This summer, Cuca Acosta, who leads admissions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, wanted to dispel rumors and misconceptions about the admissions process directly to students. Maybe it was just too early in the admissions process for most rising seniors to be interested, Acosta said. But the low turnout points to one of the challenges of dispelling misconceptions about the college admissions process, she said: Students are often too embarrassed or intimidated to ask questions about the admissions process. Admissions experts attribute these pervasive myths to a number of sources, from social media conversations to word-of-mouth or parents’ outdated understanding of the application process. In recent years, institutions have made more of a concerted effort to combat misinformation about the college admissions process.