Total apps break U. record

Ivy League admission has always been competitive, but this year Penn and some of its peers have seen a significant increase in the total number of applicants.

Receiving 26,800 applications — the largest number in University history — Penn saw a 17-percent increase in the number of applicants to the class of 2014.

Princeton University’s applications increased by 19 percent and Brown University’s by 20 percent, according to the New York Times.

“It’s the biggest relief ever, very exciting to be a part of such a historic class, and I can’t wait to get there,” said Hayley Brooks, a high school senior from Florida. She was accepted to Penn through early decision.

“People see the value of such a prestigious university in tough times,” she added.

While Brooks applied and was accepted before the historic totals were relased, other seniors are still waiting for regular decisions amidst more daunting statistics.

“I’m resigned that there is a lot of competition for top schools like Penn,” said Will Miller, a senior at Kent Denver School and a regular decision applicant.

Surprised at such an increase, Miller theorized that application numbers vary with the school, and perhaps this year Penn is a popular choice — the “en vogue” university of the moment, as he describes it.

One deferred applicant from Lower Merion High School, who preferred not to be named, doesn’t share Miller’s calm.

“I feel less confident,” he says upon hearing about the record-breaking total of applications.

Comments (1)

Isn't it strange that the top ten schools have grown applications by over eleven percent when the high school graduating class as a whole did not grow? These schools are now receiving more that ten apps for each spot that they have. Given that several spots are taken for athletics and others, high school seniors are now facing odds of one in fifteen. So they apply to fifteen schools! And so it grows..

This is creating a dysfunctional admissions system. Schools are now faced with the task of identifying which one of the fifteen is best qualified and will matriculate if offered admission. Schools have to pick the best candidate but also have to maximize yield: the number who matriculate divided by the number of accepted applicants. Every school knows that a candidate has a preferred school and will probably be accepted at that school. In order to maximize yield they have to identify the person who prefers them. So schools like Penn gorge on EDs. Penn accepts as many as fifty percent (according to the blogs) in the ED round, nearly one out of every two. This way they hope to report a higher average yield because the RD round produces a dismal yield: Successful Penn RD applicants usually rank it fourth, so one in four will probably turn its offer down.

Schools need to get together to form an applications clearing house so that this numbers game is ended. What we need to optimize is the candidate to the school; get the best candidates that the school can; and not engage in some statistical window-dressing so as to improve their ranking in the US News and World Report. This will also substantially reduce the costs to applicants as well as schools of processing as many as ten to fifteen times as many applications as spots.

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