Applications to Harvard Dip Slightly Amid Controversies

On Thursday, Harvard University announced its application figures for the class of 2024. They said they had received some 54,008 applicants for that class, some 1,937 of which were accepted, representing an acceptance rate of 3.58%.

While impressive numbers, they represent a slight drop in applications from the previous year, down roughly 5%. That also represents a higher acceptance rate, with last year’s rate being 3.41%.

Though the numbers are down compared to last year, they are still very good for the school overall. Though down from a record high of 61,220 two years ago, it’s still above levels from before the pandemic.

However, many in the media have noticed the drop and directly attributed it to a series of recent controversies. Controversies started on December 5 when Claudine Gay, at the time the president of Harvard, testified about antisemitism in schools before the House Committee on Education.

Her testimony was seen as evasive and resulted in significant backlash against her. That led to a series of plagiarism allegations against her and other black female academics at the school. Gay eventually resigned due to the surrounding controversy.

However, the school had been facing other controversies before then, including the firing of celebrity researcher Francesca Gino over allegations that she falsified data. Gino has since sued both Harvard and the researchers who originally found the inconsistencies for defamation.

Looking at other highly competitive schools, it’s difficult to see if Harvard is part of a larger trend. Some schools like Columbia and Yale received higher numbers of applications, while others like Brown and the University of California Berkeley had fewer applicants.

But, despite the lack of clarity, many are still attributing the drop to the recent controversies. This raises the question: Should Havard be worried? What about other schools?

Not a Big Deal, Yet

To be clear, the drop for Harvard isn’t something that the school needs to worry about yet. The decrease is small, with only a few thousand applicants affected, and the numbers are still higher than in similar years of the previous decade.

Likewise, it isn’t a drop that’s unique to Harvard or competitive schools in general. There are many other factors at play, including changes to affirmative action.

However, looking at universities more broadly, it appears that applications are up significantly for the upcoming fall term. The Common Application saw a 6% increase in applications compared to last year, an increase in over 70,000 applicants.

That, in turn, may be the biggest warning sign for Harvard. At a time when college applications are up broadly, seeing any decrease may be a reason to worry.

That said, Harvard has a history that goes back to 1636. That represents 388 years of history and the brand of the school both in the US and abroad is still solid. Its reputation is still very strong and even the recent spate of scandals isn’t likely to change that long term.

The school has survived other scandals, such as the 2012 Harvard cheating scandal, and continued to thrive. In short, it will likely weather this one just fine, even if there may be some temporary blow back.

But not every school has a 388-year history and the name recognition of Harvard, and it’s those schools that may need to be the most worried.

The Problem with Reputation

While Harvard’s reputation may not be as unflappable as the school had hoped, it is still a titan among schools. However, other institutions don’t have that luxury.

Universities live and die by their reputation. The reputation of a school determines the value of a degree from that school, which also influences the number of applications it receives.

However, most schools don’t have the international recognition of a Harvard or other Ivy League school. A scandal like this one could become the main thing that a school is known for, especially by those outside the school’s area.

Imagine, for a moment, if instead of Harvard this happened at a state school or a relatively unknown university. It would be the only thing millions of people would know about that school.

Granted, the main reason the Claudine Gay story became so newsworthy was because it involved Harvard. A smaller, lesser-known school wouldn’t get as much attention. But that doesn’t mean scandals can’t attract national attention, like when the president of the University of South Carolina plagiarized in a commencement speech.

Though Harvard may not have much reason to worry at this time, it does expose a simple truth: Controversies can hurt admissions. While it’s not likely that all the drop can truly be blamed on the recent controversies, some of it likely can be.

Harvard may be able to afford that hit and move on. But other schools may not be as lucky.

Bottom Line

For some time now, schools have been lackadaisical when addressing research and academic integrity issues among their faculty and staff. They’ve waited for complaints to come in and then responded to those claims, often with lengthy and non-transparent processes.

Even now, schools are pushing to maintain the status quo. As the Office of Research Integrity fights to get more control over such investigations, schools are pushing back.

However, that is the wrong way to push. When it comes to academic and research integrity, schools need to get more proactive and more transparent. Stories like Claudine Gay’s are not going to become less common but can be reduced with a more proactive stance.

Unfortunately, convincing schools to spend the resources on such efforts is not likely to succeed. At a time when many schools are struggling to do more with less resources, proactive checks are a tough sell.

Still, for many schools, this may be the best way to protect their reputation and prevent a potential reputational disaster.