News
After six straight years of increases in total applications, the College this year saw a six percent drop in the application pool for the incoming freshman class.
The number of applicants for the Class of 2001 fell to 10,700 applicants from last year's 11,385 -- a drop which is consistent with the trend across the country.
Despite the six percent drop, the 10,700 total applications still represent the second-highest number ever received by the College in a single year, surpassed only by last year's number, according to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg.
Furstenberg said all Ivy League schools except Columbia saw a fall from last year's numbers.
Harvard University's total applications were down nine to 10 percent, Princeton University saw a eight percent drop and Yale University lost seven percent off of last year's numbers, according to Furstenberg.
Furstenberg said although the total pool is smaller this year, it is "more diverse and stronger academically" than any previous collection of freshman candidates.
Reasons for the decline
Furstenberg said the across-the-board drop is probably due to recent publicity about the difficulty of getting into Ivy League schools, which might have scared off some high school seniors from applying.
College President James Freedman said "we can relate from this that students are applying wisely to schools rather than wasting their applications on schools they are not likely to get into."
"It would seem the students that are not applying are the ones that are the weakest academically," Furstenberg said.