Most students and parents know that Ivy League schools are competitive long before they begin working with us. What they don’t always realize is that these days, it’s not just the most elite universities that have incredibly selective admit rates. In fact—thanks to the ever-increasing number of impressive college applicants—schools that might have seemed like “safe” choices even a few years ago are now moving into the “reach” category.
SIGNIFICANT DROPS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ADMIT RATES
Not sure what we mean? Take a look at the data below, which tracks the change in admit rates at a number of top schools between 2010 and 2020.
| SCHOOL | 2020 ADMIT RATE | 2015 ADMIT RATE | 2010 ADMIT RATE |
| Amherst College | 11.8% | 14.1% | 15.3% |
| Barnard College | 13.6% | 19.6% | 28% |
| Bates College | 14% | 21.7% | 31.8% |
| Boston College | 26% | 29% | 31% |
| Boston University | 20% | 32.6% | 57.9% |
| Bowdoin College | 9.1% | 14.8% | 19.6% |
| Brown University | 7.6% | 8.7% | 9.3% |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 17.3% | 23.7% | 33.3% |
| Columbia University | 6% | 6% | 9.44% |
| Cornell University | 10.7% | 15% | 18.4% |
| Dartmouth College | 9.2% | 11% | 11.7% |
| Emory University | 19.2% | 23.6% | N/A |
| Georgetown University | 16.8% | 17.2% | 20% |
| Harvard University | 5% | 5.6% | 7.2% |
| Haverford College | 18.2% | 24.5% | 26% |
| MIT | 7.2% | 8.3% | 10% |
| New York University | 21% | 33.4% | 38% |
| Pomona College | 8.6% | 10.3% | 14.7% |
| Princeton University | 5.5% | 7.1% | 8.8% |
| Rice University | 10.9% | 16% | 21.3% |
| Stanford University | 5% | 5% | 7.3% |
| Swarthmore College | 9% | 12.5% | 16.1% |
| Tulane University | 11.1% | 30% | 26% |
| University of Michigan | 26% | 26% | 50.1% |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 23.5% | 30% | 32.5% |
| University of Notre Dame | 19% | 19.8% | 28.8% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 9% | 10.1% | 14.3% |
| University of Virginia | 22.6% | 30% | 30.7% |
| Vanderbilt University | 11.6% | 11.7% | 17.9% |
| Williams College | 15.1% | 17.6% | 18.7% |
| Yale University | 6.5% | 6.7% | 7.9% |
As you can see, almost all schools have become significantly more competitive during these ten years. Boston University’s acceptance rate dropped by almost 40% between 2010 and 2020. Barnard, Bates, and Michigan saw 15%, 20%, and 24% drops, respectively.
Keep in mind, too, that this data does not differentiate between in-state and out-of-state students, which can make a big difference at many public schools. The University of Virginia, for instance, had a 20.5% overall admit rate in 2021, but that included a 28% admit rate for in-state applicants and a 17% admit rate for out-of-state applicants.
HOW TO COMBAT THIS INCREASE IN SELECTIVITY
So, what does this mean for you? How should you tackle the college admissions process, knowing that the admissions landscape is becoming increasingly selective?
Look at a broad range of schools: When you begin exploring colleges, it’s tempting to focus on schools of a particular size or in a particular geographic location. We encourage you to push back against this impulse, visiting colleges across a range of sizes, geographic locations, and selectivity levels. If you’re visiting Columbia, check out NYU and Sarah Lawrence too! If you’re touring USC and UCLA, swing by the Claremont Colleges while you’re in the area. (If you can’t visit colleges in-person, take advantage of virtual tours and information sessions.) This approach not only gives you more options, but it will also help you figure out which schools are truly the best fit for you. When it comes time to apply to college, you’ll have a broad range of experiences to draw from and a clear sense of why you’re applying to your top choices.
Be realistic about your profile: Before you fall in love with your dream school, take a moment to ask yourself whether your grades and test scores are in range for admission. Most colleges offer GPA and test data on the students in their most recently admitted classes. (Take a look, for example, at some recent class profiles from Columbia, Tulane, and USC.) Do your grades, class rank, and test scores align with those of recently admitted students? If yours are lower, that’s a sign that you probably won’t be competitive at the school and should focus your attention elsewhere.
Apply to your top school in the Early Decision round: As we’ve been telling students for years, Early Decision offers a big advantage in the college admissions process. Many colleges admit up to half of their incoming class in the early round, which means your odds of admission are often much higher if you apply in that round. Last year, for example, Duke admitted 16.7% of Early Decision applications, but only 4.3% of those who applied in the regular round. Swarthmore admitted 24% of Early Decision applicants, but only 8% of regular round ones.
The important caveat to this: if your grades and scores are not in range for a school, applying Early won’t help you. We encourage you to be strategic about your Early Decision choice!
Become the kind of community member that colleges want on campus: In addition to grades and test scores, colleges will look at your extracurricular profile. While it’s easy to focus on adding publications and high-level research opportunities to your resume, don’t forget about activism, civic engagement, and other forms of community involvement. Colleges want students who work to better their communities at home, bringing people together and working to effect change. Think about how you can help your community now—what kind of changes do you want to see? How could you help bring them about?
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DON’T LET THE STATS OVERWHELM YOU
We know this is a lot, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the tough admissions odds. If you need additional guidance, we’re here to help!
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