Elite schools are judged, in part, by how many applicants they receive each year. Knowing this, the top schools have done two things: 1. Aggressively market

Elite schools are judged, in part, by how many applicants they receive each year. Knowing this, the top schools have done two things: 1. Aggressively market themselves to students earlier and earlier. Many of the top schools begin mailing material to students with desireable profiles as early as freshman year. When I left admissions in '06, people were starting direct mail campaigns to sophomores and we were all wringing our hands over the icky-ness of it. 2. Make it as easy as possible to apply. For all the griping they do, applying to college is crazy easy compared to the process even just 10 years ago. All the top schools take the common application now. And top schools will often waive the application fee if you ask them nicely and tell them you can't afford it. The impact? Kids are applying to more and more schools each year. I don't cry for the kids who get rejected from Harvard. 60% of them applied to at least 7-8 other schools if not 12-13. When all you have to do is check a box, why not apply to 15 schools? This works out great for the schools. Their yields go down, but they get their hands on more applicants than ever.