Harvard College received about 35,000 applications for admission to the class of 2015, according to data released today. This represents a nearly 15 percent increase over the 30,489 applications received last year (when the number of applicants expanded by nearly 5 percent), and a more than 50 percent increase in the past four years.
With a targeted freshman class size of approximately 1,640, it is conceivable that the College’s admissions rate (6.9 percent last year, when 2,110 applicants were offered admission) will decrease to less than 6 percent—a stark indicator of the pressure facing candidates for admission to the most competitive institutions of higher education.
Separately, Stanford reported receiving about 34,200 applications, a 6.8 percent increase from last year, when it admitted 7.3 percent of applicants.
