<p>How come the number of applications for every major university have shot up by a larger percentage? Isn't the recession bitting into everyone's pocket? Then how else can this unusual phenomenon be explained? I am very very very very worried about my chances.... I simply can't sleep at night....</p>
<p>Thanx for ur time....</p>
<p>At least you won’t have to worry about Yale, apparently: <a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2010/01/21/bucking-trend-yales-applications-dip/[/url]”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2010/01/21/bucking-trend-yales-applications-dip/</a></p>
<p>A lot of people were driven to apply to the higher ranked universities because many of them (especially the Ivy League schools) offer the best financial aid packages in the country. Thus, because these schools offer such a great education at a great price, it drove many people to apply, hoping that they would gain admission and not have to worry too much about financing their education.</p>
<p>Basically the schools with incredible endowments are being chosen over their peer institutions with good, but significantly smaller endowments by applicants, because many applicants would not be able to afford to attend the lower-ranked “Tier 1” schools since those schools do not have the financial means to make their education as affordable as the Ivy League schools and the Ivy-Caliber schools.</p>
<p>At least that’s my take on the issue.</p>
<p>^ Yep, I think sillyaardvark nailed it. There’s also the fact that people are just applying to more schools in general (to increase the chances that they’re accepted somewhere), and that’s especially true of Ivies where you can never be sure that you’ll get in. So instead of applying to, say, just Yale or just Columbia, kids start applying to like six Ivies.</p>