New York University (NYU), the largest private university in the US, received over 105,000 applications for the class of 2026. Not only was this number the highest the university has received in its almost 200-year history, but it also continues a 15-year streak of an ever-growing number of applicants.

Known for the Stern School of Business and other social science-related programs, NYU has consistently ranked atop national rankings of universities for undergraduate students. Moreover, it has three degree-granting campuses: one in New York, one in Dubai, and one in Shanghai, established recently in 2012. NYU’s popularity has only continued to grow for the past few decades, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the school to adopt a test-optional policy, meaning it no longer requires applicants to submit an SAT or ACT test score. This year, over 19,000 high school seniors from around the world applied Early Decision to the school, a 12% increase from the previous year.

Although this year’s applicant pool was undoubtedly one of the most competitive yet, NYU’s record outlines a years-long underlying trend of increasing college competitiveness and dropping admission rates. For many of the top US schools, including those in the Ivy League, applicant numbers have spiked in recent years while the number of accepted students remained steady. In the past ten years, Harvard’s admission rate has halved from almost 8% to less than 3.5%. Columbia, another top-tier school, has an acceptance rate that is a third of what it used to be: 3.66% for the class of 2025 in comparison to 10.71% for the class of 2012. For students still in high school aiming for a prestigious post-secondary education, these numbers may seem discouraging: a stark reminder of how much more competitive the admissions landscape has become in recent years.

Despite the logistical challenges of holistically evaluating over 105,000 applications, including consideration into applicants’ financial aid needs, the college admission process is a lucrative business for many universities. NYU has an application cost of $80, one of the most expensive in the country and well above the average cost of $44, meaning this year’s admission cycle generated over eight million in revenue. For high school seniors, balancing the financial costs of simply applying to university with deciding which schools to apply to is a challenge enough; add to this process the tedious task of essay writing and rewriting, searching for reference letters, and investing numerous hours into researching and filling out the application, and one will understand the difficulty that comes with the first half of senior year. In this increasingly competitive world, where a student is 1 amongst 100,000, the university application process is a time of great struggle and stress but also great reward and success.