Acceptance rates down again at top colleges!
Acceptance rates at the 61 highly selective colleges fell again to new lows for the class of 2026 compared to the class of 2025. While some colleges like Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Davidson, Johns Hopkins, MIT, New York University, Pitzer, Notre Dame and others experienced small drops in their acceptance rates, a number of colleges appear to have deliberately driven sharp drops in acceptances even as the number of applications they received continued to hit new record highs.
In total, 25 of the 61 highly selective colleges experienced drops in their acceptance rates for the class of 2026, 9 colleges saw virtually no change in their acceptance rates, 8 colleges saw their acceptance rates increase and 19 of the colleges have not released acceptance rates and application information for the class of 2026 by the time of this publication.
Harvey Mudd College increased it acceptance rate to 13% for the class of 2026 from 10% for the class of 2025 even as the number of applicants fell by 6% for the class of 2026. Williams College increased its acceptances by 19% from 1,099 acceptances for the class of 2025 to 1,303 acceptances for the class of 2026 as the total number of applications received increased by 23% for the class of 2026 over the class of 2025.
Several universities stand out for reducing the number of acceptances issued for the class of 2026 compared to the prior year in the face of more applications
Of the 25 colleges that saw their acceptance rates decline, 9 of them stand out for having made very substantial reductions in the number of acceptances issued to applicants for the class of 2026 compared to the class of 2025.
The reductions in the absolute number of acceptances issued for the class of 2026, despite increases in the number of applications received, contributed to the plunges in acceptance rates at some of the highly selective colleges.
These deliberate reductions in acceptances fuel the perception that colleges have become increasingly selective and harder to get admitted to, driving heightened anxiety, and even outright panic, for families of college bound students. The reductions have also propelled several of these colleges into the ranks of the super selective colleges with single digit acceptance rates even though their academic statistics would not otherwise place them in the group of academically elite universities.
The colleges listed below reduced their absolute number of acceptances issued by 15% or more for the class of 2026 compared to the class of 2025, in the face of record applications received. We recognize that colleges may have to tweak their acceptance numbers to manage their yields (number of applicants who matriculate to the college as a percent of total acceptances issued), but when reductions in acceptances issued exceed 15%, these reductions end up creating havoc with how applicants think about how they should create their college lists and how many colleges they feel they must apply to to get in somewhere.
Note: US News College Rankings no longer counts a college’s acceptance rate in scoring the college’ selectivity and the acceptance rate of a college has no impact on its rank.
Boston University reduced the overall number of acceptances by 17.5% even as the total number of applications increased from 2025 to 2026. Boston University accepted 11,434 applicants from a record setting 80,794 applications received compared to the class of 2025, when Boston University accepted 13,867 applicants or 18% of their 75,778 applicants.
Colorado College reduced the overall number of acceptances by 19% from 1,564 acceptances issued for the class of 2025 to 1,266 acceptances issued for the class of 2026 even as the total number of applications they received stayed about the same for both classes.
Cornell University reduced the overall acceptance numbers for the class of 2026 by about 16% compared to the class of 2025. Cornell accepted 4,908 applicants in for the class of 2026 compared to 5,852 for the class of 2026
Emory University reduced the overall number of acceptances by 23% even as the total number of applications remained about the same between 2025 and 2026. The acceptance rate for the class of 2026 dropped to 16% compared to a 20% acceptance rate for the class of 2025. Emory reduced the number of applicants it accepted for the class of 2026 to 5,303 compared to the class of 2025 where it issued a total of 6,892 acceptances.
Northeastern University stands out because it more than halved their acceptances to 6,179 for the class of 2026 compared to 13,829 acceptances for the class of 2025 pushing down their acceptance rate to a single digit of 7% this year even as Northeastern saw a 21% increase in applicants to 90,989 applicants for the class of 2026. Based on the Common Data Sets, Northeastern University fluctuated the number of acceptances issued by between 6% and 17.5% for the classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024. The sudden halving of acceptances for the class of 2026 seems drastic.
Tulane University reduced its acceptances for the class of 2026 by about 18% even as its total applications decreased by 5.5% bringing its acceptance rate for the class of 2026 down to the single digit of 8.4%.
Washington University in St Louis reduced the number of acceptances it issued by almost 18% admitting only 3,598 applicants for the class of 2026 compared to 4,373 acceptances it issued for the class of 2025, reducing its overall acceptance rate to 10% from 13% just a year ago. WUSL reduced its acceptances even as the number of applicants for the class of 2026 increased by about 7% over the number of applicants for the class of 2025.
Wesleyan University reduced the number of acceptances issued by almost 21% from 2,540 acceptances issued for the class of 2025 down to 2,013 acceptances issued for the class of 2026 even as applications received increased by about 9%.
Vanderbilt University reduced the overall acceptances for the class of 2026 by 15% even as the number of applicants remained about the same as in 2025.
Table of Changes in Applications and Acceptances for Class of 2025 and 2026
The table below sets out data on applications received, acceptances issued, acceptance rate and changes in acceptances for the classes of 2025 and 2026 at the 61 highly selective colleges.
All data obtained from Common Data Sets, college websites or blogs affiliated with the colleges.
| Changes in Acceptances at Highly Selective Colleges Class of 2025 and 2026 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class of 2025 | Class of 2026 | % Change in | |||||
| College | Applicants | Accepted | Accepted% | Applicants | Accepted | Accepted% | Acceptances |
| Amherst College | 13,948 | 1,120 | 8.0% | 14,800 | 1,025 | 6.9% | -8.48% |
| Babson College | 7,104 | 1,776 | 25.0% | - | - | - | - |
| Barnard College | 10,395 | 961 | 9.2% | 12,009 | 961 | 8.0% | 0.00% |
| Bates College | 7,319 | 1,085 | 14.8% | 8,273 | 1,075 | 13.0% | -0.92% |
| Boston College | 39,847 | 7,587 | 19.0% | 40,477 | 6,476 | 16.0% | -14.64% |
| Boston University | 75,778 | 13,867 | 18.3% | 80,794 | 11,434 | 14.2% | -17.55% |
| Bowdoin College | 9,325 | 822 | 8.8% | 9,446 | 843 | 8.9% | 2.55% |
| Brown University | 46,568 | 2,569 | 5.5% | 50,649 | 2,547 | 5.0% | -0.86% |
| California Institute of Technology (Early Action) | 13,026 | 510 | 3.9% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Carleton College | 7,915 | 1,385 | 17.5% | 8,583 | - | 0.0% | - |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 32,896 | 4,453 | 13.5% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Claremont McKenna College | 5,632 | 625 | 11.1% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Colby College | 15,857 | 1,279 | 8.1% | 16,891 | 1,258 | 7.4% | -1.64% |
| Colgate University | 17,533 | 3,010 | 17.2% | 21,153 | 2,621 | 12.4% | -12.92% |
| Colorado College | 10,975 | 1,564 | 14.3% | 11,007 | 1,266 | 11.5% | -19.05% |
| Columbia University | 60,551 | 2,358 | 3.9% | 60,377 | 2,253 | 3.7% | -4.45% |
| Cornell University | 67,380 | 5,852 | 8.7% | - | 4,908 | 0.0% | -16.13% |
| Dartmouth College | 28,357 | 1,749 | 6.2% | 28,336 | 1,767 | 6.2% | 1.03% |
| Davidson College | 6,434 | 1,143 | 17.8% | 6,487 | 1,090 | 16.8% | -4.64% |
| Duke University | 49,555 | 2,855 | 5.8% | 50,002 | 3,085 | 6.2% | 8.06% |
| Emory University | 33,780 | 6,892 | 20.4% | 33,517 | 5,303 | 15.8% | -23.06% |
| Georgetown University (Early Action) | 27,650 | 3,226 | 11.7% | 26,670 | 3,229 | 12.1% | 0.09% |
| Georgia Institute of Technology (Early Action) | 45,388 | 8,308 | 18.3% | 50,601 | 8,673 | 17.1% | 4.39% |
| Grinnell College | 10,587 | 1,112 | 10.5% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Hamilton College | 9,380 | 1,320 | 14.1% | 9,899 | 1,168 | 11.8% | -11.52% |
| Harvard University (Restrictive Early Action) | 57,435 | 1,968 | 3.4% | 61,220 | 1,954 | 3.2% | -0.71% |
| Harvey Mudd College | 4,737 | 473 | 10.0% | 4,440 | 576 | 13.0% | 21.78% |
| Haverford College | 5,332 | 952 | 17.9% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| John Hopkins University | 38,513 | 2,476 | 6.4% | 37,150 | 2,407 | 6.5% | -2.79% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (EA) | 33,240 | 1,365 | 4.1% | 33,796 | 1,337 | 4.0% | -2.05% |
| Middlebury College | 11,906 | 1,601 | 13.4% | 13,028 | 1,940 | 14.9% | 21.17% |
| Northeastern University | 75,244 | 13,829 | 18.4% | 90,989 | 6,179 | 6.8% | -55.32% |
| Northwestern University | 47,636 | 3,239 | 6.8% | 51,554 | 3,609 | 7.0% | 11.42% |
| New York University | 100,131 | 12,810 | 12.8% | 105,000 | 12,810 | 12.2% | 0.00% |
| Pitzer College | 3,676 | 673 | 18.3% | 3,674 | 643 | 17.5% | -4.46% |
| Pomona College | 11,620 | 771 | 6.6% | 12,200 | 736 | 6.0% | -4.54% |
| Princeton University (Restrictive Early Action) | 37,601 | 1,647 | 4.4% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Rice University | 29,544 | 2,802 | 9.5% | 31,424 | 2,691 | 8.6% | -3.96% |
| Stanford University (Restrictive Early Action) | 55,471 | 2,190 | 3.9% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Swathmore College | 13,012 | 1,013 | 7.8% | 14,700 | 1,021 | 6.9% | 0.79% |
| Tufts University | 31,198 | 3,566 | 11.4% | 34,880 | 3,139 | 9.0% | -11.97% |
| Tulane University | 45,525 | 4,385 | 9.6% | 43,019 | 3,614 | 8.4% | -17.58% |
| United States Merchant Marine Academy | 1,790 | 451 | 25.2% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| University of California Berkeley | 112,846 | 16,410 | 14.5% | 128,196 | 15,000 | 11.7% | -8.59% |
| University of California Los Angeles | 139,490 | 15,028 | 10.8% | 149,779 | - | 0.0% | - |
| University of Michigan | 79,743 | 16,071 | 20.2% | 84,527 | - | 0.0% | - |
| University of Chicago (ED and EA) | 37,977 | 2,460 | 6.5% | - | - | 5.0% | 0.00% |
| University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (EA) | 53,776 | 10,347 | 19.2% | 57,198 | - | 0.0% | - |
| University of Notre Dame (Restrictive EA) | 23,642 | 3,562 | 15.1% | 26,506 | 3,412 | 12.9% | -4.21% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 56,332 | 3,304 | 5.9% | 55,000 | - | 0.0% | - |
| University of Southern California | 71,031 | 8,804 | 12.4% | 69,000 | 8,198 | 11.9% | -6.88% |
| University of Virginia | 47,979 | 9,958 | 20.8% | 54,442 | 10,631 | 19.5% | 6.76% |
| Vanderbilt University | 47,174 | 3,368 | 7.1% | 46,717 | 2,874 | 6.2% | -14.67% |
| Vassar College | 10,884 | 2,193 | 20.1% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Villanova University | 24,410 | 6,162 | 25.2% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Wake Forest University | 15,156 | 3,816 | 25.2% | 18,000 | - | 0.0% | - |
| Washington and Lee University | 6,614 | 1,248 | 18.9% | - | - | 0.0% | - |
| Washington University in St. Louis | 33,634 | 4,373 | 13.0% | 35,980 | 3,598 | 10.0% | -17.72% |
| Wellesley College | 7,920 | 1,240 | 15.7% | 8,700 | 1,131 | 13.0% | -8.79% |
| Wesleyan University | 13,067 | 2,540 | 19.4% | 14,521 | 2,013 | 13.9% | -20.75% |
| Williams College | 12,452 | 1,099 | 8.8% | 15,301 | 1,303 | 8.5% | 18.56% |
| Yale University (Restrictive Early Action) | 47,240 | 2,509 | 5.3% | 50,015 | 2,234 | 4.5% | -10.96% |
What the highly selective colleges should do to manage expectations
Every round of reduced acceptance rates from the highly selective colleges induces a fresh round of panic for families with college bound teenagers. The number of seats available at these colleges has not changed significantly in a very long time, even as the number of applicants has increased every year for a long time now.
With preference policies in place at many of the highly selective colleges, the number of seats available for non-preferred applicants to compete for is much less than what the annual number of incoming freshmen would indicate about a college’s class capacity.
In addition, with so many colleges filling substantial portions of their incoming freshman class with Early Decision acceptances, the number of seats actually available to non-preferred, non Early Decision applicants is very limited.
In this light and given the huge numbers of applicants each college receives, the college’s have inevitably imposed tougher and tougher hurdles for non-preferred applicants to jump over to gain admission.
The reality is that applicants to the super highly selective colleges with single digit acceptance rates must stand out in ways not expected of applicants in the past. Today, they must present as “superstars” to gain admission, ordinary achievements are not enough.
So, what can the colleges do to calm everyone down and manage the panic?
What they should not do is to become even less transparent than they already are. A number of the highly selective colleges have responded to the increased applicant anxiety by announcing that they will no longer disclose application data in real time. This is an unhelpful approach to say the least.
Here are 2 major steps that the colleges can take to increase fairness for all:
Disclose the number of seats that went to preferred applicants every admissions cycle (preferred categories are generally based on race, 1st in family to attend college, athlete recruit, legacy, donor and children of staff)
Disclose Early Decision data as soon as it is available (it is not helpful to hide this information on the pretext that it will calm applicants and their families, it will not)
Disclose with clarity the metrics used in evaluating applicants so that the applicants are not misled into applying because they unrealistically believe they have a chance at admission. For schools that do not require test scores, the colleges should be clear what they evaluate in lieu of those test scores.
Until the colleges become more transparent, applicants are forced to divine the tea leaves for themselves, and they have to submit a ridiculously expanded number of applications to make up for the lack of transparency in the application process.
What applicants can do to help themselves
Despite having gone test optional, the colleges have not lowered their overall admissions standards. Applicants must still meet the required academic standards, which means that the colleges have simply adjusted the factors they weight for those who do not submit a test score.
Without test scores, the colleges give more weight to an applicant’s GPA, AP classes and the overall rigor of their high school classes taken - an applicant must still adequately measure up to the academic profile of the admitted class at the college to be taken seriously.
Applicants without test scores must also stand out with their activities, and they must submit a stellar essay and provide letters of recommendations that are authentic and provide real insight into who the applicant is.
Test optionality did not make gaining admission any easier.
Before you pay $75 to submit an application to a highly selective college, make sure that you actually fit within that college’s admitted student profile. Sending in a “Hail Mary” to a college with already low acceptance rates is an exercise in futility, and only sets you up for disappointment if you are not a fit. It is also wasteful of your energy as every application still requires careful thought from you, especially around the Supplemental Essays. It is better to expend energy where you have a realistic chance at admission.
In the case of applicants for whom the highly selective colleges are a “stretch” or “right fit” school, we suggest that you increase the number of colleges on your college list for now to hedge against uncertainty caused by the huge numbers of applicants to these colleges.
To increase their chances of admission, applicants should also make sure that their academic performance meets requirements and that they stand out with their activities and personal qualities.
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