“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”
— Lynn O'Shaughnessy
Nationally Recognized College Expert
August 14, 2026
In the most recent cycle with complete data, Johns Hopkins University admitted 5.14% of applicants into the Class of 2029, a record low, and the university extended 2,795 offers...
Emory’s 12.3% acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 came after they received a record 43,269 applications, a sharp jump from the roughly 37,000 the school had been fielding...
Short version, and the only thing most readers came here for: Georgia Tech no longer requires a supplemental essay. Beginning with the 2026-27 application cycle, for students entering in...
The nation’s oldest Jesuit institution of higher learning welcomed 13% of applicants to the Class of 2030 onto its historical and notably beautiful Washington, DC, campus, admitting roughly 3,500...
On August 1st, the Common Application went live for the 2026-27 admissions season. If you’ll be applying to any colleges using this form, it’s a smart idea to start...
Harvard’s most recently confirmed acceptance rate, 4.2% for the Class of 2029, gives you a pretty informative introduction to the ultra-competitive admissions process in Cambridge. To dive deeper, Harvard...
August 13, 2026
Of the eight Ivy League schools, Dartmouth receives the fewest number of applications. There were 28,863 hopefuls for the Class of 2030, roughly half the number at Columbia. Applications...
Of the 61,031 applications received by Columbia, just 4.2% were accepted, the lowest mark in the Ivy League this cycle. At a school where 96 of every 100 applicants...
With an acceptance rate under 4% (yes, truly), Caltech is one of the most highly selective schools in the country. The most recent complete figure is 3.78% for the...
Back in the ’90s, American University had an acceptance rate of nearly 80%. In recent years, the acceptance rate has swung widely, falling as low as 26% before rebounding...
Cornell’s most recently published acceptance rate, an 8.4% mark for the Class of 2028, was just a touch higher than the prior year’s 7.3%. The university has not released...
With roughly 77,000 applications from those wishing to join the Class of 2029, Boston University has entered the realm of the most desirable private universities on the planet. It...
Applicants to the Brown Class of 2030 were greeted with a 5.35% acceptance rate, drawn from a record 47,937 applications. Given that 19 of every 20 applicants are turned...
When applying to a school like Carnegie Mellon that only accepts 11% of applicants, it’s important to keep in mind that the other 89% of applicants will ultimately be...
With a 4.7% acceptance rate, the lowest in school history, getting into Duke in 2026-27 is as daunting a challenge as gaining acceptance into just about any Ivy League...
August 5, 2026
In the fall of 2025, 67,101 students applied to the University of Maryland, College Park. Four years earlier the number was 50,146. A one-third increase in applications over four...
In September 2025, Wake Forest University welcomed the largest first-year class in its history. The 1,545 students who arrived in Winston-Salem outnumbered every entering class before them, and they...
Most universities that draw more applicants become harder to enter. Case Western Reserve did the opposite. Its applicant pool grew from about 33,000 for the Fall 2021 class to...
August 4, 2026
William & Mary reports an admit rate near 34 percent, a number that places it among solid public universities rather than the most selective ones. For most of the...
July 30, 2026
A high school senior in Bucks County opens her Penn State decision in December and finds good news and a complication in the same letter. She is admitted to...
