A college admissions consultant is in "complete shock" as students are rejecting their early acceptance to Harvard for the first time in his career.
"Virtually every student I've ever worked with who got into Harvard early pretty much stopped [looking elsewhere]," Christopher Rim, CEO of New York and Miami-based Command Education, said Wednesday on "Fox & Friends First."
"This is the first time and first application season where I've seen a student who got into Harvard early that I've worked with for almost three and a half, four years now, starting in ninth grade – we're seeing them say, ‘You know what? I want to apply to other schools because what if I graduate and this stigma and this reputation of Harvard stays the same?’ That's their true concern."
The elite Ivy League institution reported last Thursday that its early application total took a 17% decline from last year, receiving 7,921 early applications compared to 9,553 applications in 2022.
Bob Sweeney, a retired college counselor at Mamaroneck High School in New York, told Bloomberg he believes the dropoff could be partially caused by controversy surrounding antisemitism on campus.
"That’s possibly one of several reasons, about the concern of safety on the campus," he said. "There might be other factors as well as students are being more realistic about their expectations and chances for acceptance."
The Nov. 1 application deadline came before President Claudine Gay's congressional testimony that ignited discussions about institutional leaders' reluctance to adequately condemn antisemitism.
Harvard officials are still assessing the impacts of the Supreme Court's college admissions decision and the pandemic on applications.
Rim told Fox News that applicants are considering applying to other schools like Washington University, Saint Louis, Vanderbilt and Emory instead.
"This is the first time this has happened," he continued. "Normally, my student will get into Harvard or a top tier school, and then that'll be it. We're done. So congratulations. We've finished the process, but now we're seeing students say, ‘You know what? Let me double think this. Let me think about other options.’"
He added that reputation remains a chief factor in determining where the students wish to go to college, but students are beginning to realize that Ivy League schools are not the only options for a great education, and are turning to institutions like Vanderbilt or Duke instead.
"We've seen tremendous increase and actually know applications are up. Duke reported over 1,000 more applicants than any previous early decision round, and that represents pretty much a 28% increase this year over last year for the early rounds, which is significant. That just shows you the demand," he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment and received the following statement, credited to William R. Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid:
"It’s exciting to see that so many of the nation’s and the world’s most promising students have been admitted early to the Class of 2028. Their extraordinary range of talent and many contributions to their communities will add immeasurably to Harvard over the next four years and beyond."
The email response also highlighted the institution's "ongoing recruitment and outreach efforts," including a "new launch grant that gives students with zero parent contribution – whose annual family income is $85,000 or less – $2,000 in the fall of their junior year to help navigate the costs associated with getting ready for post-Harvard life, in addition to the start-up grant earlier in their time on campus."
Harvard also explained it has joined STORY (Small Town Outreach, Recruitment, and Yield) geared toward rural communities, it will continue working with the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program, the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, Harvard College Connection, and the Harvard First Generation Program.
Furthermore, the institution said its admissions staff travel to "over 150 cities conducting prospective student outreach and programming with peer institutions, public universities, small colleges, HBCUs, and military academies" and noted that, concerning admissions processes, the class of 2028 were the first to experience Harvard's "reorganized application supplement" and the institution still allows students to apply without SAT or ACT scores.
Fox News' Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.
