Throughout this year’s college admissions cycle, the Class of 2026 has faced low acceptance rates, high rates of waitlists and deferrals, and higher than ever application numbers. These trends have resulted in people discussing their college acceptances and comparing them to other schools in the area.
Matt Essman, Director of College Counseling, shared some of the national trends reported by the Common Application in April 2026, trends which affect MICDS students.
“From last year to this year, there’s been a 5% increase in applications,” Essman said. “Just from four years ago, it’s been a 30% increase in applications, up from 7.3 million to 9.4 million applications submitted, which is very substantial. The national average is 6.6 applications per student, while here at MICDS we’ll have about 10-12 applications per student. Additionally, for the first time since the pandemic, more students submitted test scores than applied test optional. Part of it is a return to normalcy, part of it is more competitive schools going back to requiring testing.”
“The last trend we see is an explosive growth in public flagship universities, especially Southern ones. People want to go south, they love the rah-rah football and community aspect those schools bring. Take for example Auburn: in 2020, they had an 85% acceptance rate, and in 2024 it was 35%. These schools aren’t taking more kids, so the high application numbers continue to be driven down,” Essman said.
Another point of discussion for students this year has been MICDS’ decisions compared to other rival schools in the area, particularly John Burroughs and Ladue High School.
“There’s definitely no lack of intelligence or qualifications of any sort, but at Burroughs in particular, I’ve heard they get a lot of opportunities for retakes which gives them more chances at a higher GPA,” Yash Shelar ‘26 said. “But I definitely still think all of us feel well-prepared to succeed in college because of how rigorous our curriculum and schedule is.”
Essman also shared his perspective on the discussion of other schools’ matriculations this year.
“I think cross-school comparisons are an unproductive effort because there’s just so much unknown information. We have to account for differences in class sizes and the numbers of students who applied from that school. Take Burroughs for example: this year, we had about 38% of the class apply Early Decision, and there’s a lot of reasons for that including scholarship opportunities or committing to paying full tuition. My guess through casual conversations is that Burroughs’ percentage is double that, and we know that provides a statistical advantage. It’s easy to fall into it, but it’s just not an apples-to-apples comparison when we don’t know the underlying numbers,” Essman said.
“People often ask me, ‘How do you know that MICDS is valued as a rigorous institution?’” Essman said. “The best data I have is to compare the MICDS acceptance rates over the past 4 years of College A, versus their national acceptance rate. That’s the best evidence I have that says they’re willing to accept our students at a higher rate than their overall acceptance rate. In the overall majority, we are running ahead [of national rates]. Some are slight and some are bigger, but it still indicates that they clearly value us as a school,” he said.
This year, some students have also utilized outside of school college counselors, like Kaitlyn Kellner ‘26.
“Just because the college decision process is so foreign, I would recommend having an outside-of-school college counselor if you’re a little lost in the process and need more personalized guidance,” Kellner said.
However, other students instead opted to solely utilize the school’s college counseling department.
“It never crossed my mind to use [a private counselor],” Sam Glasser ‘26 said. “They gave me suggestions for schools to look at that I would possibly play football at, and they told me what I needed to do to play football there. Overall, I had a great experience with the MICDS college counseling department. Recently, I did have a lot of issues with getting credit for my senior internship, and Mr. Essman has been super helpful with turning things in so I can graduate.”
“I have no problem with [students hiring private counselors], I just wish students would tell me,” Essman said. “They try to keep it in because I think they’re worried their counselors will be upset, when really, we want what’s best for the student. We understand that this is happening, and I can better serve a student when I know they’ve hired someone, because I know they’re getting the assistance they need. I wish it didn’t feel so taboo for students to share that information with us.”
Because they soon will depart from high school, these senior students gave advice to the current juniors who will soon be going through the same process.
“Don’t slack off your senior year, because it really does matter a lot,” Dunnen McGaughey ‘26 said. “Try to hone in on the type of school you want to go to, and focus on making sure you’re doing all you can to meet those benchmarks. Understand that the process is very unpredictable and it can all happen very fast. Stay persistent and don’t take your eyes off any goals you have, even if you face setbacks.”
“I would say to start thinking about and planning your application early before school starts, so you don’t have too much work to do during the school year,” Alice Seddon ‘26 said. “Definitely make sure you leave enough time to edit and read through all your essays thoroughly.”
