Total Applications Growth/Decline, class of 2017

<p>Thanks rishav. And yes, our names are a coincidence. To keep us apart, remember that while we are both fathers, Mr. Chicken is the only one considered farm fresh.</p>

<p>thanks Sue22 (that name has a nice ring)…here are the data for all of the UC’s:
<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2013/fall_2013_applications_table2.2.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2013/fall_2013_applications_table2.2.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Note that the linked document shows breakdowns for freshman applications by UC campus and residency (in-state, out-of-state, and international). The percentage growth of international this season has been greater than out-of-state % growth on every campus except Berkeley.</p>

<p>Berkeley +9.7% (67,658)
Davis +13.1% (55,877)
Irvine +11.3% (60,619)
Los Angeles +10.8% (80,472)
Merced +16.6% (14,966)
Riverside +13.2% (33,809)
San Diego +10.8% (67,403)
Santa Barbara +13.9% (62,402)
Santa Cruz +16.9% (38,507)</p>

<p>Socal- I was planning to say we were CC bros! :)</p>

<p>Even the smaller, rolling admissions schools are obviously affected. My son received an acceptance package from Endicott College yesterday - cover letter stated, “Consequently, you have been accepted from an unprecedented number of over 4,000 applicants with only 680 positions available.”</p>

<p>re-sort</p>

<p>Case Western +25% (>18,000)
Boston U +19.4% (52,532)
UCSC +16.9% (38,507)
UC Merced +16.6% (14,966)
UCSB +13.9% (62,402)
UC Riverside +13.2% (33,809)
UC Davis +13.1% (55,877)
UC Irvine +11.3% (60,619)
Tufts +10.9% (18,167) (“and counting”)
UCLA +10.8% (80,472)
UCSD +10.8% (67,403)
UC Berkeley +9.7% (67,658)
Stanford +5% to +6% (38463 to 38829)
Columbia +5% (33,460)
Duke +0.4% (31,741)
Brown +0.22% (28,733; more to count)
Dartmouth -3% (22,400)
Boston College -26% (~25,000)</p>

<p>Also, applicants in more recent years have been given to understand that college admissions has become so competitive that there are few safe bets anymore, and thus one should cast a wide net. Use of the Common App makes this a relatively straightforward process. </p>

<p>And with a school like Case, which not only has no application fee, but also has no additional supplementary essays, why not apply? I must say, though, I was inspired by the marketing materials to visit Case (and BU) and thereafter decided to apply. Very nice school.</p>

<p>Enjoyed the Tufts and WSJ articles. I would love to know how many free applications were offered?</p>

<p>Penn sweeps out the admissions office corners to get a net +1 application!
[The</a> Daily Pennsylvanian :: Penn application numbers increase by one](<a href=“http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/01/penn-application-numbers-increase-by-one]The”>Penn application numbers increase by one | The Daily Pennsylvanian)</p>

<p>Case Western +25% (>18,000)
Boston U +19.4% (52,532)
UCSC +16.9% (38,507)
UC Merced +16.6% (14,966)
UCSB +13.9% (62,402)
UC Riverside +13.2% (33,809)
UC Davis +13.1% (55,877)
UC Irvine +11.3% (60,619)
Tufts +10.9% (18,167) (“and counting”)
UCLA +10.8% (80,472)
UCSD +10.8% (67,403)
UC Berkeley +9.7% (67,658)
Stanford +5% to +6% (38463 to 38829)
Columbia +5% (33,460)
Duke +0.4% (31,741)
Brown +0.22% (28,733; more to count)
Penn +0.00% (31,219)
Dartmouth -3% (22,400)
Boston College -26% (~25,000)</p>

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</p>

<p>Not to put too fine a point on it. :D</p>

<p>Papachicken, I really enjoy that you do these every year. thanks.</p>

<p>It’ll be interesting to see USC’s (And Ohio State’s) numbers since I believe this is their first year on the commonapp.</p>

<p>^Well they owe me a cookie for that headline. :)</p>

<p>Would anyone like to comment on BC’s decline and its affect on RD admissions?</p>

<p>JrMint—I am thinking that serious BC applicants should see if there is still time to demonstrate some interest (but this is just idle speculation on my part). They do not offer interviews and even if they did, I assume the Ad Coms are busy reading apps presently.</p>

<p>Since 2008, their % accepted have been 26, 30, 31, 28 & 29 and the corresponding yields have been 27, 25, 25, 23 & 25. I cannot locate their CDS–only their Fact Book–so I don’t know if they value expressed interest. Website says they fill 30% of class with their restrictive EA cycle, but I imagine this will be an interesting round in the admissions office. Who knew a 400 word essay could cause such a fall-off?</p>

<p>The chart of acceptances and yields looks a little volatile in their Fact Book but that is in comparison to the five years prior which were much more consistent.</p>

<p>Thank you, CT. Your observations are rather useful, especially since I was attempting to estimate the RD numbers by comparing previous applicant totals with yield percentages. This year will be a headache for them with the threat of over -or under- enrollment.</p>

<p>JrMint–did you see this thread? (I have to stop spending so much time on CC and instead figure out which schools we will be visiting during April break!) <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1449356-guess-college-just-reported-26-drop-applications.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1449356-guess-college-just-reported-26-drop-applications.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I didn’t actually answer your question as I think this change was so significant that their normal predictions cannot be as reliable. They may end up tapping the wait list or looking for freshman housing at local hotels this August.</p>

<p>CT1417 – I am a Tufts alum and parent. The Tufts application must be accompanied by a $70 fee or a waiver request based on need. There has been no change on that front. I assume Stanford does that as well. </p>

<p>The rises (including Stanford) are mostly due to increased marketing and streamlined application processes. From my vantage point on the east coast, Stanford’s name recognition (among the general population) has improved significantly in the time period mentioned. I have known about Stanford for a very long time - because I am in high tech, but that was not typical.</p>

<p>Many, many years ago all universities with the possible exception of Harvard had mostly regional reputations. Some universities started ramping up their marketing a long time ago (some of the Ivies). Some started later (Stanford) and some even later (Tufts). I know there are schools that have not started yet (I call them hidden gems). Note that over 35 years ago I received a piece of unsolicited marketing collateral from MIT (asking me to apply) after taking the PSAT. I received nothing from either Stanford or Tufts. So this marketing thing is not new, even in the engineering realm. </p>

<p>When my child applied to Tufts, we received one brochure–after she applied. We filled 2-3 large cardboard boxes with marketing collateral from other schools. </p>

<p>What Tufts did do this year was redesign its web page to better articulate its unique culture. It also eliminated an optional essay question leaving three (it now has the same number as Stanford). The three Tufts essay questions are not typical and tend to weed out a lot of casual applicants. In contrast to Stanford/Tufts, Harvard has one optional essay.</p>

<p>In terms of BC, I applaud the fact that they now have an essay question. In my eyes they are now more selective because they ask for more information. Only in the perverse world of college rankings could a school with an easier application be considered more selective. </p>

<p>They had to know it would have an impact, since a number of schools have eliminated or reduced the number of essays recently and seen the number of applications go up –sometimes dramatically. The size of the drop may have surprised them. I am speculating that they will manage the risk associated with the large change in applications by using the wait list – that would be prudent in my mind.</p>

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<p>Not to be too picky about the statements above +1 at Penn, or about the “more 1 RD” … but you might have to look at it differently. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>At around the same time last year, Penn announced a total of 31,127 applications. That is the number we might have to use for comparisons purposes. Even if a 0.00 growth is not much different from a 0.30 percent increase. </p></li>
<li><p>Since Penn reported an increase of about 300 applications in its ED round, the number of RD applicants did actually decrease, unless Penn finds several dozen envelopes between now and April. Just as in Lee’s good ol’ days, they should be able to massage the application number upwards.</p></li>
</ol>

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</p>

<p>And all of the above when added up correctly amounts to 174,767 UNIQUE applications.</p>

<p>The Penn article suggests that they added an essay this year too. How many essays did they used to have? It’s interesting that their numbers could stay flat even with an added essay, whereas BC’s fell dramatically.</p>

<p>tuftskid…hmmm…last year’s Daily Pennsylvanian article also cited a new optional essay (as opposed to required supplemental essay) as being a possible reason behind last year’s app decline: [The</a> Daily Pennsylvanian :: Application dip prompts competing explanations](<a href=“http://www.thedp.com/article/2012/01/admissions_office_not_concerned_with_decline_in_applicants]The”>Application dip prompts competing explanations | The Daily Pennsylvanian)
Regardless, Penn is probably at the market saturation point, and as Dean Furda suggests, the fluctuations observed are probably within the expected range.</p>

<p>Xiggi alluded well to my cynicism on Penn admissions (you accurately pointed that out @poetgrl!) which stems from what I’ll call the Stetson days of creative admissions to boost ranking. IMHO, pretty low probability that there would be exactly +1 app over last year. [I imagine motivations to be great to show ‘growth’: the positive PR of a growth in applications, no matter how small, is MUCH better than a decline in applications in the media-sensitive elite college admissions world.] I have read about, over the years, how liberties can be taken by those doing the counting with the definition of “application”…not saying I have any proof whatsoever of that here nor that I am aware of Penn practicing application count fudgery in the past, but such a conspiracy theory would fit with prior times. (As an alum, I still love Penn, and only want it to live up to high standards of integrity and transparency.)</p>

<p>Xiggi- interesting data on unique UC applications. Hence, each unique applicant applied to 2.8 UC campuses this season [481,713/174,767]. Do you know if that stat has changed over time?</p>

<p>PC, here is an easy way to get to the annual changes:</p>

<p>From the general site available at [University</a> of California Office of the President](<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html]University”>http://www.ucop.edu/news/studstaff.html) , we can get to the annual applications:</p>

<p>For 2011 to 2013
<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2013/fall_2013_applications_table1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2013/fall_2013_applications_table1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2010/10apptable3.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2010/10apptable3.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>2011 to 2013
Freshman 106,070 126,299 139,758
Transfer 36,165 34,640 35,009
Total 142,235 160,939 174,767</p>

<p>2008 to 2010
Freshman 95,201 98,002 100,320
Transfer 25,804 28,699 33,709
Total 121,005 126,701 134,029</p>

<p>Note that the 174,767 quoted earlier does include the transfers. Now to express the changes in percentages, we would have to add the various years for each school.</p>