Category: Cornell

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COVID-19 Related Closures: Impact on Colleges and High School Seniors

COVID-19 Related School Closures: Impact on Colleges and High School Seniors

*UPDATE* *UPDATE* *UPDATE* *UPDATE*

As of today, on-campus activities for prospective students have been canceled at these schools, but DAILY other cancellations are happening and it appears that most every state is closing all schools. Assume you will not have revisit days or info sessions/tours. Please scroll down for additional updates on testing cancellations.

UPDATE April 15, 2020 from CollegeBoard:

The June 6, 2020 SAT and Subject Test administration is CANCELED.

UPDATE March 24, 2020 from CollegeBoard:

Free, live AP review courses available beginning March 25, 2020.

Daily schedule for 32 courses

UPDATE March 19, 2020

Students in England and Wales learned yesterday that the UK government had taken the unprecedented step of canceling this summer’s GCSE and A Level exams because of COVID-19. Instead, students due to sit for these exams this May and June will be awarded a “fair grade” to recognize the work they have done thus far in their coursework.

For sixth-formers (equivalent to U.S. high school seniors) applying to U.S. universities, your predicted A-Levels marks have already been sent to colleges, so your U.S. college decisions won’t be negatively impacted. However, information has yet to be shared with students and families about how the cancelation of these exams will impact admission to UK universities.

This will be tough for UK students in Year 11 since U.S. admissions offices rely on GCSE scores. They do have your mock GCSE results from December/January but those may not be as strong in all cases. The question of how a “fair grade” will be determined will be addressed by UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson this Friday.

Regardless, with extra time on your hands now, we strongly suggest that UK students planning to apply to U.S. universities next year sit for additional SAT subject tests – especially if you can squeeze one or two into your schedule this June.

Students seeking to sit for the TOEFL exam will find cancelations at test centers worldwide. Coronavirus-related closings and postponements can be found online here.

UPDATE March 16, 2020 from CollegeBoard:
May 2020 SAT administration canceled

“In response to the rapidly evolving situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19), College Board is canceling the May 2, 2020 SAT administration. Makeup exams for the March 14 administration (scheduled for March 28) are also canceled.” Click through the CollegeBoard link above for the full information.

UPDATE March 16, 2020 from AP Central Update:

“The AP Program is developing resources to help schools support student learning during extended closures, as well as a solution that would allow students to test at home, depending on the situation in May. Additional information will be posted by March 20.”

UPDATE March 16, 2020 from ACT:

“The safety of students and test center staff is ACT’s top priority. ACT has rescheduled its April 4 national test date to June 13 across the U.S. in response to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). All students registered for the April 4 test date will receive an email from ACT in the next few days informing them of the postponement and instructions for free rescheduling to June 13 or a future national test date.”

Are you planning on visiting colleges over spring break or later in the spring semester? Seniors, are you hoping to attend the college preview weekend for your dream school later in April? Are you scheduled to take the SAT or ACT in March or April? Before heading out, check the websites of colleges and universities on your list for updates on COVID-19 related closures.

COVID-19 RELATED COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY CLOSURES

Campus Tours and Information Sessions

Prospective students hoping to visit colleges this spring should check the website or call the admission office before heading to campus. As of today, on-campus activities for prospective students have been canceled at:

 April programs for admitted students

As of today, the following schools have announced that all on-campus programs for admitted students this April have been canceled:

SAT and ACT Test Centers PLUS Major UK Test and TOEFL Exams Latest Cancelations

For the most up-to-date information on exams scheduled for March and April, the best option is to regularly check the College Board and ACT registration pages. Here, you’ll find information on what to do if your test center is closed.

FURTHER UPDATES

As we know, the situation with COVID-19 is a fluid and fast-changing one. Be sure to regularly check university and testing websites to stay abreast of most recent developments regarding closures or travel restrictions.

Know of any other closures? Let us know in the comments.

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Early Admissions Trends: Class of 2024

Class of 2024 Early Admissions Trends

With Class of 2024 results now coming in on the early admissions round at top colleges and universities around the country, here is our expert assessment on what we’ve learned thus far. We’ll continue to update our information as more schools release their information.

UPS AND DOWNS

Unlike past years that saw big gains in everyone’s early numbers, this year was more of a mixed bag. Brown saw its number of early decision applicants grow by 8 percent, on top of a 21 percent increase in ED last year. Cornell, too, saw its pool grow by 7.4 percent and a news release from the university reminds us that the number of early decision applicants has grown 90 percent over the last decade.

Harvard saw its pool decrease by nearly 8 percent over last year to 6,958 early applicants. The last time Harvard saw its early pool decrease was in the fall of 2013 for applicants to the Class of 2018. Duke’s early decision pool decreased by 552 students (11.4 percent) over last year. Dartmouth’s early decision pool decreased by 16 percentage points over last year to 2,069. Likewise, Penn saw its early decision applicant pool drop by 9 percent from the record level reached last fall.

Natural disasters, school shootings, global economic uncertainty, teacher strikes, and demographic trends are cited by admissions deans as possible explanations for declining early pools. It could also be that savvy students are being more strategic in how they use their early option, aiming for a surer bet rather than going for the long-shot. We’ll continue to monitor these trends and share our perspective as more data are released in the coming months.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

  • Diversity of background continues to be a key priority in the selection process. Schools are working actively to build more diversity into their applicant pools through targeted outreach and partnerships with organizations like Questbridge.
  • Several schools made particular mention of greater numbers of low income and first-generation college students among the group offered admission. These hooks are clear institutional priorities increasingly supported through the admissions process.
  • Both Cornell and Penn are schools that went big for legacy admits, with 22 percent and 24 percent of the ED admits, respectively, being the children of alumni.
  • Many schools with binding early decision programs will admit 45-50+ percent of their incoming class through the early process. Doing so ensures that they can lock in a solid foundation for their incoming class and reduce yield volatility.

TOUGHEST SCHOOL TO GET INTO THIS EARLY ROUND?

Based on publicly reported data, the toughest early admission pool this year belonged to MIT. This year, 9,291 students applied for early admission to MIT, and 687 (7%) were offered admission.

Class of 2024 Early Program Admit Rates

Remember for the vast majority of top schools (MIT being the exception), the rate of admission in the early round will be significantly higher than the rate of admission for regular applicants. Duke, for instance, admitted 20% of its early applicants; last year it admitted only 5.7% of its regular decision applicants.

SELECTED EARLY ROUND APPLICANT POOL STATS

Class of 2024 Early Admissions Selected Results
Early Admissions Results_Georgetown

Brown admitted 800 students this December, corresponding to roughly 45 percent of its incoming class. The admitted group represents just 17.5 percent of its 4,562 early decision applicants, making this the most competitive early decision process they’ve ever experienced. The 4,562 students represented an 8 percent increase in volume over last year. Dean of Admissions Logan Powell cites The Brown Promise – a new initiative which replaces all loans in University financial aid packages – as having a major impact on the size and composition of the early pool. 62 percent of those admitted to Brown in early decision applied for financial aid, up from just 50 percent two years ago. Brown continues to push to diversify their student body, which is especially evident in the five percentage point increase in the number of first gen students in the ED admit group (17 percent this year versus 12 percent last year).

For the first time in four years, Cornell’s early decision admit rate increased. The university received 6,615 early decision applicants (a 7 percent increase over the past year’s ED applicant numbers) and admitted 23.8 percent (1,576 students), meaning its admit rate increased by 1.2 percentage points. Those admitted are estimated to comprise 49 percent of the Class of 2024. Interestingly, the number of women admitted this year decreased by four percentage points to 51.4 percent. Hard to know exactly what to make of this statistic—other than perhaps Cornell was concerned that it might be approaching a tipping point with respect to gender balance.

Dartmouth has offered admission to 547 early decision applicants, for an admit rate of 26 percent. The College’s official release notes that the early group includes record percentages of public high school students (54 percent), first-generation students (15 percent), foreign citizens (12 percent), and students of color (35 percent). The children of Dartmouth alumni represent 15 percent of the accepted students and recruited athletes make up 25 percent of the group.

At Duke, 887 students were admitted from a pool of 4,300 early decision applicants. With a drop in early applicants (over 11 percent from the prior year), Duke’s early acceptance rate increased to 21 percent, making this year’s ED process a bit less competitive than the past couple of years. Altogether, these students will comprise 51 percent of the incoming Class of 2024. Students of color comprise 46 percent of those admitted and international students make up another 6 percent.

Harvard saw its early action pool decrease by 7.7 percent, the first time since the fall of 2013 that the university’s early action pool posted a decline. In all, 895 of 6,424 early applicants were offered early admission to the Class of 2024. The 13.9 percent acceptance rate represents a 0.5 percent increase from last year. The early admission acceptance rate has not increased year-over-year since 2013. Dean Fitzsimmons takes a global view to explain the decrease, pointing to everything from wildfires in California (the number of early applicants from California declined nearly 17 percent) to school shootings and economic uncertainty to declining numbers of high school seniors. Women comprise 51.7 percent of the admitted class thus far, slightly more than last year, when women made up 51.3 percent of the early admit class. It seems that Harvard tipped in favor of women who are interested in the physical sciences and computer science. This year, 57.4 percent of admitted students who said they intend to concentrate in the physical sciences are women, compared to 52.9 percent last year and 33 percent the year before. For computer science, 49.1 percent of interested students are women, an increase from 42.9 percent last year, and 29 percent the year before.

Penn admitted 19.7 percent of early decision applicants to the Class of 2024 — breaking nearly a decade of declining ED acceptance rates. Of those who are United States citizens or permanent residents, 52 percent identify as students of a minority group, an increase from 48 percent last year. Similarly, 54 percent of admitted students identified as female, an increase from 51 percent last cycle. 10 percent of admitted students are first-generation college students, a slight decrease from last year’s 11 percent. Of students admitted to the Class of 2024, 24 percent had a parent or grandparent who attended Penn. Last year, 23 percent of admitted students were legacies.

Explaining the drop in ED application volume, Dean Eric Furda in an interview in the student paper seems to suggest a return to “normal” after a “bump” caused by higher scores on the redesigned SAT and students who therefore saw themselves as stronger. He, too, seems to raise the notion that natural disasters, power outages, and teacher strikes impacted the numbers of students applying ED.

Princeton University has offered admission to 791 students in its early pool this year (although the university coyly refrains from telling us how many students applied, suggesting it, too, saw a smaller pool). Of those admitted, 48 percent of students self-identify as students of color, 16 percent are from low income backgrounds, 13 percent are first generation college students, and 11 percent are international students.

Yale’s early application volume also decreased this year to 5,777, down 4 percent from last year’s record-setting pool of 6,020 students. Although short on details about the admitted group, a news release points to an announcement earlier this year from Yale that the past several classes have all set records for socioeconomic diversity, with more than 1,000 undergraduates receiving Federal Pell grants. Of those, more than 600 are in the first-year and sophomore classes. Additionally, the number of students per class who will be the first in their families to graduate from college has increased by 75 percent in the past six years.

Over on the West Coast, there are crickets from Stanford on the details of its early applicant pool and REA admits. The school announced last fall that starting with the Class of 2023, it will stop releasing admissions data until well after the admissions cycle concludes. The change was intended to reduce the “outsized emphasis placed on the admit rates at U.S. colleges and universities,” according to the Stanford news site. “By focusing on the admit rate, talented students who would thrive at Stanford may opt not to apply because they think Stanford seems out of reach,” said Provost Persis Drell.

But, stop the presses, Stanford did just release its overall admissions data for the Class of 2023. Its admit rate fell to a record-low 4.34 percent. Out of a record-high 47,498 applicants to Stanford’s Class of 2023, 2,062 were offered admission.

UPDATE

For two years in a row, Georgetown University has seen its early application volume decrease. This year, 7,305 students submitted early action applications, a decrease of nearly 13 percent since the fall of 2017 when nearly 8,400 students submitted early applications. To be sure, the fact that Georgetown uses a separate – and somewhat cumbersome – application may be a deterrent to students, as is its somewhat unclear testing policies. Georgetown’s Dean of Admissions Charlie Deacon points, instead, to the increased pressure that students feel to choose a binding early decision program (versus a non-binding early action program like Georgetown’s) as the cause of the decrease. In particular, two of Georgetown’s biggest competitors – UVA and BC – both implemented binding early decision programs this year.

Interestingly, Georgetown chose to accept a smaller percentage of its early pool this year – 11.72 percent of early applicants (a record low) were offered admission despite the falling numbers of applicants for the last two years. We wonder why Georgetown chose to do this, especially since Dean Deacon makes a point of highlighting the strength of the pool despite the decreasing numbers of applicants. Could it be looking for the silver lining – “most selective early process yet” – despite the downturn in application volume? If two of your competitors are taking a bigger slice of your market share, wouldn’t you want a slightly larger admit group to help yield the very best students in your early pool?

Stay tuned for more updates as they become available!

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The New “X” Factor for Getting into Top Colleges

top colleges admissions new x factor

post by Dr. Michele Hernandez

Twenty years ago, admissions to top colleges was much more formulaic. Applicant pools were smaller, more homogeneous, and more self-selecting. Each college had its own application that students filled out by hand. Most high schools calculated and reported class rank. “Merit” was pretty much defined as high class rank and high test scores, with some traditional school leadership positions for good measure.

BREAKING THE MOLD

As I explained in my behind-the-scenes admissions book A is for Admission in 1997, despite their protestations, colleges indeed used a numerical scale to rank students on academic and extracurricular achievements and to guide the selection process. In addition to the “secret formula” (the “Academic Index” which combined SAT scores, SAT subject test scores and class rank/grades), colleges developed their own rating system using a 1-9, 1-6 or 1-4 scale as admissions shorthand. At Dartmouth, we used a 1-9 scale with 9 as the highest academic ranking. Students who achieved this top designation were class valedictorians (typically of large high schools) with SAT scores and three achievement tests (now called subject tests) in the 750-800 range. Twenty years back, academic 9s comprised two percent of applicants and nearly all (94 percent) were admitted. Students who were rated as academic 8s (just under three percent of the pool) had a rate of admission of 92 percent. Three-quarters of the academic 7s—students in the top ten percent of their class with scores in the 720-750 range—were admitted, yet they made less than 5% of the applicant pool. Admission to a top tier college or university was clearly much more predictable.

HOW THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS WORLD HAS CHANGED

What has changed in the last 20 years? Lots. For starters, the adoption of the Common Application as the predominant application provider and its transition to an online platform led to explosive growth in applicant pools. Concurrently, the arms race amongst colleges (fueled by the likes of US News and World Report) led to increased student recruitment efforts to become more selective in order to climb up the rankings. Test preparation has become a global, multi-billion dollar business. Top private colleges and universities themselves, responding to critical national conversations about access to higher education, moved aggressively to encourage more low income and first-generation college students to apply. The metrics that once anchored the selection process are not applied as rigidly as they once were. Reams of national research showed clearly that test scores correlate with income; differences in scores by gender, race, and ethnicity are well-documented. Growing numbers of colleges and universities are test-optional; many of those that still require the SAT or ACT no longer require subject tests (though they still count them and expect them from students without financial hardships). High schools, for their part, have moved away from class ranks. “Hooked” applicants—athletic recruits, legacies, underrepresented minority students—have a leg up in the process, often admitted at much higher rates than the overall rate of admission.

No one can argue that broadening access to higher education is inherently a bad thing. As a consequence of all these factors, admissions rates at all the top 25-30 colleges have declined pretty much every year for 20 years. That’s a tough thing to wrap your head around. Applicant pools have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled since the parents of today’s high school students applied to college. Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and Yale boast acceptance rates of 4 to 5 percent. Last year, 18 top colleges and universities posted acceptance rates below 10 percent (Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Caltech, MIT, Pomona, Chicago, Brown, Duke, U Penn, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Claremont McKenna, Vanderbilt, Swarthmore, and Johns Hopkins), a new record.

The bottom line is that it is much much harder for top students today to get accepted to top colleges than it was 20 years ago. Students today face much steeper competition. Without a hook, what differentiates bright and high-achieving students from amongst thousands and thousands of similarly high-achieving students?

top colleges core values

CORE VALUES MATTER

Increasingly, admissions officers are looking towards indicators of character, integrity and civic involvement. In admissions, character matters. Admissions officers at top colleges are not looking for students who rarely venture beyond the high school bubble and who lack awareness of the world around them. Need an example? David Hogg, the Parkland activist, was just admitted to Harvard despite a slightly lower academic profile than the norm. Why? Because he showed America that one student could ignite an important debate on gun control after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Sure, not everyone will reach that national level of impact, but Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, and their classmates demonstrated how to make their voices heard.

What are ways students can show integrity and moral character? Through serving on honor councils and community boards, heading efforts to address local problems from water pollution to environmental disasters (one of our students worked for several years to pass a “no idling” law in his state) to working for politicians who are striving to address major policy issues, students can show that they are aware of the world beyond high school. Activism and impact take many forms—well beyond the somewhat old-fashioned menu of high school extracurricular options—and increasingly, make the difference in the selection process. Fancy internships or expensive global “service” programs don’t cut it. Instead, long-term dedication to causes and efforts you believe in, from your local humane society or homeless shelter to youth mentoring programs or community gardens, and more, the opportunities for students to make a difference are plentiful.

MEASURING THE “X” FACTOR

How do colleges measure this “X” factor? Character references from teachers, guidance counselors, and mentors help illuminate students’ impact. Students themselves need to think about how they tell their own story, from the essays they write and the activities they lay out in their application. I recently spoke to one of my sophomore students who had very little engagement in her school or community. I tried to jolt her into action by saying “from an admissions standpoint, it looks like you go right home at 3pm and do homework and nothing else.” That turned out to be true. Straight A, low-impact students are not going to have as many college options as high-impact ones, period.

Students who are solely chasing the 4.0 or 1600 and don’t show evidence of character, integrity, impact, and leadership will be passed over in favor of others. Think local or think global, but get involved and make a difference. You—and the world—will be better for it.

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Waitlisted? It’s Not Too Late

This has been an unbelievable year in college admissions.  We’ve worked with students and families for over 15 years and nothing stays the same, we promise that.

The sheer number of applications is rising. Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Harvard, Pomona, Stanford, U Penn, Emory and Yale are just some of the schools who report the largest number of applicants in their school’s history and UCLA broke all records with 100,000 applications this year for the Class of 2021. Cornell University received the highest number of applications in the Ivy League with 47,038 applications. Stanford was the most selective college in the country, with an acceptance rate of 4.65% for the Class of 2021.

The number of early applications is also off the charts this year.  A small school like Colby, for instance, had an increase in early decision applications for the third year in a row. This year they received 11,190 applications for 500 spots for the Class of 2021, up 14 percent from last year and 117 percent from 2014.  Georgetown accepted 11.9 percent of 7,822 early action applicants to the Class of 2021, which is 1 percent lower than last year’s 13 percent –it was the lowest acceptance rate they’ve ever had.

Of course, this means it’s a record year for low acceptance rates overall.  And, the Ivies are no longer the toughest schools to get into! Pomona had an 8 percent acceptance rate; Georgetown was 15.43 percent; Vanderbilt 10.19 percent; Northwestern 9.1 percent; Duke 9.06 percent!

All this to say it’s been a tough year for many seniors and we’ve heard from many parents and students who didn’t work with us and wish they had.  If you were waitlisted, take a breath and plan a response! If you were rejected and yes, we’ve heard from kids who were rejected at all their colleges. Perhaps they aimed too high or they simply didn’t have strong applications and with this many applications and rise in quality of applications there were many surprised applicants.  It’s not the end of the world.  Take heart and take action.

TTA-waitlist-not-too-late

WAITLISTED?

What’s the good news if your college outcomes weren’t what you hoped? It’s not too late!

  • Option 1: Take a gap year and prepare your freshman applications again, but this time with our help at Application Boot Camp this August 2017 in Boston. We can help you craft a gap year strategy and refine essays that put you in the best possible light and we’ll develop an application strategy with you to prepare early action, early decision, regular, and rolling applications to submit in fall 2017 for an August 2018 start date as a freshman at your top-choice colleges!
  • Option 2: For waitlisted students, we offer a Waitlist Analysis Program that includes a thorough analysis of your submitted essays and applications, a personalized student report, and customized input and advice on how to get accepted from the waitlist.
  • Option 3: Apply to additional colleges this April 2017, for an August 2017 start date as a freshman. For students who received rejection letters and are aiming to apply to additional colleges this April, it’s not too late. Many colleges still have rolling deadlines and are accepting applications. Review the Essay Guidance Program and consider some colleges still accepting applications.

As of April 5, 2017, the following colleges are still accepting applications: (and this is just a sampling)

College/University

Application Deadline

Bowling Green State University

7/15/17

Cal State U –San Bernardino

7/17/17

Nazareth College

8/20/17

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rolling

Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD)

Rolling

U Wisconsin Parkside

7/15/17

University of Charleston

Rolling

University of New Orleans

7/25/17

University of Washington-Tacoma campus

6/1/17

University of Wyoming

8/19/17

UT Dallas

7/1/17

How can you find colleges still accepting applications?

  • Use the Universal College Application website: They offer a simple list of colleges still accepting applications HERE.

Always check college admissions websites to confirm deadlines. Additional questions? Let us know!

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Class of 2021 Early Admissions Stats

Ivy League College Early Admissions Stats

The building of the Class of 2021 has begun! Many schools saw an increase in early applications, Princeton was up 18 percent and Columbia, Duke, Dartmouth, and Cornell reported the largest early application pools in their respective histories.

All Ivy League institutions and many other top colleges have released their early admissions stats. We’ve compiled them below and will continue to update.

(*all information extrapolated from each institution’s website, respectively)

**Northwestern info updated below graphic.

Early Admissions Stats In a Nutshell

ivy league college early admissions stats class of 2021

Brown: Brown accepted 22 percent of its early decision applicants to the Class of 2021, offering spots to 695 students out of 3,170 applications — the largest number of students ever admitted early decision. Brown accepted 22 percent of early applicants to the class of 2020, 20 percent to the class of 2019 and 18.9 percent to the class of 2018.

Columbia: Columbia has not released acceptance rates but we can tell you they received 4,086 early decision applications to Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science this year, once again setting a record for the largest number of early decision applicants in Columbia history. The number of early decision applicants rose by 16 percent from last year, when the office received 3,520 applications.

Cornell: A record number of 5,384 students applied early decision for admission to Cornell’s Class of 2021 with 1,378 acceptances representing a 10.3 percent increase from last year. This year’s numbers broke the record, set last year by the early decision Class of 2020. Cornell’s early decision pool has increased by 78 percent within the past decade. Of these applicants to Cornell, 25.6 percent were admitted — a smaller fraction than last year, when the University accepted 27.4 percent of applicants.

Dartmouth: Dartmouth accepted 555 students into the Class of 2021, selected from a record-large pool of 1,999 applicants. The admitted students will form approximately 47 percent of the incoming class. This year’s 27.8 percent acceptance rate is an increase from last year’s 25.6 percent. The overall number of applications went up by 3.7 percent.

Davidson: TBD

Dickinson: Dickinson extends offers of admission to 203 Early Decision (ED) applicants for the Class of 2021.

Duke: A record number of students (3,516) applied early with Duke accepting 861 applicants into the Class of 2021 (691 into Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, 170 in the Pratt School of Engineering). This reflects a 24.5 percent acceptance rate, which is the second most selective early decision process in Duke’s history. These 861 students admitted through early decision will make up 50 percent of the Class of 2021.

This year’s 3,516 applicants are 2 percent more than last year. Last year, 3,455 students applied early decision, and 813 were admitted—an acceptance rate of 23.5 percent. The early decision acceptance rates for the Class of 2019 and Class of 2018 were 26 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Georgetown: Georgetown accepted just fewer than 12 percent (931) of its 7,822 early action applicants to the Class of 2021, a record-low rate being 1 percent lower than last year’s 13 percent. The early applicant pool increased by 11 percent from last year as well.

Harvard: Applications for early action rose 5 percent this year to 6,473, and 14.5 percent, or 938 students, were admitted to the Class of 2021 representing a 5 percent increase in early applicants compared to the Class of 2020. Last year, 6,167 applied early, and 14.8 percent, or 914 students, were admitted.

Johns Hopkins: The 1,934 early decision applicants this year represent a slight increase from the then-record number of 1,929 who applied early decision last year. With 591 early decision acceptances for the Class of 2021, this reflects a 30.56 percent acceptance rate.

Middlebury: TBD

MIT: This year, 8,394 students applied for early admission to MIT, and early admission was offered to 657 applicants reflecting an early acceptance rate of 7.83 percent.

Northwestern: *UPDATED* Northwestern accepted approximately 26 percent of early decision applicants (a record high 3,736 in total), an increase of about 23 percent from last year.

Notre Dame: Notre Dame admitted 1,470 early action applicants to the Class of 2021. 6,020 students applied for consideration under the Restricted Early Action program reflecting a 24.4 percent acceptance rate. Early applications were up 10 percent over last year.

Princeton: Princeton University has offered admission to 770 students from a pool of 5,003 candidates who applied through single-choice early action for the Class of 2021. The pool was the largest in the last six years, representing an 18.3 percent increase over last year’s early applicant pool. The admission rate was 15.4 percent. In 2015, the early admit rate was 18.6 percent.

Stanford: Declined to release early decision data for Class of 2021.

U Chicago: TBD

UPENN: Penn admitted 22 percent of its early decision applicants to the Class of 2021 this year, slightly lower than last year’s rate of 23.2 percent. A record-breaking total of 6,147 applications were submitted in the early decision round. Of that number, 1,354 were accepted. The number of early decision applications increased by 7 percent from last year, and has grown by 28 percent in the last four years since the Class of 2017 applied. Penn typically admits around half of its total class in the Early Decision round. Last year, 55 percent of the total 2,445 spots available were filled by Early Decision applicants.

Williams: Williams College has offered admission to 257 students under its Early Decision plan reflecting a 35 percent acceptance rate. These students make up nearly 47 percent of the incoming Class of 2021, whose ultimate target size is 550. 728 students applied, a 25 percent increase over last year and a record number for Early Decision.

Yale: Yale welcomed the largest group of admitted early action students in several years, inviting 871 students to join the class of 2021. The admitted students represent 17.1 percent of a pool of 5,086 early applicants. The early action application pool this year is 9 percent larger than last year, an uptick marking the first major increase in early application numbers after a three- year period of relative stagnation.