“We’re closing in on over 19,000 applications for the fall of 2012,” he said.

The Nov. 1 deadline is a “soft deadline,” Cotter said, as prospective students can continue to apply to MSU throughout the year because of MSU’s rolling admission system.

MSU’s total number of applications received has increased each of the past three years, and the university received more than 28,500 for the incoming fall 2011 class.

The Office of Admissions is expecting between 29,000 and 30,000 total applications for next fall, Cotter said.

In-state students account for about 14,000 of the applications received so far, which is slightly less than last year, while international and out-of-state applicant numbers are up, Cotter said.

“The in-state applications are down just a bit right now,” he said. “In the state of Michigan, (what) we’re dealing with is a demographic decline, which will lead to a smaller (high school) graduating class than the past.”

Matt Pitlock, a senior at Stoney Creek High School in Rochester, Mich., has applied to MSU and said he didn’t sweat the wait to hear back on his acceptance because he knew what kind of student the school was looking for.

“I like the fact that Michigan State has an early action date,” Pitlock said.

“Once I applied for that, they sent me my acceptance letter about two weeks after I applied.”

Pitlock said he wants to go to a Big Ten university but doesn’t want to leave the state. He currently is waiting to hear back from the University of Michigan to make his final decision on where to head next fall, he said.

“It seems like Michigan State is the biggest school that people from Stoney Creek go to, and I know a ton of other people that go there,” Pitlock said.

Although MSU expects a record number of total applicants, there will not be another record-setting incoming class, Cotter said. Cotter said the target number for the next freshman class is “in the 7,350 range.”

The freshman class target primarily is based on the aggregate university population that MSU wants to keep between 47,000 and 48,000, he said.

The 7,815 students admitted this fall was the largest incoming class in MSU history and was a strategic decision made by the university, Cotter said.

“We’re not going to be able to do that back-to-back,” he said.

“That will require as we review applications (that) we do so with the mindset that this year’s freshman class will be smaller than this past fall.”

Val Meyers, associate director of financial aid, said admitting so many freshmen involves a lot of work from the university.

“Bringing in more freshmen is wonderful, but there are ramifications,” Meyers said. “We have to work harder (and) work smarter … so we can make sure that they get their (financial) aid processed in a timely way.”