Even though the number of college-bound high...

Even though the number of college-bound high school seniors in the nation dropped about 6% this year, UC Irvine will have no problem recruiting freshmen this fall.

“We have quite the other problem,” said James E. Dunning, UCI’s director of admissions. “We’d be very happy if some of the freshmen committed to us would change their mind.”

UCI received 13,535 applications and will be able to accept about 2,750 freshmen this fall, Dunning said. The university has been trying to decrease the number of incoming freshmen in favor of transfer students because introductory freshman courses require large lecture halls and result in more scheduling problems, spokeswoman Linda Granell said.

Nationwide, the competition for incoming college freshmen has stiffened as universities witness the end of the baby boom. Prestigious universities, finding they have open seats past the typical May 1 date when colleges send out acceptance letters, have been dipping deeper into waiting lists. Those late decisions have created a ripple effect at other universities, which find that some freshmen jump ship when accepted by their first-choice university.