The Stories Most Read in 2022

With the end of 2022 fast approaching (and the end of “Admissions Insider” for the year), it's time for our annual look at the stories that attracted the most readers this year.

10. White Minority in the Midwest: Highly competitive private colleges follow public colleges in California and private colleges in the Northeast with classes in which white Americans are a minority.

9. Direct Admissions Takes Off: At West Texas A&M, at Minnesota’s colleges and with the Common App, colleges are dropping applications as a requirement to be admitted.

8. Admissions Without Applications: Movement grows with a second company offering a service in which students create profiles and colleges admit them.

7. Class Action Suit Filed Against Top Private Colleges: Five students say leading colleges and universities are acting as an illegal “cartel” in violation of antitrust law. One of the students’ lawyers is a former prosecutor in the Varsity Blues case.

6. ‘Breaking Ranks’ With ‘U.S. News’: New book offers a harsh critique of the rankings industry and its impact on undergraduate colleges and law schools.

5. Tulane Admitted Two-Thirds of Students Through Early Decision: It admitted only 106 students (for a freshman class of more than 1,800) via regular decision.

4. A Radical Change for Admissions: Students don’t even fill out applications in this “flipped” system. And this system doesn’t really want the students bound for Harvard or its ilk.

3. Record Applications, Record Rejections: The most competitive colleges and universities in the country got more competitive. But most institutions are still trying to fill their classes.

2. Does Calculus Count Too Much in Admissions? New report suggests it does, and admissions association agrees. So do a lot of mathematicians.

1. When a Teacher Ruins a Student’s Chances: A teacher revoked a letter of recommendation. Others at the high school disagreed (and quit in protest). The University of Pennsylvania rejected the applicant.