Applications Surge 4.52%, Exceed 10k Again

Hopefully the number of frosh sharing a Fauver room doesn’t also surge 4.52%.

According to a recent post on the New York Times‘ The Choice blog (maintained, as ever, by Gatekeepers writer and NYT admissions guru Jacques Steinberg), Wesleyan has received 10,437 applications for the class of 2016. That’s a 4.52% increase from last year, making this only the fourth year that applications have exceeded 10,000.  It also means 2016 is damn close to topping 2014’s record 10,656 applicants—the most selective year ever. (With any housing luck, this year may well be more selective. Fauver’s looking pretty rough lately.)

Not that the article is all about Wes—Steinberg already wrote a book to that effect. You can view the handy application tally chart and see what’s up at a number of high profile universities across the country, from UC Berkeley (up nearly 17 percent) to Columbia (down 8.9%). Most bizarrely, applications to Grinnell College, Iowa’s best kept secret, increased from 2,969 to 4,515—a whopping 52 percent. Who knew corn was so cool?

Seriously, it’s all about the corn. Long Lane, start growing it. Now. (Read the full post here; scope the applications chart here.)

[NYT, The Choice]