When you got into Harvard, you probably thought that you had escaped rejection forever. Not so fast. You may be among the best and the brightest—but so is everyone else. Everyone wants to apply to everything, and so rejection from student organizations—whether it's an a Capella group or the Asian-American Brotherhood—seems inevitable. After all, they can't take everyone.

This phenomenon of rejection seems to be even more prevalent this year. With applications to the College at a record high, more high school seniors will face rejection from Harvard this year than ever before.

On campus, while the number of new members accepted by student groups has remained relatively constant, the number of applicants, auditionees, and compers has shot up.

FOP (the Freshmen Outdoor Program) tends to accept around forty new leader applicants each year. Yet, even with a 33 percent increase in applications, they simply didn't have the space to take more new leaders, having to turn away many qualified applicants.

These application jumps are difficult for both sides of the application process. "We had a huge rise in applications this year, which made decisions much, much harder," said FOP Steering Committee member Grace L. Chen '15, who is an inactive Crimson photo editor.

Ben L. Donald '15, president of the Harvard Opportunes, a co-ed a cappella ensemble, said that 25 percent more students auditioned this fall than last fall, yet there was no increase in the size of the group.

This trend also rang true with DAPA (Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisors), who actually reduced the number of new members that they accepted this year.

"Communication and attendance is key to making DAPA's endeavors successful, and because of this, we aim to keep our membership at a certain intimate level," said Kendall L. Sherman '15, a member of DAPA's selection committee.

Why the sudden jump in applications? We at Flyby do not have a straightforward answer. We just want to keep you informed as you start getting nervous for your upcoming interviews, auditions, and socials. Good luck!