Ivy League Admissions: Drastic Fall in Admission Rates

Ivy League Schools declared regular decision results this week. The number of applications soared dramatically as the universities became test optional.

 The admission rates have drastically declined. Harvard got 57,425 applications, an increase of 42% from last year. More than 60,500 students have applied to the Class of 2025 at Columbia College and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, an extraordinary increase of 51% over last year and an all-time high for the two schools.

Princeton usually accepts approx.1900 students per year. However, the school just accepted 1498 students to accommodate for the 200+ students who had take gap year in the last admission cycle. For Upenn,  26% of the Regular Decision admitted students did not include testing as part of their application. 

Overall, the Ivy Leagues look at admissions holistically – meaning that the full application is considered 

• College Application Theme
• Application Essays
• Recommendations
• Extra-Curriculars
• Summer Internships
• Volunteering Activities
• Transcript
• AP test scores
• Interviews

With the Ivy Leagues becoming test option for 2021-2022 admission cycle, it is more important for applicants to ensure that their entire application is as cohesive and well-developed as possible. The college application strategy needs to be clearly well thought of and defined.  The admissions are expected to be “brutal” and highly competitive this year too.

Sources:

Harvard Magazine, The Daily Princetonian, Brown Daily Herald, Columbia College, The Dartmouth, Yale Daily News, Penn Today

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Written by PathIvy Content Team