College Admissions Statistics Class of 2021: Early and Regular Decision Acceptance Rates

Applying to College
201

@Akqj10 “I found it interesting that in the Williams news release that it stated the averages for early decision
Old SAT averages of: 731 CR 727M 725 W
Redesigned average: 724 R&W 720 M”

Yes, it means that Williams (and many other top schools that have holistic admissions) are NOT using the concordance tables. For example, UVA has stated that there is not enough historical evidence to be able to compare results on the Old SAT with the New SAT. Rather they are using their holistic admissions evaluations and then of the kids who were admitted then disclosing that the average new SAT, old SAT and ACT scores were for those admitted students.

I believe that this is the fairest way to do it. My daughter never took the ACT or new SAT, so why should her new SAT scores be compared to the scores of those who took different tests?

202

@TestRekt "So we can’t say from average scores that the concordance was wrong or that colleges didn’t use the concordance (most did) or that the same students taking different tests on the same day would not have done 40-50 points better on the new SAT (what a concordance supposedly tells us). "

Do you really think that most schools are using the concordance tables? Here we have UVA and Williams not using them. I also heard from a few other top schools this summer on our tours that they are not concording SAT scores.

I am sure that many state schools are using it as many do not use holistic admissions but I am not sure if the top schools are.

203

I think it would be fairly easy for any elite universities to see if the concordance tables were wrong. All they would have to do is use the concordance tables to transfer new SAT scores to old SAT scores and look at their class. Say they move from 3,000 applicants with 2,300+ to 3,000 applicants with a 2,270+ and across the board their total number/percent of applicants with each score drops like 20-30 points. I’d assume that they would think that something is up.

204

This is such an apples to oranges situation there really is no clear answer. However, I do think as some of you have agreed, the type of student that ended up exclusively taking the NEW SAT vs. the type that only took the OLD SAT might be different, too. Not saying that the better students took the old one (but maybe the ones that were looking ahead more??? Maybe it mattered more them, or at least to their parents?), but I do wonder about that. In my daughter’s above average north east public HS, the “top” students either took the OLD SAT or the ACT and didn’t go near the new SAT. And I know from a neighbor of mine whose children attend one of the top PRIVATE HS’s in the country that very few kids took the NEW SAT (class of 2017).

I am on a lot of different accepted students threads and I did notice one thing on a FEW people worth noting. Some students took both and reported both on the thread. I don’t think I saw anyone that took both that did BETTER on the NEW SAT. Not sure if that was a coincidence (and I saw like 3 so not really statistically valid), but it was something I noted because this topic interests me!!!

I wonder how it will impact the RD decisions at the top schools. I guess we will know around April 1. I’m sure the colleges are struggling with trying to keep things as fair as possible. I do think they use holistic admissions, but my hunch is it does sometimes come down to some kind of objective measurement at some point and there is no more objective measure than the standardized test score. I think when comparing two otherwise equally holistic applicants coming from the SAME demographic, they would end up going with the kid with the higher score. So if one submitted the New SAT and one the OLD, it may be a difficult decision.

205

@collegemomjam " In my daughter’s above average north east public HS, the “top” students either took the OLD SAT or the ACT and didn’t go near the new SAT. And I know from a neighbor of mine whose children attend one of the top PRIVATE HS’s in the country that very few kids took the NEW SAT (class of 2017)."

I have heard the exact same thing from my US-based friends and my American friends whose kids go to American curriculum high schools. The general view was to avoid the new SAT as no one knew how the scoring would end up.

Also, on your main point, I think that some schools who have holistic admissions are making the SATs probably the lowest ranking of the 5 main holistic criteria that they are looking at, (I heard one LAC state this explicitly last summer). I would also guess that these schools might use the scores as a tool for making the first cut of students to take to committee than as a final tiebreaker but again this is only conjecture.

206

@londondad good point. I do believe that colleges are relying less and less each year on standardized tests for a variety of reasons, many centered around the concept of “fairness” (access to expensive tutors, differences in education opportunities, etc.)…and I agree that they might be used as a “first cut” data point rather than a tie breaker in some cases, especially when comparing students with similar backgrounds. I just wonder if when they are trying to make final decisions if they revisit the scores, too. I spoke with a Lehigh admissions officer once who said that sometimes they revert to the SECOND highest SAT score submitted when trying to decide between students (could you imagine?). My point is sometimes they just need something to base a decision on and they MAY look at the scores again. But we will never know, and I’m sure every school does it differently…and even different counselors within the same schools may do it differently. I would love to be a fly on the wall…

207

Anything from UMiami ED?

208

@londondad @collegemomjam I have a kid who never took the old SAT, took the new SAT once, and thought she did fine (1550.) Then she started hearing about how “easy” it was. In my dark moments, I allow myself to worry that so many of the well-resourced folks – the ones who plan way ahead, take tests multiple times, use tutoring services – have such a keen interest in making sure their old SAT scores look as good as possible against the new SAT. I’ll be glad when this is over.

209

@LadyMeowMeow I’m not sure I understand what you mean? I can only speak for my daughter, but her prep to take the old SAT began early only because the test was going away January of Junior year and she just wanted to be done. Yes, she wanted her score to look good relative to others, but relative to anyone else applying to the same schools as her, regardless of what test she took.There was just so much uncertainty with the new SAT because it’s the first year, she didn’t preferred dealing with the devil we knew.

Congrats to your daughter for getting such a great score the first time! I think that score should help her along in the admissions process! Good luck to her.

210

@collegemomjam Thank you & good luck to your daughter, too. I was partially giving a data point – an academically serious kid in the pool of test-takers for new SAT – and partially sharing the pain of uncertainty with you & everyone else (about how decisions are going to be made this year.) As for the question of which version of the SAT is “harder,” I have no idea and can only hope that colleges are being smart about this situation.

211

The idea that any college admissions staff can properly concord the old version of the SAT with the new version is rather laughable.

This is not a trivial thing to do–you need enough data for the results to be statistically significant and the expertise to do the analysis properly. Only the College Board has the data to do this right, whether they did so or not is up for discussion.

212

Yes, you are right and they HAD to come up with something for this first year. After this year the question will be more so how to compare it with the ACT, also probably not an exact science. But they need guidelines nonetheless.

213

I’m not a mod, but I feel like this debate about SAT scores is hijacking the original purpose of this thread. If there’s going to be much more discussion I feel like it would be better to create a whole other thread for this purpose. You might also get more input this way. ?

214

I agree with @CathJR - this thread, like the equivalent thread last year, is for compiling admit/defer/deny rates by school. There are likely to be more comprehensive discussions of the ins and outs of the SAT on other threads.

215

@CathJR Another thread was started in this forum. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1961046-old-sat-scores-compared-to-redesigned-sat-scores.html

216

Well, I am a mod, and I agree. Let’s keep the discussion to the original topic, please.

217

Union College article provides some information for applicants but not enough to calculate an admissions rate yet.
https://www.union.edu/news/stories/2017/02/applications-to-union-hit-a-new-high.php

[quote]
Applications to Union hit a new high
February 10, 2017 |

A record number of students have applied to join Union’s Class of 2021, continuing a decade-long trend of those seeking admission to the College.

To date, Union has received 6,652 applications from some of the nation’s top high school students, a slight increase from last year’s 6,647. Last year marked the first time applications topped 6,000, an 11 percent increase over the year before.

The jump was fueled in part by a record 413 early decision applications, 47 more than a year ago. Students applying under early decision have made a commitment to attend Union if they are accepted.

Matt Malatesta ‘91, vice president for Admissions, Financial Aid and Enrollment, noted the 5 percent boost in women who applied early decision, to 47 percent of all early decision applicants.

Increases were also evident in international applications (24 percent versus 20) and those applying from outside the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states (39 percent versus 36).

The applicant pool represents 48 states and 106 countries.

Malatesta said there is no single factor driving the overall application surge. He pointed to a number of external recognitions that have helped raise the school’s visibility, including Union’s recent inclusion in the college guide, “The Hidden Ivies,” which highlights exceptional schools that offer a broad liberal arts education. Union was also among the Princeton Review’s list of colleges with the best return on investment, and USA Today’s College Guide ranked Union among the top five STEM schools for women.

The expected size of the Class of 2021 is 575 students.

Regular decision letters will be sent by April 1. Accepted students have until May 1 to commit.

The record number of applications comes at a time when the College remains committed to meeting the full financial need of all admitted students. The average need-based scholarship at Union is $32,500, and the average merit scholarship range from $10,000 to $20,000.

218

Since no schools have announced recently, the list has become buried in the thread. Also, NYU’s ED number was inaccurate because it mixed in ED2 applications, so I’m reposting without NYU:

MIT EA 657 out of 8394 (7.8%) (def=69.7%, rej=22.4%)
Georgetown EA 931 out of 7822 (11.9%)(def=88.1%)
Boston University ED2 ~274 out of 2039 (~13.4%)
Harvard SCEA 938 out of 6473 (14.5%)
Princeton SCEA 770 out of 5003 (15.4%)
Yale SCEA 871 out of 5086 (17.1%) (def=52.7%, rej=28.6%)
Rice ED 329 out of 1604 (20.5%)
Brown ED 695 out of 3170 (21.9%)(def=60%, rej=18%)
Georgia Tech EA (OOS) ~2300 out of 11,515 (~21%)
Penn ED 1354 out of 6147 (22.0%)
UVA EA (OOS) 3339 out of 14,968 (22.3%)
Carnegie Mellon ED 330 out of 1375 (24.0%)
Notre Dame REA 1470 out of 6020 (24.4%) (893 def=14.8%)
Duke ED 861 out of 3516 (24.5%)(def,671=19.1%)
Cornell ED ~1379 out of 5384 (25.6%)(def=20.9%, rej=53.5%)
Northwestern ED ~963 out of 3736 (~25.7%)
Dartmouth ED 555 out of 1999 (27.8%)
Georgia Tech EA (IS/OOS) 4380 out of 15,715 (27.9%)
Boston University ED1/ED2 ~1190 out of 4181 (~28.5%)
UVA EA (IS/OOS) 5914 out of 20,446 (28.9%)(def,5458=26.7%; rej,9074=44.4%)
Tulane EA 6480 out of 22,256 (29.1%)
Tufts ED1/ED2 ~675 out of 2310 (~29.2%)
Johns Hopkins ED 591 out of 1934 (30.6%)
Emory ED 474 out of 1493 (31.7%)
Boston College EA ~2900 out of 9000 (~33%)(def,3500=38.9%, rej,2500=27.8%)
Williams ED 257 out of 728 (35.3%)
Boston University ED1 916 out of 2142 (42.8%)
UVA EA (IS) 2575 out of 5278 (48.8%)
Fordham EA 9812 out of 19,859 (49.4%)
Georgia Tech EA (IS) ~2080 out of 4200 (~49%)
Middlebury ED1 343 out of 673 (51.0%) (def,60=8.9%, rej,270=40.1%)
William & Mary ED 528 out of 1023 (51.6%)
University of Georgia EA 8059 out of 15,614 (51.6%)
Fordham ED 156 out of 293 (53.2%)

219

Maroon article adds a bit of color to the UChicago ED admissions change, but no data:

https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/2/14/talked-class-2021-admits-new-early-decision-option/

220

Seems like UChicago is hyping ED pretty hard. Confusing for students, though, to have so many options in a single school. I guess this will allow for a higher yield, which may help on the image management front. https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/1/6/admissions-award-tour-guide-500-creative-way-fight/