<p>From the Smith website:</p>
<p>Record-breaking Application Year: 4,123 and Counting </p>
<p>The Office of Admission invites all members of the campus community to enjoy a piece of cake in celebration of our record-breaking number of first-year applications for the Class of 2015. Were at 4,123 and still counting! </p>
<p>Comment:While the number is not a huge increase over last year, it is a record.</p>
<p>I see nothing to celebrate! It only means competition is stiffer for all the hopefuls!!</p>
<p>Well, it’s good for the school itself which is why they are celebrating. For the rest of us, you’re right!</p>
<p>Sad. More applicants means more disappointment.</p>
<p>I don’t know… I just see it as increased interest in the school. I think that’s how Smith sees it.</p>
<p>more applicants only means more disappointment if Smith believes that yield rate will stay constant and thus rejects more people. They could just as easily admit a higher percentage (or even a higher absolute number) of applicants, if they thought yield would decrease.</p>
<p>I think it’s kind of silly though. I wish the US were more like the UK in this regard, with a centralized application system that caps applications at 6. There’s still room for individuality in the admissions process, but it makes yield a bit less of a guessing game and makes the applications easier for each school to process.</p>
<p>Stacy, the Brit system sounds much too organized! ;-)</p>