The applicant pools at Ivy League schools are getting more competitive every year.
This year, in line with Penn’s 17-percent increase, Brown and Princeton Universities saw 20-percent and 19-percent increases, respectively.
When asked why Penn in particular saw such an increase in total applications, Penn Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said the University “has been intentionally putting Penn out there more broadly” — including having Furda featured on the New York Times’ The Choice blog.
The rise in applications could also be because prospective students are keeping as many options open as possible and comparing financial aid offers at different universities, according to Furda.
Columbia and Harvard Universities also saw 4-percent and 5-percent rises in applicants, respectively.
Harvard spokesman Jeff Neal outlined three possible reasons for the rise of applicants in an e-mail.
Harvard’s financial aid initiatives, elimination of early decision and the new School of Engineering and Applied Sciences could all be reasons for the larger applicant pool.
While Penn, Harvard and many of their peers received substantial increases, Yale University saw a slight decrease of approximately 1 percent.
College Confidential Senior Advisor Sally Rubenstone said in an e-mail that many people attribute the decrease to the tragic death of Annie Le or to Yale’s “hyper-selective and seemingly unpredictable admission decisions.”
Still, she thinks the reasoning is much simpler. “Just like hot cars and cool clothes, college popularity inevitably waxes and wanes. Yale’s numbers were way up last year and down only slightly this time.”
Rubenstone doesn’t think the decrease is particularly significant.
Top schools outside of the Ivy League saw high numbers as well. The University of Chicago’s applicant pool saw a 42-percent increase, according to Assistant Dean of Admissions Sonia Arora.
Chicago’s switch to the Common Application system, e-mails tailored to students’ interests and non-binding early action program are all part of what Rubenstone calls the University’s “multi-pronged ‘attack’ on prospective students.”
Michele Hernandez, head of Hernandez College Consulting, attributes the significantly larger applicant pools to Princeton and Harvard’s choice to get rid of early decision three years ago.
She explained that exceptional students get rejected or deferred and then panic, apply to over 20 schools and therefore are “butting the pool.”
The increases then drive down each school’s acceptance rate, further inspiring the “shock effect when so many kids get rejected,” she said.
Ivy League decisions will be posted online at 5 p.m. on Mar. 31.
