<p>~18,500 = up about 4% from last year.</p>
<p>TheDartmouth.com</a> | Applications reach record numbers</p>
<p>Dartmouth is considering increasing the class size, interesting. I think that’s good news for a 2015 potential applicant haha.</p>
<p>Good news for full pay applicants. Yes, I know it’s need blind…but you don’t increase revenue–the objective here–by accepting students with need.</p>
<p>A school can still be completely need blind while still raising money by admitting more students. While it is theoretically possible that the school will lose money if all the new students require a lot of aid, most schools can still do the math and figure out that on average there will be a net gain in revenue. While Dartmouth does have a very generous need blind policy that even applies to international students (unlike at most colleges), it is still making more money (on average) when it admits more students.</p>
<p>They are looking, like all schools right now, for serious additional funds. A net gain ain’t what they need.</p>
<p>Looks like Apps will probably be up about 6 or 7 percent total after they are all processed.</p>
<p>i really hope dartmouth doesn’t increase its class size even though I think it will. One of the main reasons I applied to dartmouth was b/c it was the smallest ivy and the one most focused on undergraduates…</p>
<p>I agree about class size and the reason I am here is because of the focus on undergraduates. Right now they are looking at possibly enlarging the class but it won’t be to such I high degree that it should radically affect class size… there is a natural limitation of available housing.</p>
<p>That’s not to say it won’t have any impact, but I doubt it will have a significant enough impact to focusing on undergraduates and we certainly will remain the smallest ivy. (we aren’t adding that many students)</p>
<p>I think it would be a bit more important to look at layoffs. President Kim will be holding a talk on Friday and an open forum next Tuesday and I’m sure at least one of them will provide some more specific measures on how we are attacking our anticipated deficit.</p>
<p>are the going to increase the class size for class or 2014 ?</p>
<p>If the school can fit more students into existing facilities without increasing costs significantly, they will experience a net gain in income even if many of those students receive significant financial aid (aka, a discounted COA). Twenty additional students each of whom pays $10K is an additional $200K in income, after all.</p>
<p>There are some empty rooms, which they are currently heating…</p>
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<p>Sure you can, as long as the additional ~50 kids looks like the rest of the pool, i.e., ~50% with financial need. (That means ~25 full pay.) But more importantly, the marginal cost to educate those 50 kids is extremely low – perhaps another adjunct writing or language instructor or two, and a few more dollars on food, but that’s about it. The students can easily be assumed by the existing departments – a few more heads in a lecture hall will be not be noticed. The physical plant will not change; the buildings are heated anyway.</p>
<p>As long as the new financial aid student pays his/her marginal cost of attendance, there is no net cost to the College to add them. A scholarship/grant is nothing more than a discount against tuition/fees.</p>
<p>Wait how is Dartmouth only 4,196 undergraduates if there is a 1,100 per grade?</p>
<p>I don’t think another 100 kids per class would change Dartmouth a bit. They already have significant variation in number on campus between the average winter and spring terms. They’ve built several new dorms in the last few years too.</p>
<p>I am betting though they will become like lots of other schools–those last 75-100 picks will be full pay. $200K won’t make a dent in what they’re facing in terms of cut backs, one hundred full pay students whose grateful parents may donate more will. I’ll bet we’ll see more legacies.</p>
<p>Generally like your posts, hmom5, but I don’t think Dartmouth is going to become surreptitiously need sensitive. If the markets go seriously south world-wide from here, it might happen. But not yet. They just don’t need to. And the smarter the students, the better the financial future. With a long term prospective, the larger the international student body, the more promising the future.</p>
<p>Danas, I think all of the high endowment schools have serious cash issues and Dartmouth is no exception. They’ve floated the idea of increased class size and are awaiting alum and student reaction. I don’t think it will be necessarily surreptitious. I think all, from trustees to students, would like to see fewer cuts and if being need aware for a small part of the class is necessary to benefit all…</p>
<p>hmom5 - Is your theory that Dartmouth is going to start accepting tons of rich, full-pay legacies based on actual fact, or is it just one of your theories? I’m curious what your source is, because it was my belief that Dartmouth was committed to making their school affordable to people of all socio-economic classes.</p>
<p>Well I can say for certain President Kim sent out an e-mail to campus where he said, among other things, that their dedication to financial aid would remain strong and that he would not be part of an institution where only those who could afford to pay could go.</p>
<p>Well I think they are finally going to increase the class size, because they already admitted 60 more students through ED this year. This is the sign. Or it would be really unfair to RD applicants this year.</p>
<p>If they decide not to increase class size what do you think the acceptance rate would be? like 10%?</p>
<p>Raelah, Dartmouth is committed to kids from all backgrounds as many other top colleges are. But their endowment woes are causing them to temporarily consider all sorts of options to bring in more cash now. Dartmouth and other colleges have long been honest about needing and accepting development candidates to benefit all. If they take another 75 full pay students out of a class of 1100 to stop cuts, it benefits all and that is not going back on their commitment. There are many schools that are increasing class size this year to generate the cash they need to stop drastic cuts.</p>
<p>This is my personal guess based on my involvement at Penn which is facing the same issues.</p>