Acceptance Rates for the Class of 2027 at America's Elite Colleges

Of the 29 colleges on our list of 61 highly selective colleges which have so far reported admissions data for the class of 2027, 15 of them accepted less than 10% of their applicants, 13 accepted between 10% and 20% of their applicants and one accepted 22% of their applicants.

Harvard University reported the lowest overall acceptance rate of 3%, followed by Columbia University and Yale University each with overall acceptance rates of 4%, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each reported an overall rate of 5%, Colby College, Dartmouth College and Vanderbilt University each reported an overall acceptance rate of 6%, Barnard College, Northwestern University and Swarthmore College each reported an overall acceptance rate of 7%, Bowdoin College, New York University and Rice University each reported an overall acceptance rate of 8%, and Amherst College reported an overall acceptance rate of 9%.

Tufts University and Williams College each reported an overall acceptance rate of 10%.

The remaining 12 colleges reported acceptance rates between 11% and 22% for the class of 2027.

Table of Applications and Acceptances at Highly Selective Colleges - Class of 2027

The table below shows you the number of applications received, the number of acceptances issued and the acceptance rate for the colleges at the Early and Regular Decision stages as well as the overall total. Where the college has not yet released information, we indicate this with “Not Disclosed” in the relevant columns.

Data obtained from college announcements or college student newspapers

Early Applicants at a Big Advantage

As we have come to expect, Early applicants were admitted at much higher rates than Regular Decision applicants. It pays to apply early if your circumstances allow it.

At reporting colleges that offered Early Decision application, the Early Decision acceptance rates were three to four times the acceptance rates of those for Regular Decision.

At MIT and the University of Notre Dame, both of which offered Restrictive Early Action application, the acceptance rates were 1.5 times greater than Regular Decision acceptances. At Harvard University and Yale University, the acceptance rates for Restrictive Early Action applications were about 3 times greater than for Regular Decision applications.

Total Applications

Colleges with Less Than 10% Change in Applications Received

For 19 of the 29 colleges (69%) that disclosed acceptance information for the class of 2027, the number of applications received remained relatively steady compared to applications for the class of 2026 with shifts of less than 10% in total applications at each of these colleges. In total, 11 colleges experienced small decreases in applications while 9 colleges experienced small increases in applications.

The lists below show you the percentage changes at each of these 20 colleges.

Experienced Increase in Applications

Bates College (8%)

Colby College (5%)

Dartmouth College (2%)

Middlebury College (3%)

Northwestern University (1%)

University of Notre Dame (7%)

University of Virginia (6%)

Vanderbilt University (2%)

Yale University (4%)

Experienced Decrease in Applications

Barnard College (2%)

Brown University (1%)

Columbia University (5%)

Duke University (1%)

Emory University (5%)

Georgetown University (4%)

Harvard University (7%)

Rice University (1%)

Swarthmore College (3%)

Tufts University (3%)

Wellesley College (1%)

The number of applications received by Wesleyan University for the class of 2027 remained unchanged at 14,522.

Colleges with More Than 10% Change in Applications Received

Only 8 of the 29 reporting colleges (31%) experienced material changes in the number of applications received for the class of 2027 compared to the class of 2026.

Experienced Increase in Applications

Bowdoin College (17%)

New York University (14%)

University of Southern California (17%)

Experienced Decrease in Applications

Amherst College (15%)

Boston College (11%)

Carleton College (25%)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (20%)

Williams College (27%)

Changes in Acceptances

At 9 colleges, changes in acceptance rates registered at less than 0.5% meaning that they were virtually unchanged from the acceptance rates for the class of 2026 at these colleges. These colleges include Brown University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Harvard University, Northwestern University, Swarthmore College, University of Southern California, and Yale University.

At Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University, acceptance rates for the class of 2027 crept up between 0.5% and 1% compared to the class of 2026, while at Colby College, Rice University, University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University and Wellesley College acceptance rates crept down by about 1% or less.

Carleton College reported the highest increase in acceptance rate, with a 5% increase from 17% for the class of 2026 to 22% for the class of 2027.

New York University reported the largest drop amongst the reporting colleges with more than 4% change in acceptance rate from 12% for the class of 2026 to 8% for the class of 2027. This decrease in acceptance rate took place against a backdrop of a 14% increase in applications received for the class of 2027 compared to the prior year.

Observations

• The initial surge in applications in 2021 when colleges first announced test optionality appears to have stabilized. With the majority of reporting colleges holding steady on number of applications received, this may be the start of a new equilibrium in applications now that everyone has had time to digest the implications of test optionality in applications.

• Acceptance rates are still to stabilize as colleges adjust the total number of applicants they accept in the face of a permanently increased applicant pool due to test optionality. This acceptance rate volatility is especially true outside of the Ivy League colleges and the handful of Ivy-equivalent historically super-elite colleges like MIT, Duke University and Northwestern University.

• More than half of the 61 highly selective colleges we track have yet to report admissions data for the class of 2027, meaning that we will hold off on reaching any conclusions on longer term trends till next year.