Harvard's Early Applications Mark Four-Year Low

Harvard's early applications have dropped to four-year lows, by 17%, according to figures released by the school. 

Harvard College, which specifically refers to the undergraduate liberal arts program at Harvard University, said in a report that it has accepted 692 students for its Class of 2028, out of a pool of 7,921 applicants, for an acceptance rate of 8.7%, a climb from 7.6% last year, reports CNN. 

The number of early applications dropped from last year's total of 9,553 people, according to Business Insider. 

Meanwhile, early admissions applicants climbed to above 10,000 in 2020, while the COVID-19 pandemic was going on but have since dropped. 

The news comes as Harvard has come under criticism over its handling of antisemitism on campus. In addition, the Class of 2028 is the first admissions cycle coming after the Supreme Court ruled that the use of affirmative action for admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina was unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, applications for early admission at other Ivy League schools have gone up, including at Yale, where the applications increased slightly but the acceptance rate has fallen to 20-year lows. 

At Duke, there has been a record number of early admissions applications reported, and Columbia's applications grew for the first time in three years.

Early admission applications also increased at The University of Pennsylvania, which has also been facing backlash for its response to antisemitism in recent months.

Harvard President Claudine Gay has been facing calls to resign after testifying before a congressional committee when she defended free speech while discussing campus antisemitism. She has apologized and the university's board has opted to keep her in office. 

The early applications were due on Nov. 1, before Gay's testimony.

Aly Beaumont, who owns Admissions Village, a college coaching service, commented to CNN that two top student clients dropped Harvard from their application list after the school's handling of campus events following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. 

She said another student had considered pulling her application from UPenn, but reconsidered and was accepted after the school's president, Liz Magill, who had also testified before members of Congress, resigned.

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