By PATRICIA ALEX
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS

Fairleigh Dickinson University senior Leroy McCoy, left, takes Ashni Patel and Herman Carmona on a campus tour on Thursday.
 
This year was the most competitive yet for college admissions as the sheer number of students -- it's the nation's largest high school graduating class ever -- made getting into colleges tougher for North Jersey students.

The most competitive schools announced their lowest acceptance rates ever – less than 10 percent of applicants to Princeton got in. And the crunch trickled down, reaching big state universities and small private schools, and flooding community colleges with students, too. Panicked students hedged their bets by applying to more schools than ever in the hopes of improving their odds.

Applications to Teaneck-based Fairleigh Dickinson University were up nearly 23 percent this year. The university had 5,976 applicants for 1,065 freshman slots at its two campuses in Bergen and Morris counties.

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