acceptance rate at college

University of Oxford

How important is the acceptance rate of your college? The answer depends on what you’re looking for in a school. If you’re deciding between a small liberal arts college and a large state school, or are debating moving to an out-of-state school because of its reputation, then knowing the acceptance rates can be critical.

What do acceptance rates mean? Every year colleges publish statistics about their class sizes and admission rates. This gives students something to consider when making life decisions about where to go (or not go) to college. A higher percentage of students accepted into a program means more people get in which means there may be stiffer competition for places in classes and activities.

If you’re considering going far away from home to attend an expensive private university then it makes sense that acceptance rates would mean more to you than if you were staying close to home at a state university (which have very high acceptance rates overall). Competition is greater, money might be tight, housing options may be limited and so on. All of this can make the difference between having your dream college experience or having little time for academics or fun outside of class because you are working nonstop just to pay bills—or worse, being stuck in a place that feels like it’s not right for you with no way out until it’s time to graduate. Being aware of colleges’ acceptance rates can help keep your sanity intact while still getting accepted into the school of your dreams!

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with about 6,800 undergraduate students and about 15,250 post graduate students.

Harvard was founded in 1636 and named after its first benefactor, clergyman John Harvard. The Harvard Corporation is its governing body. Ninety percent of undergraduates live on campus. The main campus is located in Cambridge but the university has facilities elsewhere throughout Massachusetts and in the Boston area.

Harvard has had an acceptance rate for regular decision of less than 9% since the 1960s.

California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

CAL TECH GPA: 3.79/4.0 ACT: 33/36 SAT: 2040/2400 MCAT: N/A Acceptance Rate: 7%

Acceptance rate for the California Institute of Technology is about 7%. This school has a highly competitive admissions process and is considered one of the most prestigious schools in the nation. The tuition at this school is $48,388.

Stanford University

Now that you’ve got your hopes up, here’s the cold, hard truth: Stanford University received over 30,000 applications this admissions cycle, and accepted just 2.05% of them.

What are the odds? They’re not good—even your lowest-possible-scorers have a better shot at winning the lottery than breaking into the school that boasts both Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates as alums.

How can you improve your chances? A few tips:

• Get straight As in everything now!
• ??????
• Acceptance!

Princeton University

For most students, getting into a four-year college or university is at least somewhat difficult. A typical applicant might have to apply to 10–20 schools and send in a couple hundred dollars. The process of applying for entry into one of the more prestigious institutions can be much more intense. In 2012, the acceptance rate was 6.4%. Additionally, the average GPA was located around 3.8 and SAT scores were 1240 on a 1600-point scale (the equivalent of an “A” on an AP test).

If you’re not ready to be in that upper percentile among applicants, don’t start panicking just yet! But it also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start preparing right away if you want to get into one of the most exclusive colleges out there. Study in high school and take Advanced Placement exams if possible. You should also get involved with clubs and internships while in high school—anything that shows your dedication and passion for learning outside of class will look good when you go through those tough applications!

Yale University

Great Schools, a nonprofit organization that evaluates schools and districts, found that Yale University has an acceptance rate of 6.9%. This means that only 7 out of every 100 students who applied were accepted. To put this in perspective, the national average for acceptance rates at private universities is just under 25%. Put another way: more than 4 times as many students would need to apply to Yale in order for the same number of students who were accepted (6.9%) to be admitted.

The good news is that you’re doing better than 6.9% of applicants—you’ve made it past the first page!

Dartmouth College

The following information is pulled from the Dartmouth College website, as well as statistics on other institutions, but can be applied at any school. Dartmouth is a highly selective institution and has an acceptance rate of just over 10%.

What are my chances?

Approximately 1 in 8 students who apply to Dartmouth will be admitted. This number varies slightly depending on the type of student (first generation applicant vs. legacy applicant, etc.). With only 4,000 students total between undergrad and graduate programs, there are enough spaces for only about 5% of applicants. The total number of applicants can range from 20,000-40,000 depending on the year. Let’s say you’re one of 40,000 applicants: how does your chance look? It’s pretty bleak!

To improve your chances for admission to Dartmouth you’ll want to make sure that you meet not only our minimum requirements but also aim higher than them if possible. You should have very strong grades and test scores in order to be competitive for admission into the program that you want.

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League research university founded in 1764. The institution’s history can be traced back for more than three hundred years. It was originally founded in Warren, the capital of Rhode Island, but the school moved to Providence soon after its inception.

• Brown University’s campus is located on College Hill, which has been given a National Historic Register designation by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The location today comprises 42 buildings with a total of 460 rooms, including state-of-the-art laboratories and libraries that are open to all students.
• The Brown Bears are the Brown University sports teams and have won 39 Ivy League championships since their first win in 1894 against Columbia. Their colors are chocolate brown and white and their mascot is Bruin Bear Bruno VI (pictured).

Columbia University

The acceptance rate for Columbia University is 6%, and the majority of those accepted are from the top 10% of their high school class. The average SAT score is 1480, and the average ACT score is a 33. Students are required to have at least a 3.7 GPA from an accredited secondary school in order to apply to Columbia.

All this information can be found on Columbia’s website, but none of it has been included here because we’re not interested in being transparent about our stats.

Cornell University

There are two things that matter when considering a college: the cost and the acceptance rate.

The cost of a school is straightforward, it’s how much money you’ll need to pay for tuition, housing, and other expenses in order to attend the school. This number can be found on each school’s website.

The acceptance rate is less clear-cut than the cost of attending a school. The acceptance rate gives insight into how competitive your admission process will be. You might not get accepted into Harvard because you have a subpar GPA and no extracurriculars, but if you have low SAT scores as well then there’s an even bigger chance of you getting rejected by Harvard.

College Board has a great site where they give statistics about colleges. On this site it shows the average SAT scores and GPA for admitted students at each college

the acceptance rate at college

The admission rate of colleges can be a hard thing to get ahold of, so here’s the scoop: it varies wildly. Reaching out to schools directly is the best way to find out where you stand in their process, and to see if you have any hope of being accepted at all. However, this is time-consuming and may not give you an exact number; many colleges will only give you an estimate for overall acceptance rates (in some cases it might be as high as 70% or as low as 10%).

Postsecondary institutions are free to provide whatever statistics they want about the college admissions process–it’s important that prospective students set their sights on schools that have open-admissions policies, and don’t stress out over numbers that aren’t relevant or accurate.

The important thing to remember is that there are plenty of great options out there for every kind of student. High-school grades and SAT scores should never be your only concern when making this choice, especially if they’re not up to par with your first choice school’s average scores. There are other factors involved in the admissions process besides academic performance which can put you ahead in the running for acceptance–but also keep in mind that these extras will come with a higher price tag. The best option for you is likely somewhere between these extremes – a school that has both reasonable merit requirements but also has enough financial aid packages available for people who need it most.

Don’t go into the college application process without weighing all your options carefully; take some time to consider what environment suits you best while looking at statistics like admission rate (and remember: it may not be everything!) Exhaust every possible resource available before deciding where exactly you want to invest your hard work and money, because this decision will impact much more than just your college trajectory: it could shape how well prepared you’ll be entering adulthood!