2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
Early Decision applications decrease 1.5 percent
With Harvard, Princeton out of fray, schools with non-binding early apps see huge increases
Albert Sun
The number of early-decision applications to Penn dropped slightly for the second year in a row, admissions officials announced yesterday.
Penn received 3,929 early-decision applications this year, a 1.8 percent fall from last year's 4,001 applications.
Interim Dean of Admissions Eric Kaplan said he expects early-decision applicants to make up 45 to 48 percent of the class of 2012, which translates to an acceptance rate of about 30 percent.
Many other schools, particularly those that offer a non-binding early-admissions program, saw record numbers of early applications, reaping the benefits of the decision by Harvard and Princeton universities and the University of Virginia eliminated their early-admissions programs.
Early applications at Yale University rose by 36 percent; at Georgetown University by 31 percent; and at the University of Chicago by 42 percent. All three schools have non-binding early action programs.
"They're getting a lot of runoff of students who want to apply to an early-action program but now can't apply to Harvard," said Steven Goodman, an admissions consultant in Washington, D.C.
Goodman also predicted that the yield for those early applicant pools would see a dip.
Still, among early-decision schools, Penn was the only peer institution to report a drop thus far. Brown University had a 6 percent increase, Duke University saw a 7 percent increase, and Columbia and Dartmouth universities also saw modest increases, according to The New York Times.
This year's drop in early applications, along with a decrease last year of 2.5 percent, comes after a 21-percent surge in 2005.
But Kaplan said he wasn't concerned about the possibility of any downward trend, instead focusing on a record number of international applications, which crossed the 600 mark for the first time.
The exact breakdown of applications by location, school and ethnicity will not be available until admissions decisions are sent, but Kaplan said they were similar to last year's numbers.
Penn received 3,929 early-decision applications this year, a 1.8 percent fall from last year's 4,001 applications.
Interim Dean of Admissions Eric Kaplan said he expects early-decision applicants to make up 45 to 48 percent of the class of 2012, which translates to an acceptance rate of about 30 percent.
Many other schools, particularly those that offer a non-binding early-admissions program, saw record numbers of early applications, reaping the benefits of the decision by Harvard and Princeton universities and the University of Virginia eliminated their early-admissions programs.
Early applications at Yale University rose by 36 percent; at Georgetown University by 31 percent; and at the University of Chicago by 42 percent. All three schools have non-binding early action programs.
"They're getting a lot of runoff of students who want to apply to an early-action program but now can't apply to Harvard," said Steven Goodman, an admissions consultant in Washington, D.C.
Goodman also predicted that the yield for those early applicant pools would see a dip.
Still, among early-decision schools, Penn was the only peer institution to report a drop thus far. Brown University had a 6 percent increase, Duke University saw a 7 percent increase, and Columbia and Dartmouth universities also saw modest increases, according to The New York Times.
This year's drop in early applications, along with a decrease last year of 2.5 percent, comes after a 21-percent surge in 2005.
But Kaplan said he wasn't concerned about the possibility of any downward trend, instead focusing on a record number of international applications, which crossed the 600 mark for the first time.
The exact breakdown of applications by location, school and ethnicity will not be available until admissions decisions are sent, but Kaplan said they were similar to last year's numbers.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Alum
posted 11/30/07 @ 11:05 AM EST
My spouse is a guidance counselor in the Northeast. Early decision applications from the Northeast are down and will continue to be down in the future b/c many guidance counselors in the Northeast region are recommending that students, particularly non minorities, not apply to Penn early decision since in past 5+ years the acceptance rate of non-minorities from the Northeast has been poor. (Continued…)
another alum
posted 11/30/07 @ 3:22 PM EST
Alum, I realize that myriad factors contribute to admissions officers' decisions as they build a class, but there are loads of heterosexual white students getting into Penn every year. (Continued…)
Rush Must Go
posted 11/30/07 @ 6:03 PM EST
It's the crime, the university's failure to address it lest they be politically-incorrect, and the DP's blasting it on their headline day in and day out. (Continued…)
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