Preliminary statistics for 2009 Admissions

xiggi · April 3, 2005, 4:39pm

When all the dust settles, the 2009 year will more than probably represent the most competitive year ever. It seems that most hyper-selective schools received more applications.

Here's a quick rundown of the schools that announced their numbers. The numbers are for total applications and admissions. Since it includes ED and EA numbers, the numbers for RD are much smaller.

Harvard: 22,796 - 2,074 - 9.10%
Yale: 19,448 - 1,880 - 9.67%
Princeton: 16,516 - 1,807 - 10.94%
Stanford: 20,194 - 2,412- 11.94%
Columbia College 15,790 (up 5%), accepted 1638 -- 10.4%
Columbia SEAS 2,330, accepted 612 -- 26.3%
MIT: 10,439 - 1,495 - 14.32%
Brown: 16,297 - 2,463 - 14.6%
Darmouth: 12,615 - 2,149 - 17.03%
Penn: 18,823 - 3,912 - 20.8% (ED 1,170 of 3,420) - Mean SAT 1434
Duke: 18,000 - 3,949 - 21.94%
Georgetown: 15,274 - 3,199 students accepted - 20.9% - SAT 1340-1520
Northwestern: 16,100 - 4,784 - 29.71%

Cornell N/A

Swarthmore: 4,085 apps, 900 accepted - 22%
Bowdoin - 5,026 applications, 1,221 acceptances - 24.3%
Davidson - 4257 applications, 1099 accepted - 25.8% - SAT: 1350-1490
Colgate - 8007 applications, 2127 acceptances - 26.6% 
Vassar: 6314 applications; 1768 acceptances, 28%. 262 + 1506 RD
Vanderbilt 30%.

I haven't seen the numbers for most LAC, but I know that Pomona and Claremont McKenna hover around 20% (5000 applications for 1000 admissions/400 spots at Pomona and 3730 applications for 750 admissions/260 spots at CMC.)

Please do not hesitate to add details for other schools.

wish_it_was_april · April 3, 2005, 4:58pm

Xiggi, Thank you, but the librarian in me wants you to quote your sources. Did you assemble the data or find it somewhere? Thanks.

simba · April 3, 2005, 5:03pm

i think he assembled them, but they look good.

jym626 · April 3, 2005, 5:12pm

Do you think these numbers reflect the increased number of students applying, the increased number of schols to which many students apply or both???

xiggi · April 3, 2005, 6:09pm

Jym626, I think that the schools will start to "explain" the changes as we get closer to the summer. Harvard, for instance, has stated that the increase in application is a direct result of their more generous financial aid for lower income families.

I think that the growth in the number of qualified applicants was a contributing factor for the 2009 class. I believe that this trend will continue for another three years. Among the most selective schools, there are, however, schools that continue to see an attrition in the number of applications. So the growing demographics cannot account for all the growth.

Oh yes, for the librarian ...

Well, you see the pattern for the others ... :)

wish_it_was_april · April 3, 2005, 6:29pm

Thanks, Xiggi. Do you know what happens when an applicant is deferred EA or ED and gets in in April? Are they then counted as part of the % admitted RD? Are their odds in the RD round better or worse than for RD kids?

fireflyscout · April 3, 2005, 6:34pm

Bowdoin - 5,026 applications, 1,221 acceptances - 24.3%

slipstream99 · April 3, 2005, 6:53pm

the associate dean at Vanderbilt told me that their acceptance rate this year was about 30%.

jrpar · April 3, 2005, 6:55pm

Colgate - 8007 applications, 2127 acceptances (26.6%)

Xanatos · April 3, 2005, 7:31pm

I hate to nitpick, but according to the Dartmouth article that you quoted, D's admit rate was 16.8%, not 17.03%.

Tanstaafl · April 3, 2005, 7:56pm

Xiggi, since you're at CMC, can you shed some light on this?

At the admitted students site for Scripps, the welcome from the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid says, "Competition for admission was extraordinary this year, with approximately eight high powered applicants vying for each place in the first year class."

Now, unless I am completely hopeless at math, that would equal an acceptance rate of about 12.5% (!?), with approximately 1,600 applicants for 200 places. I can't find any other source on this year, but both collegeboard and princeton review place Scripps at a 49% acceptance rate.

This leaves two possiblities: someone's numbers are off, or Scripps had an incredible ( or horrible ;) ) acceptance rate this year. Thoughts?

anxiousmom · April 3, 2005, 8:02pm

Tanstaafl: Colleges offer more acceptances than places available because they know that many students will turn down their offer of admittance in favor of another college. The difference is acceptance rate vs. number of applicants per actual matriculating student.

geena · April 3, 2005, 8:02pm

When colleges say that they have 8 applicants for each spot, they don't mean that they are accepting 1 out of 8. Depending on the college, they usually need to accept 2-4 (or more!) students for each spot and then wait to see which students accept their offer. So a school that ends up with 12.5 % of its applicants as freshmen may well have accepeted 30-40% of its applicants.

MotherOfTwo · April 3, 2005, 8:04pm

Many colleges put out statements like this - they are deceptive. They mean that eight times more people applied than will be in the freshman class. Like if the freshman class has 500 people and 4000 applied. But they leave out the fact that they have admitted 1600 people because only 500 will choose to go there out of the 1600. I know several people who have been fooled and impressed when their child gets a letter saying "Congratulations, you have been chosen out of more than 5000 applicants to be one of our entering class of 500 students!" or something similar.

Tanstaafl · April 3, 2005, 8:06pm

Ah, I see now. Thought it wasn't quite what it seemed! Thanks.

lotuswoman · April 3, 2005, 8:10pm

Vassar: 6314 applications; 1768 acceptances, 28%.
Of the acceptances, 262 were ED, 1506 were RD.
Source: Vassar College admitted students website

rExRuN467 · April 3, 2005, 8:11pm

wow..will this college admission frenzy ever become calm like dey used to? we shall find out. well in opinion, acceptances will become lower every year.

jaug1 · April 3, 2005, 8:29pm

Xiggi, just for clarification on the Stanford admissions, they actually accepted 2,412, not 2,142, which raises the admit rate to 11.9%.

KateLewis · April 6, 2005, 4:39pm

Xiggi -

I'll say it, since no one else did. Thanks for putting it all in one place.

mini · April 6, 2005, 4:43pm

How awful! All those unhappy kids and families. And when the selectivity at those "prestige" schools goes up at this point (law of diminishing returns) they don't gain a thing except more prestige points for turning more folks away.

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