goal and low end failure captured headlines but another change also occurred as a result. Behavior and performance in the upper reaches of the schools began to improve significantly. Smart kids suddenly became significantly more accomplished. Quickly, even mediocre public school systems were boasting extensive AP, IB, and Honors courses. A culture which had previously reserved attention for the football field and basketball court was now accepting and even celebrating academic success. In a social shift essentially unfathomable to their parents, for today’s high school students, it has become cool to be a nerd.
While the population blip known as the Baby Boom “Echo” is often blamed for today’s dramatic surge in applications to America’s premier colleges, it’s falsely accused. The real cause can be likened to a “perfect storm” of changes in the admissions environment. At almost the same time, radical shifts in social behavior, technology, administrative strategy and population have aligned to make the top tier college admissions office busier than a Starbucks on Saturday morning!
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