19,235 students applied foradmissionto the Class of 2018, a 14 percent decrease from last year.
In response to the unexpected decrease in applicants, the College will conduct a survey of non-applicants to better understand the shift, according to a College press release.
Though the decrease in applicants could be attributed to Dartmouth’s location or public discussion of affordability and student life taking place at college campuses nationwide, said senior vice president for public affairs Tommy Bruce in a statement, broader reasons, from demographics to the growing interest in pre-professional programs, may also have had an impact.
1,678 students applied early decision this year, marking an increase of just over 6 percent from last year.
The 469 students admitted from the early decision pool will constitute about 40 percent of the overall class.
Last year 22,400 students applied to the Class of 2017, a 3 percent decrease from the previous year. The Class of 2017 saw a 12.5 percent decrease in the number of early decision applications.
University of Pennsylvania received a record 35,788 applicants, a 14 percent increase from last year. Princeton University received a total of 26,607 applications for the Class of 2018 while Brown University received 30,291, the second-largest applicant pool in its history. Harvard University received 34,295 applicants, a two percent decrease from last year. Yale University received 30,922 applicants, an approximately 4 percent increase from last year, a record-high and the first time the number of applicants has surpassed 30,000.
Columbia University and Cornell University have yet to release their regular decision applicant numbers.
