Admission decisions have been released this week, and it’s proved to be another tough year. Acceptance rates are falling across the board as the sheer number of applicants to each school rises.
A lot of the pressure is being felt among the Ivy League and Ivy adjacent schools with many reaching their lowest acceptance rate in history. Harvard reported a 3.2% acceptance rate (early & regular combined), Columbia 3.73%, Yale 4.46%, Brown 5%, Duke 6.2%, Dartmouth 6.24%. Princeton, following Stanford’s lead, has decided to hold back on released acceptance statistics. Perhaps one reason being it may dissuade (and dishearten) future applicants. However, some of the biggest drops in acceptance rates are the amazing liberal art schools that hover just below this top tier—many target schools of those applying to Ivies. One such example is Colgate which fell from a 28% acceptance rate 5 years ago to lower than 17%. Another being NYU which fell from 28% five years ago to 12.2% this year.
As you can see in the chart below, admissions rate are trending ever lower. These are listed out by graduation year, so class of 2026 represents this year's admission cycle. I have also included a table below the text for the data depicted in this graph.
The trickle down affect is staggering, as it takes Top 10, Top 20, even Top 50 schools ever closer to previous Ivy League admission rates. Ultimately, it may force some things to change in the college application process. One of the factors playing into such high application numbers is the pause on accepting SATs and ACTs. What was once seen as a barrier to entry given the correlation of family wealth and high scores, may in fact make admissions more much manageable for both applicants and admissions officers. Most colleges have the history and insight to determine when a student with lower scores is still high-achieving but has not had the same access to resources and opportunities.
To deal with the deluge of applications over the past two years some schools have had to hire additional staff to read through student files during the admission season which then begs the question—who is reading your application? How do you make it stand out?
In times like these, it is essential to make sure every part of the application is a clear representation of who the student is, what their passions are, and how they will add value and take advantage of everything a school has to offer. This can be conveyed in a killer personal statement, nailing an interview with a cohesive story, or through strong examples of intellectual curiosity from teacher recommendations.
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