Number of applicants decreases for 2004

Penn's total application numbers for the Class of 2008 showed a slight decrease from last year, but this year's applicant pool is thought to be the strongest and most competitive class ever.

With a current total of 18,241 applicants, the University saw a decline of approximately 3 percent, down from last year's total of 18,805.

Penn officials are still in the early stages of sorting through the applications and have not yet been able to determine approximately how many applicants will be offered admission.

This slight decrease in applications applies to both early and regular decision. This year's early decision applications numbered 3,340, compared with last year's 3,390. There were 14,901 regular decision applicants, down from 15,545.

However, Admissions officials are pleased with this year's applicant pool despite the decrease.

"This year's pool is a much stronger pool than last year, with students self-selecting themselves out," Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said. "This year's average SAT scores are actually nine points higher, with an increase in applicants with scores over 1400."

"The group we are looking at seriously is actually larger, with applicants that are stronger and more competitive."

"This allows us to be very selective and bring in a stronger class in every way in September," he said.

Harvard University also experienced a drop in admissions numbers, reporting 19,712 applications compared with the 20,987 reported in 2003. Dartmouth College also reported a small decrease, with total application numbers dropping less than 1 percent from last year, according to The Dartmouth.

While the declining applicants trend was true for the majority of the Ivy League schools, Columbia and Cornell reported increases in their application numbers. Columbia received 17,244 applications this year, up from 16,888 in 2003.

Cornell reported a 1.9 percent increase from last year with 20,800 total applications. This increase is the largest in the Ivy League.

The trend of stronger and more competitive pools has been reflected across all the Ivies, with increases reported in average SAT scores and GPAs.

"The increase in applicants with SAT scores above 1400 has shown us that we are competing directly with the top six or seven schools in the country," Stetson said. "We are solidifying our position in the top part of a selective group of schools, with students from around the country choosing to join our pool in greater numbers."

Some of the decrease in applicants can be attributed to the switch in early admissions policies to "single-choice early action" -- a non-binding form of early decision -- at schools such as Harvard and Yale.

Figures for Yale, Brown and Princeton were not available.

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