Application Inflation in Effect as Admission Essay Numbers Rise

If you are trying to get into college, chances are that you are sending in more than just one college admission essay. This is sound advice — you don’t want to put all your eggs into one basket and face disaster if you aren’t admitted into your dream school. But a report released on November 19 by the National Association for College Admission Counseling suggests that students are submitting more application essays than ever before — and questions whether this is a waste of time.

This phenomenon has been referred to as “application inflation” by the Chronicle for Higher Education, and the report from the NACAC appears to back up the belief that applications are on the rise. Admissions statistics showed that from 2001 to 2008, the number of applications essays received increased by 47 percent at private schools and 70 percent at public universities. It also showed that students are submitting more undergraduate and graduate school admission essays per student than ever before.

The report suggests that increased competition and a decline in overall acceptance rates have made students extremely cautious about sending out enough applications to ensure they get into a college — even if it’s not one of their top choices. In the summary, the report questions if “application inflation” has taken the focus away from getting into a school that is the best fit for a student and placed an emphasis on the sheer volume of schools applied to.