<p>Both, but much more the latter than the former. (The class has actually been getting larger since the 50s and 60s, when it hit a nadir of around 400. But since they expanded to the current level of about 1,300, they had also been cutting back acceptances by a few hundred a year until this year, when they bounced back up a few hundred in anticipation of recession-related yield problems.) The number of applicants has almost doubled since my daughter applied five years ago.</p>
<p>hyeonjlee’s account is pretty much what one hears uniformly. I can also confirm, as the parent of both a girl and a boy, that the girls are great. The boys, on the other hand . . . can thank heaven for giving young women the hormones to put up with them.</p>