The College received about 10 percent fewer female early decision applicants this year, while the number of male applicants remained about the same.
The Admissions Office received 1,254 early decision applications for slots in the Class of 2000, of which 689 were male and 565 were female, according to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg. Dartmouth typically accepts about 300 early applicants.
The College received a total of 1,303 early decision applications -- 687 male, 616 female -- for the Class of 1999. The number of early applicants rose steadily for the Classes of 1997 to 1999.
"I don't have an explanation" for the reduced number of female applicants, Furstenberg said. "I am puzzled myself."
The decrease may be of little statistical significance, compared with the total number of applications, he said. Furstenberg said the drop does not represent a trend, since there are more women than men in the Class of 1999.
"I think the number of early applications is slightly off last year because we moved the deadline up from Nov. 10 to Nov. 1," Furstenberg said.
The Admissions Office moved the deadline back so admissions officers could spend more time reviewing each application. He said the number of early applications "has grown in the past few years -- now we can do a more thoughtful job."
Furstenberg said a revamped financial aid application process -- which is costlier and more complicated than its predecessor -- also might have discouraged many potential early decision applicants.
This year, the College Scholarship Service added a step to the financial aid process, Furstenberg said. Students must now mail the service a fee and preliminary application listing the schools they plan to apply to.
Furstenberg said the new financial aid process seems to be "reducing the number of early decision applicants in general."
Admissions officers are now in the process of reading the early decision applications. They plan to mail their notifications on Dec. 8, he said.
Early decision applications for the Class of 2000 reflect "lots of first-choice interest in Dartmouth," Furstenberg said.
