College Admissions: Early Apps Up for Class of 2019

College Admissions: Early Apps Up for Class of 2019

Over the last 30 days, students from across the country and around the world sent in college applications under binding Early Decision and non-binding Early Action programs. While most colleges are still tallying numbers, a few universities have released early statistics. And despite demographics showing that the number of U.S. college-age students has started to decline, it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier to gain acceptance to the nation’s top colleges. 

At Brown University, Early Decision applications were the second highest in the school’s history.  3,016 students applied for early admission, and minority students accounted for 33% of this pool. According to the Brown Daily Herald, international students from 63 countries account for 17% of applicants, with most hailing from Asia and a substantial number coming from just across the border in Canada. The U.S. distribution of candidates is broad from 49 states. Mid-Atlantic students make up 25% of applicants, New England 18% and Western states 16%. California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut are the most popular states for Brown’s ED pool. 

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Other Ivy League college early admission numbers appear to have remained strong as well. Dartmouth College received a record 1,856 Early Decision applications. This reflects a 10% surge over last year’s numbers. And the University of Pennsylvania is sorting a record 5,390 applications, up 5% from last year. According to administrators, UPENN will fill 40-50% of their freshmen seats in this round of admission for the class of 2019.

Heading south to other elite institutions: Duke received 3,146 Early Decision applications, slightly fewer than last year which set a record at the university and ultimately filled 47% of the Class of 2018. At the University of Virginia, a record 16,185 students applied Early Action, up 7.5% from last year.

What is clear from these numbers is that more applicants are taking advantage of early admission programs each year. Some candidates apply early because they have an absolute first choice and getting in early can relieve senior year stress. Others send in fall apps because they know that the statistics favor ED and EA students at many colleges with substantially higher acceptance rates than during Regular Decision. Additionally, students are catching on to the idea that many colleges are filling 30-70% of their freshmen seats in the early admission round, and applications surge during Regular Decision.

Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic college counseling, SAT prep and athletic recruiting services www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.