College Acceptance Rates, Class of 2016
College Admission Rates, Class of 2016
College admission at the nation’s most selective schools has become increasingly competitive. As another admissions cycle comes to an end, many colleges are reporting another rise in applications and another decrease in acceptance rates. According to the Department of Education, there are 3.2 million graduating seniors in the US this year and the number of international students in the US has increased by more than 20% since 2007. Below is a list of colleges including the number of students who applied to each school and the percentage of students who were accepted. We will continue to update this list as more information is released in the coming weeks.
School | Students Applied | Acceptance Rate |
| Barnard College | 5,940 | 21% |
| Boston University | 43,979 | 45.5% |
| Bowdoin College | 6,716 | 16.1% |
| Brown University | 28,742 | 9.6% |
| Bryn Mawr | 2,600 | 41% |
| Claremont McKenna College | 5,056 | 12.4% |
| Columbia University | 31,851 | 7.4% |
| Cornell University | 37,812 | 16.2% |
| Dartmouth College | 23,110 | 9.4% |
| Duke University | 31,600 | 11.87% |
| Emory University | 17,502 | 26% |
| George Washington University | 21,700 | 32.7% |
| Georgetown University | 20,100 | 16% |
| Harvard University | 34,302 | 5.9% |
| Johns Hopkins University | 20,496 | 17.7% |
| Middlebury College | 8,849 | 16% |
| MIT | 18,109 | 8.9% |
| Northwestern University | 32,065 | 15% |
| Pitzer University | 4,227 | 15.7% |
| Princeton University | 26,664 | 7.86% |
| Stanford University | 36,631 | 6.6% |
| Swarthmore College | 6,589 | 14.1% |
| Tufts University | 16,379 | 21.2% |
| University of Chicago | 27,277 | 13.2% |
| University of Notre Dame | 16,952 | 22.7% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 31,216 | 12.3% |
| University of Southern California | 45,917 | 18.2% |
| University of Virginia | 28,274 | 27.4% |
| Vanderbilt University | 28,340 | 12.02% |
| Washington University | 28,826 | 15.4% |
| Wesleyan University | 10,503 | 19.7% |
| Williams College | 7,067 | 16.7% |
28,974 | 6.82% |
Unfortunately, despite an increase in applications, many colleges are not expanding their freshmen class size. So while some students are celebrating an acceptance or feeling disappointed about a denial, others have been waitlisted. As more students apply to more schools, it has become increasingly difficult for schools to predict how many students will ultimately enroll and by utilizing a waitlist, schools have more control over the size of the freshmen class. This year, Yale University waitlisted 1,001 students, Princeton University waitlisted 1,472 students, and Stanford University waitlisted 789 students. Often a waitlisted applicant will be considered after the rest of the Regular Decision applicants have responded.
Read our team’s tips for getting admitted off of a waitlist.
We also offer a service called an Application Review: one of our expert counselors, many of whom are former admissions officers at schools like Yale University, Brown University, and Georgetown University, will review your application and provide feedback on the aspects of the application that may have led to a deferral or waitlist decision, and provide suggestions for moving forward.