In the first year since 2007 Harvard has had an early application program, the university received 4,245 early applications this month — just 65 fewer early applications than Yale.

Princeton, meanwhile, received 3,547 early applications, while Stanford saw 5,880. These four schools are the only ones in the nation that allow students to file single-choice or restrictive early action applications, meaning that they cannot file early applications with other private colleges in the United States.

Yale’s early application numbers are down 18 percent from last year, which Dean of Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel attributed to the return of Harvard and Princeton’s early programs. Stanford saw only a slight drop in the number of early applicants this fall.

Harvard’s application numbers mark a 5.9 percent jump from the last year it had an early admissions programs, when the university received 4,010 early applications, according to the New York Times. Yale, too, has seen a jump in early applications since 2007, up 20 percent from 2007 to 2011.