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E-PrinceApplications to the University fell 1.93 percent this past year, the University announced Monday morning, ending seven consecutive years of increasingly large applicant pools. The 26,663 applicants to the Class of 2016 make up the second-largest pool in ...
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A correction:
the dip was not 1.7% but 1.93%, because the Admissions Office press release upon which you rely misstated the number of applications received last year: it was not 27,115, but rather 27,189.
For confirmation, check your own similar story a year ago, or the Princeton 2011 Common Data Set form.
http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrol...
It is interesting to note that Princeton's and Harvard's applications went down with the reinstatement of early decision. Everyone thought it was going to make apllications surge.
Stats for the rest of the Ivies, Stanford, & MIT are in:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/photos/2012/jan/31...
http://www.yaledailynews.com/photos/2012/jan/31...
Duke, Northwestern, and UChicago also received record numbers of applicants for the Class of 2016. Does anyone care to rationalize these results?
Yes, interest in certain schools rotate in popularity from year to year. Also if some schools are perceived as impossible to get into, their numbers will drop for a few cycles. The ivies have gotton a lot of hype and applications the last few years, so people are applying to the next tier schools of the midwest,south and west instead. It is interesting now that Princeton has the second lowest applicant pool in the ivies only ahead of the much smaller school of Dartmouth.
Despite the size of the pool, entering classes have gotten relatively stronger in recent years since the Admissions Office moved away from the Hargadon approach of recruiting the so-called "Princeton Type", and started to compete with Harvard and Yale for the most academically talented.
Princeton has fallen befind Harvard,Yale,Columbia, and Stanford academically for the last few cycles. I do not know why we are still ranked in the top five on USNWR. These four schools have larger applicant pools, lower admit rates, and higher academic standards consistently for the last few years.
I think prospective students are encouraged to look long and hard at our academic calendar and when compared to a similar caliber of schools, are saying, "thanks, but no thanks." I think this is also reflected in our pitiful 50%+ yield...among other things. I think our yield is a leading indicator that we have a problem...Besides, splitting hairs over insignificant changes is a ridiculous exercise anyway. Look at the BIG picture...our yield...not the change in our yield.
Early Action was a response to the fact that a couple of years ago, we took over 180 people off the waiting list because admits rejected US. Does anybody know why so many great students reject US? Does admissions know and they don't want to say? Or do they really not know? Somebodies either lying or they are stupid, if they are lying, that can be fixed...
to "it's the yield"
Not to reopen old wounds, but studies and confidential surveys have consistently shown that the "eating clubs" so beloved by many alums are a turn-off for many potential recruits - particularly females and academically-minded types.
Maybe this shouldn't be the case, but it IS the case. This is why the administration - to the consternation of their defenders -is constantly trying to downplay and deemphasize the role of the eating clubs in campus culture.
Most of Princeton's graduate programs are an embarrassment and many faculty members acknowledge that the quality of students in the undergraduate program is superior to those in our graduate programs. Ignore most of those graduate rankings that say how great we are, they are a joke.
At the margin of excellent students versus extraordinary students, the stimulus provided by graduate students, graduate-level courses and graduate research is lacking and is where Princeton falls short versus schools that have larger, better graduate programs. This, then, gets to the root of Princeton's identity and mission. If we really want to be in the same league as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Columbia, we need more commitment to the graduate programs without undermining the undergraduate commitment. Out great undergrads are outgrowing this place after three years. Remember, the rising tide floats all boats...We will surely be eclipsed by Penn, if we already aren't. Yes, we have terrific faculty but many of them did their finest work someplace else and came to bucolic Princeton to coast. Great faculty are attracted to great resources for research and one of those resources is great graduate students, particularly those more mature than merely chasing a GPA.
Yes, the highly outdated, discriminatory eating clubs are a huge turn off to prospective students compared to the other ivies.