Next up in our series highlighting early round acceptance rates at top colleges is Williams College — a small, prestigious, private liberal arts school in Massachusetts. Williams was ranked the #1 Best Liberal Arts College in the nation for 2024 by the U.S. News & World Report.
See Highlights From The Williams Record’s article Below:
Williams College admitted 23.3% of its 1,068 binding early decision applicants to the Class of 2028. Last year, it accepted 27% of ED applicants. In total, Williams admitted 249 students, deferred 155 to the regular decision round, and denied admission to 658 this winter.
Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services, Liz Creighton, said that the college usually admits “a small number” of deferred applicants through the regular decision round. Last year, 14 deferred early-decision applicants were accepted during the regular decision round.
This year marks the second admission cycle since Williams announced the elimination of all loans and work-study contributions from financial aid packages. In a recent survey, nearly a quarter of current first-years on financial aid said that the all-grant program was the deciding factor in enrolling at Williams. The number of early decision applicants has increased for four years in a row now.
After the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action practices were unconstitutional this summer, Williams made changes to its application policies, including eliminating its supplemental essay. In previous years, the college’s application process had included either a required or optional short writing piece. Last year, Williams received 10,315 regular decision applications, and its overall acceptance rate was 9.8%.
“It feels almost unfair that we have to wait until August for [the ED cohort] to join the Williams community,” Creighton said. “We can’t wait to see them in action on campus.”
TTA Takeaway: Williams’ early decision applications continue to steadily rise while its acceptance rate continues to drop. As its financial aid and test-optional policies align more with its peer institutions such as Pomona College and Swarthmore College, expect this trend to continue. Since Williams typically does not admit many deferred applicants, it’s especially important to write a strong deferral letter if Williams is still your first-choice institution. In the meantime, consider applying to other small liberal arts colleges that may have later deadlines for applications.
At Top Tier Admissions, we are committed to making the college admissions process more transparent. Easy access to clear data helps families understand trends in college admissions to make more informed decisions. We’re collecting early acceptance rate data at selective schools and providing insight and analysis of our own. For historical data, see our collection of Ivy League and Top College Acceptance Rates and Admissions Statistics, including the Class of 2027 Ivy League admissions data and admissions stats for a range of additional selective schools.
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