Early Decision Applications Up despite Financial Meltdown

<p>"The number of early decision applications to Dartmouth rose by 12.5 percent this year, an “all-time high,” according to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskari. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions aims to admit between 390 and 400 students from the early decision applicant pool this year, Laskaris said, which would result in a 24.8-25.5 percent early acceptance rate."</p>

<p>There's an article today in Inside Higher Ed entitled "The Bubble That Didn't Burst" about the surprise of higher ED numbers at several private colleges this year. The summary so far:</p>

<p>St. Olaf - Up 50%
George Washington University-Up 30%
Northwestern - Up 15 %
University of Richmond - Up 14%
Haverford - Up 13%
Dartmouth - Up 12.5%
Middlebury 12%
Union College - Up 8%<br>
NYU - Up 2.3%</p>

<p>here's the Inside Higher Ed article:
The</a> Bubble That Didn't Burst :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs</p>

<p>good comment at the bottom of the online article:

[quote]
I don’t know why anyone should be surprised about ED applications rising at private institutions — the evidence has been staring us in the face since August and public institutions, with all their poor-mouthing about the dreadful impact of state budget cuts, have been shooting themselves in the foot for at least that long.</p>

<p>A student POLL report we published with the College Board two months ago indicated quite clearly that in the current climate — economic distress coupled with anxiety about the poor odds of admission to selective colleges — students will be hedging their bets this year, applying to more institutions and applying early.</p>

<p>The much more important question is what will happen to enrollment decisions. Again, the evidence suggest that yield rates will fall and discount rates will climb. I also suspect that more students will back out of ED commitments when they and their families have to face financial realities. The alarming class divide on the campuses of elite institutions is also likely to widen even further. But we shouldn’t b e surprised by any of this.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>MIT up 25%
Non-Profit</a> Connects Low-Income Applicants With MIT - The Tech</p>

<p>citing Questbridge in part</p>

<p>BUT.....</p>

<p>Colorado College DOWN 6%
U Colorado out-of-state applicants DOWN 36% so far</p>

<p>Pricey</a> tuition moves onto list of luxuries - The Denver Post</p>

<p>I don't think the comment referenced above is helpful. It's just more speculation. I'm trying to report the facts in this thread--the actual statistics on ED applications which at least at some colleges is going counter to all the speculation and rumors.</p>

<p>I think that if it were not for the economic downturn, ED applications would be up even more - in this year, a peak year for number of applicants.</p>

<p>Ughh. The percentage jumps are staggering! Good luck to all of us who have kids in this ED population.</p>

<p>Heaven help those of us who <em>aren't</em> applying ED. I guess we are just totally screwed.</p>

<p>Thanks for the numbers. They are not what I expected.</p>

<p>It will be a banner year for the waitlisted, stretching the season into the summer again.</p>

<p>I think it will be interesting to see what happens after the dust settles. My guess is that there are a lot of students (and their parents) who didn't fully understand all of the implications of applying ED who will realize that they don't have enough aid to attend, or that too much of their aid is in loans, or that they could probably get a better financial deal elsewhere. These students may end up reneging on their agreements, and I wonder what the implications of that will be on their high schools and the kids coming up behind them.</p>

<p>That is what I'm thinking, that some students do not realize the implications of applying ED in terms of finaid and may reneg.</p>

<p>Why would families all of a sudden not understand ED rules? It's been around for a long time and there has been little fallout in other (granted not as pervasive) recessions.</p>

<p>While they may understand the ED rules they also understand that you can reneg if you can't afford to attend. Even if they don't know this- if they can't afford it they won't come. People believe that the colleges will be giving out a lot more aid now that their policies on finaid have changed & many colleges are need blind.</p>

<p>I agree with hmom5. There's no reason why all of a sudden people wouldn't understand ED. They had to sign a separate contract stating the agreement was binding. Most people understand the significance of signing a written document and if they don't they probably shouldn't be applying to any college.</p>

<p>The summary so far:</p>

<p>St. Olaf - Up 50%
George Washington University-Up 30%
MIT up 25%
Northwestern - Up 15 %
University of Richmond - Up 14%
Haverford - Up 13%
Dartmouth - Up 12.5%
Middlebury 12%
Union College - Up 8%
NYU - Up 2.3%</p>

<p>Early</a> apps fairly stable, falling about 4.5 percent - Campus News</p>

<p>"Brown received about 4.5 percent fewer early decision applications for the class of 2013. It received 2,343 applications, slightly down from the 2,453 early applications for last year's class, Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73 said.</p>

<p>Miller attributed the small decrease to a drop in the number of applications for the Program in Liberal Medical Education. "PLME is down by about 80 applications," he said, though he added that he did not know the cause of the drop.</p>

<p>Sally Rubenstone, senior adviser at College Confidential, a Web site dedicated to providing information about the college admissions process, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that she predicted the number of applications for early decision would decrease while the number of students applying with early action would greatly increase because of the recent economic crisis.</p>

<p>"Middle class students … may favor Early Action over Early Decision in order to be able to compare financial aid offers in the spring," Rubenstone wrote.</p>

<p>The number of early applications to Brown has stayed fairly consistent in spite of the economy's downturn, which Miller said might be due to the new financial aid policies the University adopted last February, which relieved the loan burden on some families."</p>

<p>Thanks Funployee--keep those ED numbers coming!</p>

<p>no numbers here, but Hamilton reports that like Northwestern, GW, & Dartmouth, Hamilton's ED numbers are up as well as Dickinson's.....I could find no reference on Dickinson's web page. Here's the Hamilton blurb:
Hamilton</a> College - News, Sports, Events - InsideHigherEd.com Quotes Inzer in Early Decision Article</p>

<p>Duke ED up 25%
Early</a> admit numbers see 25% jump - News</p>

<p>this article also reports Stanford EA up 18%</p>