MIT is the final word “dream” school for American highschool college students within the means of making use of to college—regardless of it costing tens of hundreds of {dollars} to attend.
In its 2023 College Hopes and Worries survey, The Princeton Review polled 12,225 individuals throughout all 50 states and Washington D.C.—72% of whom have been highschool college students making use of to varsity, and the opposite 28% being mother and father of school candidates.
The survey discovered that the varsity most excessive schoolers dreamed of attending wasn’t an Ivy League college—though it was a globally prestigious school.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was the primary decide among the many pupil respondents, with Stanford, Harvard, NYU and UCLA rounding out the highest 5.
MIT is regularly ranked as probably the greatest universities within the nation, with Forbes naming it America’s prime school for the primary time in 2022.
Parents, nevertheless, favored Princeton, the survey discovered, with Harvard and Stanford coming in second and third place respectively. MIT was the fifth hottest school among the many 3,423 mother and father who took half within the research.
While securing a spot at MIT was the dream of most college students within the ballot, the varsity is notoriously troublesome to get into.
For the category of 2026, MIT obtained nearly 34,000 purposes—and fewer than 4% have been profitable.
Students hoping to safe a spot at MIT even have to realize distinctive take a look at scores.
Those admitted to MIT’s class of 2026 achieved a median rating between 790 and 800 for SAT Math, whereas median ACT scores have been round 35 throughout the board.
It’s additionally considered one of America’s priciest schools to attend, with tuition, charges and primary residing prices coming in at round $70,000 in only one yr.
Although many excessive schoolers will dream about attending school forward of National Decision Day in May, school enrollment has plummeted lately, dropping 8% between 2019 to 2022, in accordance with knowledge from the National Student Clearinghouse.
Economists have warned fewer school graduates may exacerbate labor shortages being felt in varied sectors.
However, with the price of increased schooling and the ensuing pupil debt remaining a turn-off for a lot of potential college students, many Gen Zers are questioning whether or not getting a level is value it.
The debt burden is particularly heavy for debtors who’re nonwhite, low-income, and girls, a latest research discovered—and the price of a university diploma might be undoing the American dream.