14%; 15%; 18%; 20%; 23%.

Those are the percent increases of current high school seniors applying early to Yale University, Northwestern University, Stanford Univeristy, Pomona College and Duke University, respectively.

In proportion to the increase of applicants to colleges and universities across the nation, more students are getting rejected or deferred from their early applications, putting a damper on the winter months for many now second semester seniors. Many schools are also decreasing their total freshman class size due to budget cuts. Despite the current cloud, the coming months will bring more positive responses from colleges.

“We don’t know how [college acceptances] will turn out in January, but I project that they will still be in great shape come June,” said assistant principal Brian Safine.

Nearby Stanford University received 5,363 early applications this fall, only admitting 689. Out of the 26 SHS students who applied, none were accepted early, but a few were deferred until the regular decision – a stunning result for a school that usually has several students admitted to
Stanford each year.

“Our applicant pool is now a robust international one, and those who ultimately made the cut are distinguished on a worldwide scale,” said Stanford Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Richard Shaw in a press release.

Some colleges and universities, such as Harvard and Princeton, have already done away with the early application process entirely. This is regarded as a positive decision by Safine.

“The frustrating results [of early application] we [at SHS] have seen this winter lead me to believe that both avenues [of early action and early decision] are fraught with some potential frustration,” said Safine. “I think all our students should still apply very broadly and focus at what they’re looking at to get out of a college experience, rather than what college admission officers are looking to hear from them.”

Although second semester seniors may be feeling dejected about the lack of early admission to their top choice colleges and universities, Safine said the regular decision acceptances coming out in the next couple of months, could change their feelings significantly.

“There’s a tremendous interest in college, which is great,” said Safine. “What I think is most important is that if the first [round of students] in the college applications came back frustrated, it’s in no means time to get discouraged.”