The Emma Watson Effect
After only a two percent increase in applications for the Class of 2013, Princeton University has been pushing its hefty financial aid package--and it's working.The 19 percent jump in applications to Princeton this year was greater than that of Harvard (5 percent) and Yale (Not really a jump, more like a...tiny step backward.), prompting Bloomberg News to proclaim to the Internet: "Princeton Surge Beats Harvard, Yale as Applications Soar." Hahaha, we won!But why the competition? Why not some Ivy League bonhomie? Why must we always be bickering like over-privileged siblings in a race to be Mom's favorite? Am I even allowed to use bicker in this context this time of the year?So instead, let's talk about Brown.Brown's applications rose 20 percent from last year, and no one knows why! They didn't even change their recruitment strategy to promote any more "college-student contact" or "URM outreach" or...or...College Confidential, help me out here!
Brown, with its 20 percent jump in applications to about 30,000, didn’t do anything differently this year, James Miller, director of admission, said in an interview. The increase was bigger than expected at the university in Providence, Rhode Island.“We’ve had to take over a larger space on campus to do sorting and tracking and filing,” Miller said.
Oh, but I know why.
Because what really matters at the end of the day, Lauren Edelson, is how much your college resembles Hogwarts.