<p>Not that I'm complaining, and the total number of applications is still an astonishing record number, but I'm just curious why Stanford's and Yale's applications, for example, are up so much more than Harvard's and Princeton's (2-3%)?</p>
<p>Probably because Princeton and Harvard did away with early admissions but Stanford and Yale have not. Thus any HYPS-caliber student who wants to apply early will almost certainly apply to Y and S but may or may not follow-up and apply RD to H and P.</p>
<p>Or stated another way, Y and S have EA+RD apps, but H and P have RD only.</p>
<p>I don't have the numbers on hand, but here is a possible theory that may account for some of the discrepancy:</p>
<p>Harvard has always had significantly more applicants than Yale - due to a host of factors. If Harvard received 25k applicants last year (theoretically, don't know the numbers) and had a 5k increase this year, then Harvard can boast a 20% increase in applicants. If Yale had 20k applicants last year, and received an additional 5k, then they can boast of a 25% increase. </p>
<p>This is a really basic model, but I think it illustrates where some of the numbers may throw one school into a better light from a statistical standpoint.</p>
<p>Scipio's point is a very good one, in my opinion. I'm sure many applicants are no longer motivated to apply to more schools if they receive admission to a top school via early action. Members of this board, however, are a glaring exception to this generalization.</p>
<p>No, it's because the top kids in the school and plenty of not-top kids just throw an app to Harvard to see if they'll get in... that hasn't changed, whereas fewer kids just throw an app to Yale or Stanford because they don't have the degree of layman prestige. Now that kids can apply anywhere relatively easily, the same number of kids are just throwing an app to Harvard but now an increasing number are applying to schools like Yale and especially Stanford this year. That and financial aid, it's my understanding Harvard financial aid has always been the best but the other tops are just about equivalent now.</p>
<p>I think it's because Stanford and Yale have non binding EA.</p>
<p>That would be supported only by a low(er) yield rate this year for Stanford and Yale, high(er) yield rate for Harvard and Princeton. It's a testable hypothesis, and I don't think it will be the case.</p>
<p>Its because they had a bigger increase last year.</p>