College admissions dance gets longer, more complicated

[flashl]

It could be well into the summer before some graduating high school seniors know where they'll be studying in the fall.

When you think of a teenage rite of spring fraught with doubts, the quest for a prom date might come to mind. But for many seniors this year, it's even trickier to pair up with a top-choice college.

The uncertainty, both for students and schools, is on the rise as each group turns to complicated selection strategies that make the SAT look like a walk in the park. So it could be a long wait – well into the summer for some – before it's clear where the largest graduating high school class in three decades will be studying in the fall.

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The class of 2008 has been dubbed the "echo boom." At 3.3 million, it's the largest class since 3.15 million baby boomers graduated in 1977, the National Center for Education Statistics reports.

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The unpredictability of college admissions is a bit frustrating for everyone involved.

Christian Science Monitor