<p>From the Times site on FB:</p>
<p>Thank you for your concern. I am looking at an email from Smith College’s media relations director that says that as of Jan. 6, 2012, they had received 2,779 applications and that as of the same date last year they had received 2,691. I can not speak on the final numbers, but that is the information they gave us.</p>
<p>My respone:hard to believe they got another 1,500 apps in a little over a week…</p>
<p>As an international student, I just wanna say that I may stay up all night waiting for this…really tired and nervous!!</p>
<p>Clearly there is a conflict in the information. Since the admissions office confirmed that this year’s admission applications exceeded last years of 4,128 it would appear that information submitted to the NYT by another department at Smith is in error and/or incomplete. Frankly, the NYT numbers make no sense since the number of applications over the last three admission cycles have consistently risen. Also, given the level of competition for admission at the top 30 or so LAC’s would seem to compel a conclusion that the NYT numbers are wrong. Hopefully, Smith College’s admission office will release the total number of applications.</p>
<p>5 students applied to Smith just from my school… I’m nervous.</p>
<p>From Smith’s web site:</p>
<p>Surpassing last years record of 4,128 first-year Smith applicants, this years 4,321 applicants to become members of the class of 2016 is more than the Office of Admission has ever received in a single year.</p>
<p>It’s impressive how each year the numbers of applicants just keep rising. Are students increasing their numbers of applications to colleges to hedge their bets or are more students really interested in women’s colleges? Or both?</p>
<p>I think it is more of the applicants hedging their bets and I believe the percentage of students electing to go to college also keep on rising every year. The students population increase due to echo boom is supposed to have peaked a few years ago. This is not a women’s college phenomenon, it is true for most colleges in general especially the top tier ones.</p>
<p>As you can tell it is a positive feedback loop, as more people apply, the smaller the acceptance rate. But the smaller acceptance rate means you should apply to more schools to hedge your bet, which in turns mean more people apply to a school.</p>
<p>Those schools that “meet need” are also very attractive to students who desperately need fin. aid. I would think Smith is a “reach” for more and more who really need to “reach” for money. Applications at Mt. Holyoke were also up to a record, per an email received yesterday.</p>
<p>Thank you Bossf51 for posting the information on the total number of applications. The number for 2012 of 4,321 is a 4.70% increase over last year’s number of 4,128. Good luck to all the RD applicants.</p>
<p>Sad. It means that even more highly qualified women who would truly benefit from what Smith has to offer won’t be able to receive it. And beyond a certain point, no, I don’t believe the students get any “better” as a result.</p>
<p>For those that are interested, Smith College’s Office of Admissions posted the final tally on the number of applications submitted for the Class of 2016 to Smith College:</p>
<p>4,334 applications were submitted which is an all time record and exceeded last year’s total of 4,128 by 206 applications. That is an increase of 5% over last year.</p>
<p>I guess there were a few stragglers after the original announcement. :D</p>
<p>Anyways, they had a big cake to celebrate the numbers today up at the campus center. Reports are it was delicious.</p>
<p>Great news for Smith. Wondering what that means in terms of trends. Why are more students drawn to an “all-women’s” college. Is it Smith or “single sex” education. I put words in quotes because of the gender-bending at Smith. PS my D is a student there and LOVES it!</p>
<p>njcd, I think there a couple of explanations: it’s an “admissions bargain,” easier to get into than other schools of its caliber simply because half the pool is ineligible and thus Smith goes “deeper” into the applicant pool than it otherwise would.</p>
<p>Also, I think that at least among the cognoscenti, which includes everyone here, the advantages of an LAC over a research university are getting wider play.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Nice explanation. Allow me to add a couple of additional factors contributing to the increase. </p>
<p>The depressed economic environment has many more students/parents grasping for the financial aid golden ring. There are very few colleges that meet full-need and even fewer top 30 or so LAC’s that offer a significant number of merit awards of $15,000 or more.
Also, international applications have significantly increased at colleges that meet full-need.</p>
<p>Funny, Occidental emailed the same thing to my son. Could it be a ploy to make them look popular for next year’s applicants? I can’t believe there are THAT many more kids born in 1994 or that there are THAT many of them going to college over any other years!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There are that many more applying to far more colleges than in the past. Colleges are also making it more attractive (read easier) to apply. Middlebury no longer requires a supplemental essay or graded paper. Nor are there on-campus interviews. Students also have more options of which test scores they’re required to submit.</p>
<p>Smith is now SAT optional. Another factor that helped increase applications.</p>
<p>RE: SAT optional. Yes these schools say that, but strong candidates with high stats are still going to submit them, and I suspect that Smith and all the other schools are going to weigh them in over applicants who don’t send them (even if the other applicants have otherwise strong applications.) Of course, high stats alone do not guarantee admission. So yes maybe this is a reason for increased applications (plus Smith application is free) but that doesn’t mean there are more qualified candidates than in the past. Maybe instead of just looking a sheer numbers, they should be looking at the number of truly competitive applications.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sure it does. I admit that a certain percentage of women who don’t submit test scores are Hail Mary applications. However, there is also a percentage of women who are more than qualified but would not have applied if Smith was not SAT/ACT optional. Smith, as well as Bowdoin, Bates, MHC, et cetera, are rife with students who are doing exceedingly well despite the fact they were admitted without submitting SAT/ACT scores.</p>
<p>as an ed acceptee i think it is a little demeaning to read some of these posts. You are acting like smith is a cop out, or a place to go if you cant get in any where else. I love smith, and i feel like a had a very strong application, and I absolutely do not feel like an aberration. Several students turn down prestigious EA admittances, including myself, to attend Smith. It is not an easy school to get into and a feel accomplished. By saying or even implying the applicant pools competitiveness has not gone up is insane. Smith rejects quite a few very qualified applicants that may have gotten in 10 years ago. Smithies are an awesome and elite group of woman.</p>