Along with decision letters, top colleges and universities have also begun releasing their acceptance data for the Class of 2026. And boy was it a tough one, with headlines pointing to record-low acceptance rates at nearly all of the most selective colleges in the country.
Why this was the toughest year yet
In most cases, the record-low acceptance rates were due to enormous application volume that either increased or held steady—a product of increased uncertainty and extended test-optional policies that many schools implemented last year.
Applicants experienced a double-whammy at Boston University, where record application numbers and over-enrollment from last year combined to drop the acceptance rate from 18.2% to 14.2%.
Tufts also saw a significant drop in its acceptance rate, from 11.4% last year to just 9% this year, continuing a trend that began in the early 2010s and has accelerated since the start of the pandemic in 2020. (Applications to Tufts have increased by over 50% in the last two years.)
It’s worth nothing that some universities (namely Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania) have specifically chosen not to release their acceptance rates at this time, citing the supposed stress that those numbers can cause for students who are considering applying next year.
Why we’re still hopeful
Despite all of this, there are some glimmers of hope for future applicants: Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and Northwestern all experienced slight increases in their acceptance rates this year (between .07% and .44%), meaning that their rates may be about to level off, at least for now. (In Northwestern’s case, this increase was despite receiving nearly 4,000 more applications than last year.)
Even more encouraging is the more significant overall acceptance rate increase at Duke—from 4.3% last year to 6.17% this year. While 6.17% is still incredibly low, it again offers some hope that acceptance rates may begin to level off over the next couple of years.
We are also starting to see some colleges reinstate testing requirements (notably Georgia Tech last year and MIT this year), which may lead other selective colleges to do the same. If this happens, it will likely reduce application numbers somewhat and help those colleges return closer to their pre-pandemic acceptance rates.
For the best chance of admission to any top university, consult a College Advisor who can evaluate your credentials and help you maximize every aspect of your application.