<p>I'm wondering, because Yale and Brown are reporting 26,000 and 25,000 apps respectively, which is absolutely outrageous.</p>
<p>Penn's ED numbers went down, but will their RD go way up? The trend should definitely trickle down, since so many more students than usual are uncertain of their collegiate fates.</p>
<p>Just wondering if anyone has any news.</p>
<p>I read an article about college application numbers this year being enormous from the highest levels to the lowest levels -- Ivy app rates are historically high, as are those at all other majors universities, all second-tier schools, state schools and even community colleges. It seems that students who in the past would have applied to 3 or 4 or 6 schools are now applying to 10 or 12 or 15, in hopes of scoring a good finaid package at one of them. State schools in NY and Calif. are in trouble anad raising tuition and fees by 10-15%, even mid-year (NY just raised rates 15% for 2nd semester -- how's that for a major readjustment when you need to come up with another $3K or 4K at Christmas time?). Couple that with the perception from news accounts that the Ivies have a better finaid structure (I have heard more than one kid say "What the heck, I will apply to Harvard since they only make you pay 10% of your family income no matter how much you make"). There are, seriously, like 20 kids from my class applying to Harvard and most of the other Ivies for this reason. It is cheaper than a lottery ticket and your chances are better -- $75 to possibly 'win' $20,000, with a 1:21,000 chance.</p>
<p>So...
It boils down to:
- The same 20,000 students are likely applying to ALL of the Ivies instead of just some, and to all national universities instead of just a couple. Moreso than any time in recent history, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, UPenn, Duke, Georgetown, Emory, Tufts, BC, Dartmouth, Northwestern, UChicago -- all are getting essentially the same group of 20,000 kids applying to them (I know this is an exaggeration, but it is certain that there are huge chunks of intersection).
- Applicant pools are way up, and schools that do not adjust their acceptance-conversion rates (or whatever you call the rate of students who actually GO to a school after being accepted) they will see some empty spots open up.
- Wait-listed students stand a beter chance this year of getting a call-back
- Mid-level schools are going to get surprised by the number of non-converted students
- Drop-out rates for existing students at all levels is increasing due to financial hardship
- Buy collegeboard.com stock, since they are making a killling on the increase in app numbers :-)</p>
<p>I need to find the link to the article -- I will post it here if I find it.</p>
<p>Very interesting, umbo. Anyone have the numbers for Penn, specifically?</p>
<p>Where are you getting these Yale and Brown numbers anyway?</p>
<p>For Yale:
Yale</a> Daily News - News analysis: Early admit cutback levels field</p>
<p>For Brown, there's a thread about it on the Brown board.</p>
<p>Damn..I hope Penn didn't screw up again.</p>
<p>The admissions office is usually reticent. After they screwed up last year, I have to assume that their recruitment was in full swing over the summer. I'm sure applications are up, if not as much as at these other schools.</p>
<p>howd they screw up?</p>
<p>They lost Stetson and 8 other admissions officers in a period of 10 months. The interim dean was speculated to have failed to campaign for applicants as hardily as his predecessor.
That said, I have complete confidence in Eric Furda, the new dean. He's the guy who revitalized Columbia's admissions system.</p>