Duke early decision applications drop by 70

The number of early decision applications for the Class of 2017 has dipped slightly from last year.

The University received 2,586 applications compared to 2,656 received last year, said Dean of Admissions Christoph Guttentag. This decrease—less than 3 percent—comes after a 100 percent increase in early decision applications over the last five years, Guttentag said.

“I’m not concerned—we have almost as many applicants as we had last year,” Guttentag said. “I think this is just a little bit of leveling.”

Although the number of early applications decreased overall, the number of international applicants jumped more than 25 percent, from 210 to nearly 270, Guttentag noted.

“When the change from one year to the next is so small, generally we don’t see anything in any subgroup that’s noticeable,” he said.

Based on what he has seen of the applications so far, this year’s pool of applicants strongly resembles the Class of 2016’s early decision pool in terms of the caliber and distribution, apart from the international sub-group, Guttentag noted.

The early decision deadline was extended to Nov. 4 after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. Guttentag said he believes it is unlikely that the hurricane had an effect on application numbers.

“We’ve seen a little decrease in applications from New York and New Jersey... but at the same time we’ve seen a decrease in Texas, so it’s hard to tie it to any one particular thing,” he said.