As college application season reaches its peak, most SHP seniors are occupied with building their portfolios, which best represent their work and preparation over their high school years, in order to contend with other students both nationally and within SHP. 

With most Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED) applications due on November 1 and 15, most seniors have submitted at least one application. At SHP, nearly 98-99% of seniors apply to at least one school with an early deadline, according to the Director of College Counseling Mr. Joel Dobben. According to Dobben, between 40-50% of seniors apply to ED, a figure at SHP “that has been pretty steady” from year to year, and is significantly higher than the national average, which is around 20% of students. One factor especially prominent, noted Dobben, is “the simple matter of finances.” When students apply ED, they are “bound to attend, and because [they] are bound to attend, [they] have to accept the financial aid” offered by the school, explained Dobben. But when you apply regular decision, that student can “hear all of [their] financial aid offers and make the choice that is right for [them].” Nationally, fewer students are willing to accept the financial aid offers that schools provide immediately. According to Dobben, this is “completely reasonable” grounds for not applying ED. However, at SHP,  more students “come from wealthy backgrounds and can commit to the full price at these schools.”

Another major difference between SHP applicants and students nationally is the preference for preprofessional majors, including engineering, computer science, business, etc. Dobben also noted that the Class of 2026 “has a greater awareness of how prospective majors can influence [their] competitiveness in the [application process].” And although this can “empower students to make intentional decisions, in other cases, they’re going to undermine themselves because they [may] have applied to a certain major they don’t have a record” of being interested in, noted Dobben. He emphasized that colleges can see when a student’s stated major doesn’t align with their coursework or activities, which can invalidate the application itself. 

While SHP students recognize the importance of preprofessional and STEM-related studies and majors in the future, Dobben also highlighted that SHP’s educators try to emphasize the importance of “a well-rounded liberal arts education,” particularly as students join the workforce and begin to think about the things that “cannot be automated… to AI-proof” themselves. Dobben also noted that SHP’s four-year college counseling curriculum, including the freshmen and sophomores, encourages students to begin preparing for college earlier. The school is called ‘Sacred Heart Preparatory’ — “prep is in the name.”

In comparison to the Class of 2025, the Class of 2026 also stood out academically. The average GPA rose from 3.74 to 3.79, the number of AP tests taken by the class increased from 544 to 615, and the median number of Honors credits increased from 10 to 11.5. Dobben described the Class of 2026 as “the strongest class in the eight years” that he has been here. 

One notable change in college applications, both national and local, is the location of the colleges that students apply to. Before, student applications were more concentrated towards schools in the Northeast, but now there is a growing number of students who apply to schools in the Southeast, including in Georgia and Texas. To a certain extent, this trend could be because “there’s been so much political division and controversy in the cases of a lot of…schools in New England”. In contrast, “there’s just not a culture of activism [on] campuses in the Southeast, [who] have not been as divided by conflict,” according to Dobben. 

However, despite these gradual shifts, this year’s college application cycle so far has been relatively stable in both the national context and the context of SHP’s history. And although Dobben noted that “it’s too early to say” how the Class of 2027 and future classes will compare, the Class of 2026 has set a precedent for future SHP students, highlighted by their academic strengths and their approach to the college admissions process.