Applications to the Class of 2017 show slight decrease

The University received a total of 26,505 applications for the Class of 2017, according to an announcement issued on Jan. 26. The figure represents a slight decrease from the previous year, when the University received 26,663 applicants for the Class of 2016.

This year’s total includes 3,810 applicants who applied last fall for early action admission. Of these early applicants, 679 were offered a spot in the Class of 2017 in December. Of the remaining early applicants, 2,777 were deferred to the regular admission applicant pool. The number of early applications increased by 10.7 percent this year, up from 3,443 who applied early for the Class of 2016.

Last year, the University also saw a slight decrease in total application numbers following the all-time largest applicant pool for the Class of 2015. This decrease comes after a continual upward trend and coincides with the University’s reinstatement of the early action admission program for the Class of 2016.

Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said that it is still too early to attribute the smaller applicant numbers to the early action program.

"All of this is speculation because we only have the numbers from the students from the past two years," Rapelye said. "It may be because the students who are most serious about us are using our early action program, and students who are most interested in other schools are applying to their early action program."

Following last year’s over-enrollment for the Class of 2016, the Office of Admission will accept a slightly smaller number of applicants for the next three incoming classes. While class sizes in previous years have hovered around 1,308 students, the Office of Admission will be aiming for a freshman class size of 1,290 students in this admission cycle.

"Our yield was very strong last year, and we're very mindful of that going into [this year's] process," Rapelye said.

The applicants will be notified of their admission decision by late March, and all accepted students will have until May 1 to reply to the University’s offer.