<p>So my question basically is this: Is NYU’s reputation declining? And yes, I have done my research and have found potential reason to wonder if this is the case.
This year’s freshmen class had a record number of applicants (in the range of 37,000), yet the average student’s SAT scores (based on 2008 to 2010 comparisons) have fallen by 40 points (for the 25th percentile). Not much. However, when we consider the applicant pool has increased by a few thousand students each year. In 2008 NYU’s acceptance rate dropped to an all time low of 24%. It is currently up to 38%. That’s a huge difference. If the applicant pool has been increasing, acceptance rates (not account for yield rates) should be relatively similar over two years? On top of this, note that due to relatively recent financial troubles, NYU’s endowment suffered and it down from it’s previous high. It lost around 11% and gained around 8%. Is there a correlation possibly between the financial crisis that happened and the average student applying to NYU? Perhaps since NYU’s budget per student based on endowment is around $65,000 compared to Harvard’s 1.5 million, more top students have turned to less financially “unstable” school? Or could it be speculated that NYU’s reputation (having falling one spot in the USNWR as of this year) is going to continue declining?</p>
<p>To some extent I would agree NYU’s reputation is declining. But not for the reasons you cited. Most top 50 schools, with the exception of the ivy league, have increased acceptance rates to hopefully get larger class sizes. Emory, for example, will be increasing it’s acceptance rate by 4% this year.</p>
<p>No. Most of the statistics and trends you cite are interpreted, at least within the academic community, quite differently than you do. Many schools are upping their acceptance rates significantly. Think about it like this: for schools with smaller endowments, a higher acceptance rate means more potential students paying them more money. Tight financial times mean they need more money. NYU in particular suffers from this. We have the smallest endowment for any Tier 1 school, period.</p>
<p>That’s where LSP comes in as well. Students who get deferred into LSP receive no aid whatsoever, with a flat tuition rate of $50,000. Basically, NYU gets 2 years of $50,000 from each kid that’s in the ‘oh-we-want-you-and-your-money-but-you’re-not-in-the-school-you-applied-to-yet’ program here. They’re even seriously considering expanding LSP to a 4-year program that you can actually apply directly to instead of keeping it as a 2-year deferral pool like it is now. All because our endowment is so small.</p>
<p>Falling a spot in the USNWR rankings isn’t the end of the world. When you’re a Tier 1 school, moving from 32 to 33 or whatever it did isn’t so significant. And there’s actually a lot of speculation the other way. NYU is considered to be one of the ‘New Ivies,’ along with schools like Duke, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, Northwestern, UChicago, and Tufts. They consider it to be part of a new breed of schools that are rising to the top of academic rankings, yet ones that don’t have the centuries of prestige, power, and reputation HYP and the other 5 Ivies do. I’m not making this up: [The</a> NEW Ivies: 10 Schools To Keep Your Eye On (PHOTOS)](<a href=“The NEW Ivies: 10 Schools To Keep Your Eye On (PHOTOS) | HuffPost College”>The NEW Ivies: 10 Schools To Keep Your Eye On (PHOTOS) | HuffPost College)</p>
<p>OP, where are you even getting your figures? The current Common Data Set isn’t out yet.</p>
<p>I’m not citing incoming class for next year. I’m citing freshmen class currently in attendance. </p>
<h1>of applications received:</h1>
<p>[NYU</a> Receives Record Number of Freshman Applications](<a href=“NYU Receives Record Number of Freshman Applications”>NYU Receives Record Number of Freshman Applications)</p>
<p>08/09 SAT scores:
<a href="http://college./college-906-New-York-University_admissions-statistics.html%5B/url%5D">http://college./college-906-New-York-University_admissions-statistics.html</a></p>
<p>Endowment:
[University’s</a> endowment improves after 2009 loss | NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper](<a href=“http://nyunews.com/news/2010/10/13/14endowment/]University’s”>http://nyunews.com/news/2010/10/13/14endowment/)</p>
<p>And the current SAT scores for the class currently in attendance on collegeboard.</p>