Most Ivies see rise in applications

With an increase in applications at five of the eight Ivy League schools, hopefuls for the class of 2005 are facing stiffer competition than ever. Penn's application numbers went up 1.4 percent this year, marking a consistent rise over the past several years. Yale University saw the most dramatic jump in applications this year, receiving 14 percent more than last year. Cornell and Columbia universities also saw significant increases of 6.4 and 3.4 percent, respectively, while Harvard saw applications rise by 1.7 percent. But Brown University and Dartmouth College experienced decreases in applications. Brown's number of applicants fell about 1.4 percent, while Dartmouth's was a more significant 4.6 percent decrease. Statistics for Princeton University were unavailable. Penn Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson attributes Penn's own rise to the increased visibility of the University's name. "I think our visibility continues to rise," he said. "The recruitment program has been very aggressive and that helps us to be far-reaching and comprehensive." Yale received 14,700 applications this year in comparison to last year's 12,887. This increase follows the 3.2 percent decrease in applications Yale experienced the previous year. Cornell received the most applications among the Ivies, with 21,492. This is about 6.4 percent more than the 20,200 applications received the year before. Columbia saw the third-highest increase in applications, receiving 16,438 applicants this year as compared to last year's 15,903 applicants. Harvard Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis said that the roughly 1.7 percent increase Harvard received was expected. "It really could be predicted entirely by demographics," she said. "There are just more people graduating from high school." Harvard received 19,004 applications this year, up from 18,693 in the previous year. Lewis said Harvard is looking to admit about 2,050 students for a class of 1,650 students. She added that "predicting yield is not a perfect science, though." Penn saw a comparable increase in applications, receiving 19,086, about 1.4 percent more than last year's 18,823 applications. Applications to the College and Nursing School dropped slightly, while Wharton and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences both saw increased application numbers. Brown received 16,560 applications this year, a slight decrease over last year's 16,801 applications. Dartmouth saw falling application numbers for the second year in a row, with 9,700 applications, close to 4.5 percent fewer than the 10,165 applications received last year. Students will receive admissions decisions in early April.