Colleges continue counting early applications for Class of 2019—some up and others down

Duke's Early Decision application count went down slightly this year.

Over the next several weeks, colleges with early application plans will begin rolling out a first round of admissions decisions. In fact, a few like the University of Georgia and Elon University have already communicated decisions to their early-bird applicants.

As is usually the case, colleges boasting of increases in early application numbers have been quick to report their successes.  Others are “still waiting” for stragglers to complete their applications and get all required information in.  Some are blaming Naviance, a popular online document processor, for delays in completing files and computing how many applicants chose the early route this year. And still others are blaming the College Board for delays in reporting test scores for some international students.

But despite national demographics showing that the number of U.S. college-age students continues to decline, it doesn’t appear to be getting any easier to gain acceptance to top-tier colleges. Even among schools showing flat or declining early application numbers, the sheer number of candidates vying for a limited number of spots in the Class of 2019 is overwhelming:

• Bowdoin College:  The Office of Admissions received a record-high 662 Early Decision I applications—an increase of 10.7 percent over last year.
• Brown University:  At Brown, Early Decision applications dipped slightly from last year by about two percent from last year’s record high.  The university received 3,016 applications with international applicants accounting for 17 percent of the applicant pool.
• Colorado College:  Last year, Colorado received 3,125 Early Action applications and 551 Early Decision I applications, representing nearly 50 percent of the final applicant pool.  To date, Colorado has received 555 Early Decision I applications and 3,401 Early Action applications—an overall increase of 9 percent.
• Dartmouth College:  Dartmouth received a record 1,856 Early Decision applications.  This reflects a 10 percent increase over last year and more than made up for a 12.6 percent decrease two years ago.
• DePaul University:  DePaul reports about a 7 percent increase in Early Action applications over last year.
• Duke University:  After last year’s record-breaking year, Duke received 3,146 Early Decision applications—slightly fewer than for the Class of 2018.  Note that the university filled 47 percent of its class with Early Decision applicants last year.
• Emory University:  Early Decision 1 applications to Emory were up 9 percent over last year, and applications to Emory’s Oxford College were up by 25 percent.  This year’s increases come on the heels of last year’s record 20 percent increase in ED 1 applications for Emory College and 35 percent increase in ED 1 applications for Oxford.
• Georgetown University:  The number of Restricted Early Action applicants for the class of 2019 essentially increased slightly to 6,827 from last year’s total of 6,749. Georgetown expects to admit about 15 percent Early Action.
• Georgia Institute of Technology:  Georgia Tech reports that Early Action applications held steady at about 11,000 for this year.
• Kenyon College:  Last year, Kenyon’s Early Decision I applicant pool increased by 17 percent to 232.  So far this year, Kenyon can report that ED I applications have increased once again.
• Princeton University:  After an essentially flat year in 2013, Princeton’s Single-Choice Early Action applicant pool continued to remain steady at 3,830.
• University of Georgia:  Georgia received about 13,300 Early Action applications, an increase over last year. Out of this group about 56 percent were offered admission.
• University of Michigan:  According to Admissions, the totals aren’t final except to say that they have surpassed the 23,000 Early Action applications received last year.  Note that Michigan was overenrolled by 300 students last year and expects to make heavy use of the wait list this year.
• University of Pennsylvania:  Penn broke all previous records by receiving 5,390 applications—up five percent from last year.  According to the admissions office, Penn plans to fill 40-50% of the class with early applicants.
• University of Virginia:  UVa received 16,185 Early Action applications—up a whopping 7.5 percent from last year.
• Yale University:  After increasing significantly last year, Yale’s Single-Choice Early Action applications fell by 1.2 percent from last year to 4,693.