When we decided to eliminate early decision at UVa, we were convinced that the move would cause a drop in the number of applications received. We thought this was an acceptable trade off.
Well, the preliminary numbers are in and we have a big surprise. Our applications numbers are up. Now, the increase isn't dramatic, but it's still very exciting. I think a number of schools out there are interested in eliminating early programs and they are watching Harvard, Princeton, UVa, Florida, and Delaware this year to see how our application statistics are affected by the move.
Looking at the Data Digest, we had 18,046 applications last year and 17,798 were completed applications (meaning students followed up with all the required documentation). At the moment, we have over 18,500 applications submitted (the number . It will take a few weeks to know how many become completed applications and then a few months for profile data to be compiled.
