|
Columbia received a record-setting number of undergraduate applications for early admittance to the class of 2004, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions reported recently. This fall's jump continues the trend that began at the start of the decade of annual increases in early decision applications both at Columbia in particular and at the nation's colleges in general.
The admissions office counted 1,309 early applications to Columbia College and 191 applications to the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science received by the Nov. 1 deadline.
The College's early applicant pool is 13 percent larger than last year's record of 1,158. Since 1996, applications for early decision to the College grew by a little more than 70 percent.
The Fu school registered a 9 percent increase in its early applicants compared with the previous year, which was also a record at 175. Its overall jump since 1994 is even more dramatic than the College's: almost 170 percent.
During the past few years the College has filled as much as 45 percent of its first-year classes with students admitted early. The early-decision portion of students in the Fu School's recent entering classes has been around 30 percent.
This year for the first time the College will expand its class size to approximately 1,000 students, about 50 more than last year. The Fu School's class of 2004 will hold at around 300 students.
The admissions office mails its letters of acceptance to early applicants in mid-December. Applicants who don't apply early receive their letters in April. A high school student admitted early to Columbia bound to enroll.
|
