It's Ivy Day 2022, and three Ivy League universities have reported that they plan to withhold their acceptance rates: Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University. They cite a tangible rise in applicants' anxiety surrounding admissions decisions as the basis of this choice.
These schools still plan to share some data, including the number of applicants and the expected size of the first-year class. However, Princeton noted on its site that they believe the acceptance rate specifically "raises the anxiety level of prospective students and their families and, unfortunately, may discourage some prospective students from applying." The Wall Street Journal shared that admission officers agree with this sentiment, emphasizing that low acceptance rates not only increase stress for hopeful applicants, but also can perpetuate the myth that receiving an acceptance letter from a prestigious university is nearly impossible. Despite these fields of thought, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Brown will still release acceptance rates this year.
Acceptance to your dream school isn't impossible, but it admittedly could be a challenge according to the data. Last year, for example, Harvard accepted a record-low 3.4% of its 57,435 total applicants. But in order to make a strategic decision for your application game-plan, we must break down the data further and reflect. How much of this can we attribute to the sweeping moves to go test-optional? What are the specific profiles of the students who are being accepted, and how might you compare?
Meet with your PathIvy counselor to get these questions plus more answered, and have someone in your corner to support you through a competitive application season. Join the PathIvy Family today!
Written by Dr. Jessica White, PathIvy Team