The University saw a slight 1 percent increase in admitted early decision applicants this year.

About 36 percent of prospective students that applied early decision were accepted during the fall 2010 admissions process, compared to the 37 percent who were admitted this year. The increase is stagnant compared to the drastic decrease in early decision selectivity seen in January 2009 when the rate plummeted from 54 percent.

The 37 percent of students accepted comprise the 532 applicants accepted during the Early Decision I process and 341 applicants accepted during the Early Decision II cycle. Early decision is binding, so those 873 students are the first future Colonials for the Class of 2015.

“Students admitted through both Early Decision I and Early Decision II hail from 44 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and 13 countries,” Associate Vice President and Dean of Admissions Kathryn Napper said.

The early decision admit rate is inching toward the overall admittance rate for the University. It is still easier to gain acceptance to the University when applying early versus submitting a regular decision application.

Last year, GW accepted 31 percent of its regular applicants, 5 percentage points lower than the early admit rate.

This year, GW’s early applicant pool rose by about 3.6 percent, less than other market basket schools.

Northwestern University saw early decision applications increase by 26 percent, American University saw a 7 percent increase and the University of Chicago’s early action applications increased by 18.5 percent.

Harvard, Princeton universities announced this year that they would be restoring early admissions in 2012 because of student demand.

The admissions office is still reviewing GW’s 21,400 regular decision applications.

Regular decision applicants will be notified by early April.