Princeton sees steep drop in applications for Class of 2014

The University received an astonishingly low 10,943 applications for the Class of 2014, representing a 50 percent drop from last year, a stunned Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian on Tuesday.

If the University accepts roughly 2,150 people from the applicant pool this April — as it did last spring — the school’s acceptance rate would more than double, to 20.1 percent.

“I will be delighted to be able to offer admission to more students,” Rapelye said. “It’s only good for us. They are so strong and so powerful.”

The report of the steep drop in applicants to Princeton comes in the same week as other Ivy League schools announced record-size applicant pools. All seven other institutions in the Ancient Eight saw double-digit growth, potentially from the thousands of students who opted not to apply to Princeton.

Rapelye said she had no concrete evidence for why the University was so unpopular with high school seniors all across the country.

“The challenge is always to understand why students make the choices they do,” Rapelye said. She expressed concern that coverage last spring by The Daily Princetonian about the University’s rising acceptance rate may have played a part.

“The comments on the ‘Prince’ website last spring were out of control,” Rapelye noted. “If I were a high school senior, I’m not sure I would have applied to Princeton this year.”

Last April, the University admitted 9.79 percent of the 21,964 applicants who sought admission to the Class of 2013. That acceptance rate was higher than it had been in each of the last two years, and the news elicited 306 comments on the ‘Prince’ website. The article was viewed 15,425 times online, while the comments garnered a total of 37,074 hits.

One commenter, going by the pseudonym Angry@Rapelye, wrote: “What the f***. I am pissed. the people in the admissions office have to get their act together ASAP. I remember the years when Princeton received just as many apps as Harvard and Yale (if not more than Yale) and our acceptance rate was just as low. What has happened to our recruitment efforts? Maybe we should send out more letters. This is unacceptable for Princeton.”

Another commenter, 09er, said, “On the plus side, we’re one step closer on Tilghman, Malkiel and Rapeleye’s grand social engineering goal. Soon enough eating club members will be ostracized, our grades completely deflated, parties banned on campus, and everyone forced in four year colleges where it’s mandatory to hold hands and sing kumbaya with your ‘diverse’ roommates every night. And the new students will LIKE it. Thank God I’m getting out of here. Bring back Dean Fred.”

At times, discussion in the comments also strayed from the topic of admission. P’10 wrote, “Okay, I don’t know where to say this, but since half the school is reading this thread I’ll just post and hope the relevant person reads this and gets the message. When sitting in precept, for God’s sake, DO NOT take off your shoes. Your feet/socks smell like crap. I realize you might not be able to smell it, but there’s no reason the rest of us should have to suffer. Please, have an iota of decency and respect for others. You’re not on the beach. Sincerely, the person sitting next to you.”

Later that day, another commenter with the nickname Stinky responded, “Crap, I take off my shoes in precept sometimes. Never occurred to me it might be unpleasant for others. Sorry!”

This article is part of The Daily Princetonian's annual joke issue. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.