Testing is still in flux. Although most schools remain test optional, and many will continue to be for the next few years or even made this a permanent decision like Columbia University, many universities have gone back to requiring tests: Dartmouth, Yale, Brown, Harvard, and UT Austin to name a few. We will see if this changes application numbers at the most selective schools and beyond.

Yieldability is the buzzword. Colleges use data analytics to determine the “yieldability” of a student (yield rate refers to the percent of students enrolling into a school after being accepted), by deferring, waitlisting, offering alternate acceptances (ranging from students studying abroad first semester to admission to another campus within the state system to a guaranteed sophomore transfer) or even rejecting students who were using it as a "safety." Hence, the timeline for a student's acceptance could be extended. Students worried by being deferred and applied to more schools!

Interviews are changing. Instead of colleges offering traditional interviews, they are either removing them from the application process or offering a variety of options such as personal videos or interview uploads. They still remain important at some schools, but the number of traditional interviews available is decreasing.

Colleges are accepting more students early decision. Because colleges want strong yield rates, they are accepting more students early decision. For example, Williams said yes to approximately 23% of their students ED but have an overall acceptance rate of 7% for the class of 2028. And more and more students are applying early (41% jump since 2019-2020 cycle according to the CommonApp).