EAST LANSING - Michigan State University got 11,202 applications this year than it did the year before, a jump of 33%.

Despite that spike, MSU has about 400 fewer deposits from admitted students securing their place in next fall's entering class than it had at this time last year.

The rise in applications makes sense when you consider that this is the first year MSU is allowing would-be students to apply through The Common Application. The website allows applicants to apply to multiple schools — more than 800 participate — and to fill in the information that most schools require, like name, address and grade-point average, just once.

The large increase MSU saw in applications fits with the trend among institutions that go to the Common Application, said John Ambrose, MSU's interim director of admissions.

But the ease of applying to many schools presents its own challenge, he added. Just because they are applying doesn't mean they're likely to attend.

"With students today completing more and more applications every year it becomes more difficult to navigate who is serious about your institution," Ambrose said.

The university's main reason for going to the Common Application was student demand, Ambrose said, though he also cited the fact that it's also used by MSU's competitors.

It costs prospective first-year students in the U.S. $65 to apply through the Common Application and $75 for international students.

"The increase in applications shows that the students are using the Common Application and really wanted us to be a part of that process," he said.

Last year marked MSU's lowest point in applications since 2013, but that didn't stop MSU from bringing in its largest and most diverse incoming class ever in the fall of 2018, with 8,442 freshmen.

This year, the number of prospective students who put down $250 deposits ahead of the May 1 deadline was down nearly 5% from 8,801 last year to 8,382 this year.

In the 48 hours before the deadline, MSU received nearly 1,000 deposits, close to one out of every six incoming students. In the run-up to last year's deposit deadline, MSU made some last-minute offers to students and was then taken aback by the rush of last-minute deposits, Ambrose said.

MSU expects another 200 to 400 deposits after granting extensions, but, after some of the students who said they're coming wash away in the "summer melt," Ambrose expects about 8,400 new freshmen to attend MSU in the fall.

Related:

Why enrollment is down at 10 Michigan universities and way up at MSU and U-M

See enrollment at Michigan's public universities after a decline in high school grads

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.