Most colleges aren't terribly selective. On average, four-year colleges accept 70% of applicants, according to the National Association for College Admissions Counseling. When NACAC researchers put together a list of the 150 most selective colleges, ranked by the percentage of applicants selected, they discovered that once the list broke into the second 100, many accepted roughly half of those who applied.

As any good college counselor will attest, the best college for an applicant isn't necessarily the one that's hardest to get into. Among the institutions profiled in the book Colleges that Change Lives, by Loren Pope, the acceptance rates average about 60%.

To the extent that admissions anxiety is warranted beneath the top tier, it's because states are facing budget crises and being forced to limit enrollment. As a result, students might find fewer available spots and limited course offerings at flagship public universities.

Just one example: The 23-campus California State University system, which serves 450,000 students, will eliminate 10,000 spots. Making things even more tense is a surge in admissions to public schools as the economy weakens. Applications to the Cal State campuses are running 50,000 above the same time last year.

So average students do have valid reasons to worry about college admissions this year. The reasons just don't have much to do with who gets into Harvard, Yale or Princeton.

Book burden.
Getting into college is just half the battle. Then there's the not inconsiderable matter of paying for it. And there's a big expense waiting that has nothing to do with tuition, room and board: textbooks.
Amy Purvis, a second-semester freshman at the University of California who partly pays her way through school, is typical. Her textbook bill for the semester came to $500.

Given that college tuitions and fees are rising faster than inflation, textbook costs become an especially onerous burden. On average, students spend $650 to $900 a year on books; science majors pay the most.
A movement to deal with the textbook expenses is picking up speed. State legislatures are passing laws aimed at giving students a break, and even Congress is getting into the act. This week, the House is to vote on a bill requiring more price transparency from publishers.

State and federal laws can help around the edges. But technological change and competition from online booksellers are more likely to make a difference in the long run.

Many online distributors offer modest discounts. Purvis bought her textbooks from a private bookstore near her school, but she checked first with the online offerings, where she found savings ranging from $10 to $20 per book. In the end, she didn't buy online because she knew she might switch courses at the last minute and didn't want to be burdened with mailing back books.

Several states are experimenting with laws forcing publishers to provide book prices at the time professors choose their book lists. In some cases, professors lack that information when they make assignments.
Other laws take aim at bundling, the practice of wrapping CDs with textbooks. The House bill, for example, would require that publishers sell the book separately. Unbundling laws are likely to offer limited help. Publishers say they have no objection to selling separately. In most cases, professors request a bundled package because they think the extra material will benefit their students, particularly the struggling ones.

Eventually, technology might offer some relief, as more digitized texts become available to students across the country. Until then, the simplest solution is probably the best: Require campus stores to list a book's 10-digit International Standard Book Number, and make sure students know they have other options. That way, Purvis and others can do their own comparison shopping.

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