Admissions Dynamics
College admissions has become tougher than ever. Having worked with hundreds of students in the Bay Area through the process, we have developed some unique data-driven insights into the careers and interests of local students. In this blog post, I wanted to uncover some of these trends and what they mean for future applicants, job markets, and universities. Read on for more information about Bay Area college admissions, from the counselor point of view.
Trend 1: STEM dominates in college admissions
Given the rise of startups and the study of computer science, many high schoolers in the Bay Area already have their sights set on starting or working at an early-stage company. Many have started to learn how to code, build robots, or use mathematics to model markets.
In our cohorts of students, we find immense interest in computer science and engineering. However, we also see equal interest in medicine, and a reduced but significant interest in business and the liberal arts. This mix of interests occurs across all the top schools in the Bay Area, including:
| American High |
| Mission San Jose |
| Washington High |
| Irvington High |
| Kennedy High |
| Newark Memorial High (Newark) |
| James Logan High (Union City) |
| Moreau Catholic High School |
| Cupertino High |
| Monta Vista High |
| Homestead High |
| Fremont High (Sunnyvale) |
| King’s Academy (Sunnyvale) |
| Lynbrook High |
| Archbishop Mitty High School |
| Bellarmine College Preparatory |
| Notre Dame High School |
| Saint Francis High School (Mountain View) |
| Presentation High School |
| Harker School |
| Los Gatos High (Los Gatos) |
| Saratoga High (saratoga) |
| Santa Clara High (Santa Clara) |
| Prospect High (Saratoga) |
| Mountain View High |
| Burlingame High |
| BASIS Independent |
| Ann Sobrato High (Morgan Hill) |
| Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton) |
| Menlo-Atherton High (Atherton) |
| Gunn High |
| Palo Alto High |
| Castilleja School |
| Carlmont High |
| The Nueva School |
| Hillsdale High |
| Los Altos High (Los Altos) |
| Woodside High |
| Dougherty Valley High (San Ramon) |
| California High (San Ramon) |
| Amador Valley High School |
| Foothill High School |
| Dublin High (Dublin) |
| The Thacher School (Ojai) |
| Christian High School (San Diego) |
| Plainview – Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School |
| North Carolina School of Sciences and Mathematics |
| Ravenwood High School |
| Plano Senior High School |
Trend 2: Bay Area bias toward West Coast colleges
We see many students hoping to attend UC, USC, Stanford, Claremont, or a number of other schools like Pepperdine that are located on the West Coast. Many students apply early action or early decisions to these schools. We do notice that these students often get in at higher rates than their East Coast peers.
Trend 3: Starting younger with college admissions preparation
Many students and parents are starting to think about college admissions earlier and earlier. Several parents of students in the 4th and 5th grades ask us for advice on how to position and prepare. Although we think this is too early to be any formal preparation, general guidance and high-level advice from an Empowerly counselor can help parents select a high school and students find an interest.
These three trends shape a lot of the applicants we are seeing in the Bay Area. Based on our extensive experience and connections with the Bay Area college admissions landscape, we like to stay informed on how these changes translate to the broader scope. If you are interested in more insights, please contact us.
