More quota-2 applicants making University of Copenhagen their first choice

The number of applicants for admission to the University of Copenhagen under the quota-2 scheme rose 1.6% this year, compared with 2014. As of the admission deadline on 15 March the University had received applications from 7,983 quota-2 hopefuls. They submitted a total of 10,462 applications to the University’s various programmes, a 0.3% decline compared with 2014.

The University’s open-house events were well attended. Photo: Faculty of Science / Sarah Louise Winge

- This year we had more applicants, but fewer applications. Even so, we’re still talking about a lot of applications, considering that we only accept about 1,000 quota-2 students,” says Pernille Kindtler, Senior Executive Advisor, University of Copenhagen Education Services.

Motivated by dimensioning

The slight increase is part of a national trend, and is likely influenced by the political focus on dimensioning of university programmes.

- The applicants our counsellors have spoken with said that the discussion about dimensioning left them uncertain about whether the number of quota-1 applicants accepted will go up again. That could have resulted in more applying under the quota-2 scheme. In general, we can see that there is a rise in the number of people seeking to get into the most competitive programmes.”

Half make University their first choice

A single applicant may apply to as many as eight programmes. This year saw an increase in the number of students with a University of Copenhagen programme as their first or second choice. Over half of applicants had a University programme as their first choice, a 3% increase on 2014.

“It’s good to see that applicants have a positive view of the university and that this has encouraged a large number to make us their first or second choice. Students typically are less likely to drop out of a programme that was one of their top choices. More than 70% of applicants had the University as their first or second choice, so that bodes well for our ability to keep the dropout rate down,” says Pernille Kindtler.

Read more about University of Copenhagen applications (in Danish).

The total number of applicants will be announced after the deadline for quota-1 applications on 5 July.