The University has seen a record number of undergraduate applications only one year after officials made waves in higher education by announcing that the University, like Harvard and Princeton, would no longer offer the option of early admission.
Dean of Admission John Blackburn said the University has received more than 18,500 applications for the Class of 2012 and is currently anticipating a total upwards of 18,776. These numbers represent an increase of four percent compared to last year's totals, Blackburn said, adding that the University received a greater number of applications from abroad, particularly from China and Korea.
Some applications, he noted, are still coming in, and spring athletic recruitment efforts are ongoing or have yet to begin, so a final application count will not be available until later this year.
Blackburn said the increase in applications most likely stems from a variety of factors, but that one of the principle reasons for the growth may have been the series of admission information sessions the University conducted across the country this past fall along with representatives from Harvard and Princeton.
Blackburn added that the elimination of the University's early admission program may have also played a role in attracting more applicants.
The University's academic reputation, increased public presence, high levels of student satisfaction and the ease of online applications were also cited by Blackburn as possible causes for the increase.
Blackburn said AccessUVa, the University's financial aid program, encouraged more high school students to consider the University.
The University made the early admission change in 2006 in an effort to help increase enrollment of qualified low-income applicants and level the playing field for all applicants. The University's elimination of early admission came on the heels of Harvard's and Princeton's decision to eliminate early application processes.
After making this decision, the University was not the only school to be flooded with a sea of undergraduate applications. Harvard reported an astounding application increase of 18.8 percent, according to Marlyn McGrath Lewis, Harvard College director of admissions. Other universities across the country, regardless of their early admission programs, including Princeton, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, also reported increases, albeit on a lower level.
Lewis said the skyrocketing number of applications at Harvard are the result of a combination of ingredients, including the larger and still-growing high school demographic.
Harvard's recently expanded financial aid program "encouraged many more ambitious, talented students" -- who normally would not have considered Harvard because of the lofty price tag attached to the elite private institution -- to apply, Lewis noted.
Lewis, like Blackburn, also said Harvard's elimination of its early admissions program might has helped boost application numbers. With the time slot previously reserved for reading early applications now free, Harvard, Princeton and University admission officers were able to take their admission tour across the country. This tour, she said, helped all parties involved.
Last year, the University also saw an increase in its applicant pool -- but on a much more dramatic level.
Applications surged by 12 percent last year, according to Blackburn. The lower rate of increase this year, however, is no cause for concern, he said, as the jump seen last year was most likely a statistical anomaly.
"Before, we were attracting 16,000 applications each of the previous four years," Blackburn said. "Then it spiked last year, and went up by approximately 2,000 students. I couldn't account for it."
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