14 Feb 2006

College Admissions: More Applicants Mean More Dings

Colleges and universities across the country have reported sizeable increases in their freshman applicant pools for 2006. That's going to mean more waitlist decisions – and more dings.

Selective schools first noted increases in their early admissions application volume last fall. The University of Pennsylvania saw its early admissions application pool grow by a whopping 21 per cent. Hamilton College saw even more growth, receiving 29 per cent more early admissions applications than it did a year ago. Early application volume also grew at Princeton (9 per cent), MIT (16 per cent), the University of Denver (14 per cent), Northwestern (12 per cent), and many other schools.

Inevitably, this growth in applications meant that more early applicants were denied. Although applicant numbers have increased, the size of freshman classes has remained the same, meaning that more college applicants have been vying for fewer seats.

Some observers suspect that the increased number of rejections and deferrals generated by higher early admissions volume last fall may have caused a 'ripple effect' in this year's regular admissions. Students who failed in their early admissions bids are thought to have applied to more schools than they normally would under regular admissions, to ensure that they have a place at some college or university this fall. These multiple applications are believed to be part of the reason why numerous colleges and universities are reporting growth in their overall application volume for the year – growth which, in turn, will also mean higher numbers of admissions denials.

Another factor in this year's admission decisions is that several schools plan to be more conservative in issuing admissions offers in order to control the number of incoming freshmen. The University of Pennsylvania, which encountered an on-campus housing crisis last year when more students than expected accepted admission offers, is among the schools that will make greater use of waitlist decisions to avoid winding up with a larger number of freshmen than the school can accommodate.

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