Tis the season for early applicant admissions statistics to be released. Brown, UPenn and Dartmouth have already released their early decision admissions statistics, and other schools should follow soon.
We all know that the reputation of a college depends on its selectivity. And its selectivity depends largely on its reputation. A look at almost any college ranking will show a very high correlation between rank and selectivity.
Dartmouth—seeing a whopping 12.5 percent decline in its early decision applicants—could be at the start of a long, slippery slope in terms of selectivity and reputation.
Their admissions office suggests Hurricane Sandy is part of the reason for the low number of applicants this year, but both Brown and UPenn have reported an increase in applicants—with UPenn even seeing a record high.
So unless fratty Republicans were affected by Sandy significantly more than the rest of us, Dartmouth’s explanations don’t fool anyone, and I think we should stop ignoring big Keggy the Keg in the room.
