While other elite universities see applications spike, Harvard’s applications drop

In a year of record high applications to elite colleges, Harvard University’s applications are down.

In the fall, early admissions applications were down 17 percent. Overall, applications are down five percent, the nation’s premier university revealed in an announcement last Thursday night reported on by The New York Times.

“Overall, Harvard received 54,008 undergraduate applications in this admissions cycle, compared with 56,937 last year, a drop of about 5 percent,” according to the article.

Applications were also down at Brown, which this year had a longer application form with more essay questions. But applications were up — to record highs — at Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth, Yale, Amherst, University of Virginia, and many other elite colleges and universities, the Times reported.