Applications at Top Colleges Retreat Amid ‘Impossible’ Odds

Elite U.S. colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University are experiencing a slowdown or drop in applications for freshman admission after years of record increases.

Columbia reported an 8.9 percent decrease in applicants to 31,818 for the 2011-2012 year after surging 33 percent last year when the school joined the Common Application. MIT had 1 percent growth, the smallest increase in seven years, while the number of students applying to the University of Pennsylvania fell 1.7 percent after jumping 40 percent in the past three years combined.