Declining Acceptance Rates for the Class of 2028
As spring draws to a close and Decision Day approaches, colleges are beginning to release their admissions data for the most recent round of applications. Unsurprisingly, most schools saw an increase in the number of both early and regular applications (Common App shared that its number of applicants increased by 6%) and a decrease in overall acceptance rate, a continuation of the figures seen in Early Decision rounds (see our recent blog post on Admission Trends and Early Admission Results for more info).
Since the pandemic, college admissions has experienced a so-called domino effect: the acceptance rates for Ivy League and Ivy-adjacent universities have dropped to ~5% or below, leading to an increase in interest and applicants for other selective schools and those ranked in the top 35 for National Universities. Consider NYU—although it is ranked #35 by US News & World Report, its acceptance rate for the class of 2028 was just 8%, a more than 50% decrease from the class of 2024 (15.29%). This means that many schools that were formerly categorized as reaches for students are now rivaling the selectivity of Ivy League and equivalent schools.
The color-coded table below lists the overall acceptance rate data for many of B2A students' most popular colleges:
School | Class of 2028 | Class of 2027 | Class of 2026 |
Harvard | 3.59% | 3.34% | 3.24% |
Yale | 3.73% | 4.5% | 4.57% |
Columbia | 3.85% | 3.9% | 3.74% |
Brown | 5.16% | 5.09% | 5.03% |
Dartmouth | 5.32% | 6.23% | 6.38% |
MIT | 4.52% | 4.68% | 3.94% |
Johns Hopkins | 4.59% | 6.31% | 6.49% |
Vanderbilt | 5.09% | 6.28% | 6.13% |
Duke | 5.15% | 6.3% | 6.17% |
Swarthmore | 7.46% | 6.94% | 6.93% |
Northwestern | ~7.5% | 7.20% | 7.21% |
Rice | 7.51% | 7.88% | 8.56% |
NYU | 8% | 9.41% | 12.46% |
USC | 9.27% | 10.02% | 12.02% |
Tufts | 10% | 10.13% | 9.69% |
Boston University | 10.7% | 11% | 14% |
Notre Dame | 11.1% | 11.99% | 12.87% |
WashU | 11.44% | 11.96% | 11.33% |
Georgetown | 12.33% | 12.79% | 12.11% |
Georgia Tech | 13.81% | 16.46% | 17.14% |
Emory | 14.5% | 16.2% | 15.8% |
Boston College | 14.66% | 15.45% | 16.66% |
University of Virginia | 16.38% | 16.28% | 18.66% |
University of Miami | 19% | 18.51% | 18.94% |
William & Mary | 33% | 32.72% | 33.5% |
Oberlin College | 34% | 32.92% | 34.9% |
What this means for YOU
Although college admissions grows increasingly competitive every year and these figures can be overwhelming, understanding this data is vital for 3 reasons:
It can help ensure you have a well-rounded and balanced college list, allowing you to more accurately categorize schools based on your specific profile.
Whether you’re an incoming freshman or rising senior, it can motivate you to improve your academic and extracurricular profile.
It can encourage you to apply early. It’s becoming more important for students to prepare their materials to meet early deadlines—set yourself up for success by getting a head start on your college applications! This data can also help you pick the best Early Decision and/or Early Action colleges to improve your admissions chances.
For individualized recommendations and an in-depth evaluation of your admissions profile, contact us and see how B2A can help you achieve your goals!
We offer both our 10-week, all-inclusive Gateway Program—our most popular college admission counseling service—and College Admissions Services (CAS) hours. With Gateway, students work 1:1 with an experienced College Admissions Counselor to complete 5 college applications.
