The University accepted 545 of the 2,379 applications received under its binding early decision program this year. Brown's 22.7 percent acceptance rate makes it the most selective Ivy League university using such a program, though Harvard and Yale universities - two schools that introduced single-choice early action programs several years ago - saw even lower acceptance rates.
Early applications for Brown's class of 2010 increased 16 percent over the previous year. Dean of Admissions James Miller '73 called Brown's acceptance rate - which fell from 28 percent last year - one of the lowest in recent history.
Yale University had the lowest early acceptance rate among Ivy League schools, admitting only 17.7 percent of its 4,084 early applicants, while Harvard accepted 20.8 percent from its pool.
Under a single-choice early action program, students apply early to only one school, but are not obligated to matriculate if accepted.
Miller said he believes this year's numbers reflect an ongoing trend in the University's early applicant pool. He attributed the increase in applicants to several factors, including rising awareness of Brown's recent implementation of need-blind admissions.
In addition to the total increase in students applying early, applications from certain minority groups and prospective science concentrators rose substantially.
Early applications from Asians and Latinos are up by about 30 percent each, Miller said. However, after experiencing a notable 45 percent increase last year, applications from African Americans totaled 75, down five from last year. Brown received eight early decision applications from Native Americans, three more than it received for the Class of 2009.
Brown experienced a 13 percent rise in students applying to the engineering program and an overall 10 percent increase in those applying for a Bachelor of Science degree, Miller said. Although he believes that these changes mirrored the overall increase in the general applicant pool, he also noted that initiatives under the Plan for Academic Enrichment have made "more people ... aware of the fact that we're pushing more resources into the sciences. I think it has focused attention on Brown as a science destination."
After Brown, Columbia University had the next lowest acceptance rate at 25.9 percent, only slightly lower than Princeton University's 26.8 percent. The University of Pennsylvania, which experienced the largest increase in early applications among Ivy League schools this year, accepted 28.6 percent of its early applicants, down from 34 percent last year. Dartmouth University accepted 30.1 percent of its early applicants, filling about one third of next year's freshman class. Cornell University accepted 1,333 students for a 46.7 percent acceptance rate.
Yale's Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeff Brenzel said that Yale limits the number of students it accepts for several reasons, including the belief that early admission forces students to choose a college or university too early in their senior year.
"We ... do not want applicants who are strongly interested in Yale to draw the conclusion from a high acceptance rate that they will significantly increase their chances of admission by applying to Yale early," Brenzel said.
He added that Yale sees no advantage in "locking up" a high percentage of its first year class early, underscoring one of the many critiques of early admissions.
Despite increasingly low acceptance rates and heightened criticism, more and more students seem to be opting for the early route. All Ivy League schools except for Harvard reported an increase in early applications this year. Audrey Reynolds, the director of college counseling at Friends Seminary in New York City, a school that has sent 12 students to Brown since 2001, says that in recent years she has seen a larger percentage of students applying early.
"I think what sometimes happens is that students feel pressured to find a number one choice," Reynolds said. "There's a lot of media coverage about (early options) and I think there are unspoken pressures ... If a student comes into my office and has a clear idea of where he or she wants to go, then I can work with them to make it happen, but if they come in and say, 'I want to go early, I just don't know where,' then it's clear that they're approaching early decision from the wrong angle," Reynolds said.
Charles Xu '10, a senior at Sharon High School in Sharon, Mass. who applied and was accepted early to Brown University this year, offered a similar critique of early admission programs.
"Most people who I know were in the same situation as I was. They apply and know that they don't have a great chance to the early school that they applied to, but they still have the hope of getting in. I'm just one of the lucky ones that did," Xu said, adding that many of his friends applied early but received disappointing news.
