Acceptance Rates at Ivy League & Elite Colleges – Class of 2025

April 9, 2021

We previously covered the early decision/early action acceptance rates for the Class of 2025. As regular decision acceptances and rejections have officially been received, College Transitions can now provide you the first look at the overall acceptance rates (regular decision plus early decision) for some of the most selective universities in the country during the 2020-21 admissions cycle.

What follows are the Class of 2025 overall acceptance rates for Ivy League as well as other highly-selective colleges & universities that have released their results in a timely fashion. We also highlight admissions-related facts, analysis, and trends for each institution.

For clarity, “Class of 2024” refers to those who graduated high school in 2020; “Class of 2025” refers to those who will graduate high school in 2021.

Ivy League –Class of 2025 Acceptance Rates

School Name # of Applicants for Class of 2025 # Accepted into Class of 2025 Acceptance Rate for Class of 2025 Acceptance Rate for Class of 2024
Brown University 46,568 2,537 5.4% 6.9%
Columbia University 60,551 2,218 3.7% 6.1%
Cornell University ~67,000 5,863 ~9.0% 10.7%
Dartmouth College 28,357 1,749 6.2% 8.8%
Harvard University 57,435 1,968 3.4% 4.9%
 Penn 56,333 3,404 5.7% 8.1%
Princeton University 37,601 1,498 4.0% 5.6%
Yale 46,905 2,169 4.6% 6.5%

 

Ivy League Admissions Facts & Trends:

Brown

  • 95% of admitted students are in the top 10% of their high school classes.
  • Students from all 50 U.S. states were admitted. The top five states are California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas.
  • 17% represent the first generation in their family to attend college.
  • Admitted students come from 1,703 high schools — 58% attend public schools, 31% attend private schools, and 11% attend parochial schools.

Columbia

  • 60,551 applications were received, a 51 percent increase from last year.
  • Admitted students come from all 50 states and 100 countries.

Cornell

  • The proportion of admitted students who self-identify as underrepresented minorities increased to 34.2% from 33.7% last year, and 59.3% self-identify as students of color.
  • Admitted members of the Class of 2025 come from 49 U.S. states (only Wyoming is not represented) plus Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, as well as 87 countries outside the United States.

Dartmouth

  • A record-high 17% of students are the first generation in their family to attend college.
  • The greatest number of accepted students hails from California, followed by New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and Texas.
  • The admitted students come from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam. California is once again the largest cohort, with New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas rounding out the top five.
  • Fifteen percent are foreign citizens or live outside the United States, with Canada, China, the U.K., India, and Brazil as this year’s top-represented countries.
  • Dartmouth experienced a 33% increase over last year’s applicant pool of 21,392.

Harvard

  • Roughly 20.4 percent of the admitted class hails from Mid-Atlantic states, followed by 19.8 percent from the South, 17 percent from Western and Mountain States, 16.4 percent from New England, and 11.9 percent from the Midwest. Students from U.S. territories and abroad make up 14.5 percent of the admitted class.
  • Asian students continued to be largest minority group amongst admitted students at 27.2%.
  • Women comprise a majority of the admitted class at 52.9 percent, an increase from last year’s 51.6 percent.

Penn

  • Fifteen percent of the Class of 2025 identifies as a first-generation college student.
  • At least 18% of the accepted class is estimated to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant.
  • 56% of admitted students are United States citizens or permanent residents who self-identify as a person of color, up from last year’s 53%.
  • Hailing from 95 countries, 11% of the admitted Class of 2025 members are international students, down from last year’s 14%.

Princeton

  • In the admitted Class of 2025, 22% will be first-generation college students.
  • Sixty-eight percent of U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the admitted group self-identified as people of color, including biracial and multiracial students.
  • Sixty-four percent of the admitted students come from public schools.
  • Twenty-four percent of admitted students indicated they want to study engineering, and 15% are interested in studying the humanities.
  • Children of Princeton alumni account for 10% of the admitted students.

Yale

  • The record-breaking applicant pool represents a 33 percent increase from the 35,220 students who applied during the 2019-20 admissions cycle.
  • Students admitted to the class of 2025 represent all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 72 countries.
  • Yale also offered a spot on the waiting list to 1,030 applicants this year.
  • Approximately 20 percent of the class of 2024 elected to defer admissions for a year and join the class of 2025 — a significant increase from the 3 to 4 percent of students who typically elect to take a gap year prior to matriculation.

 

Other Highly-Selective Colleges’ Acceptance Rates

School Name #of Applicants for Class of 2025 # of Accepted into Class of 2025 Acceptance Rate for Class of 2025 Acceptance Rate for Class of 2024
Amherst College ~14,000 ~1,120 8.0% 11.8%
Duke University 49,555 2,855 5.8% 7.7%
Middlebury College 11,908 1,871 15.7% 24%
MIT 33,240 1,340 4.0% 7.3%
Rice University 29,523 2,749 9.3% 10.0%
Tufts University ~31,000 ~3,410 11.0% 16.3%
University of Notre Dame 23,639 3,446 14.6% 16.5%
University of Southern California 70,971 8,804 12.4% 16.0%
Vanderbilt University 47,174 3,162 6.7% 10.4%
Williams College ~1,000 ~12,500 ~8.0% ~12.0%

 

Highly-Selective Colleges & Universities Facts & Trends:

Amherst

  • The admit rate decreased by four percentage points from the previous year.
  • The number of applicants for the 2020-21 admissions cycle increased by 32 percent compared to last year’s pool of 10,601.
  • 60 percent of the admitted students identifying as domestic students of color.
  • 22 percent, will be first-generation college students.
  • Ten percent are international students.

Duke

  • Duke received 49,555 applications for undergraduate admissions, representing an increase of almost 25 percent from the prior year.
  • Trinity College applicants increased by 28 percent from the previous year, and Pratt applicants increased by 14 percent.
  • International applications rose 43 percent.
  • 44 percent of the applicants did not submit standardized exam scores.

Middlebury

  • Students of color represent 47 percent of all students admitted, including early and regular decision candidates.
  • Nearly 13 percent are international students while 35 percent are first-generation or students who are the first in their families to attend college.
  • There was a 30 percent increase in applications over the previous year.
  • States with highest numbers of admitted students from largest to smallest: New York, California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Illinois

MIT

  • This is increase of 66% over last year, when the university received 20,075 applications.
  • The Class of 2025 will join the 4,361 undergraduates who already call MIT home.

Rice

  • This year saw a 26 percent increase in applications compared to last year’s 23,443.
  • Rice admitted more students than ever before as they expand their undergraduate enrollment.
  • Admitted applicants hailed from all 50 states and 68 countries.

Tufts

  • 56 percent of U.S. students are students of color, up from last year’s 50 percent.
  • Applications to Tufts rose by 35 percent over last year.
  • The top 10 states for admitted students are Massachusetts, New York, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Texas.
  • Women make up 56 percent of the admitted class and men 42 percent. Two percent identify as non-binary, genderqueer, or preferred not to specify a gender identity.

University of Notre Dame

  • 40% of those admitted were students of color.
  • 2,175 high schools were represented.
  • 47% attended a public high school, 32% went to a Catholic high school, and 21% graduated from a private high school.
  • 13% were first-generation students.
  • 34% of Class of 2025 applicants were admitted without a test score.

University of Southern California

  • A record-high one in five students are the first in their family to attend college. 13% of admitted students are international students.
  • The average unweighted GPA of admitted applicants on a 4-point scale is 3.88.
  • International students comprise 14% of the Class of 2025, representing 88 countries.
  • Domestic admits came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and three United States territories.
  • Forty percent are from California.

Vanderbilt University

  • Vanderbilt’s regular decision acceptance rate has declined over the past five years, excluding the Class of 2024.
  • This year, the university saw a 28.5 percent increase in the number of applications.
  • Students were admitted from all 50 states and 74 foreign countries.

Williams College

  • The size of this year’s admitted class was a significant decrease from the roughly 1,250 students accepted into the Class of 2024.
  • The approximately 8 percent acceptance rate this year is also a decrease from the 12.4 percent acceptance rate for the Class of 2023.
  • The lower number of students accepted may be due to the approximately 130 students who were originally members of the Class of 2024 but chose to take a gap year

Check back for more updates on Class of 2025 acceptance rate data as it becomes public.