Understanding Yield Rates: Expert Insights for Your Admissions Strategy
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Class of 2028 Acceptance Results
Regular Decision Acceptance Rate
Early Action Acceptance Rate
Key Trends
Who gets into Yale?
As Ivy League schools send out their coveted admissions offers to Regular Decision applicants, Yale University remains one of the most competitive universities in the US. This year only 2,146 students are getting offers to join Yale's Class of 2028, out of an astounding 57,465 total applications. The resulting 3.7% overall acceptance rate marks Yale's lowest ever. The Early Action acceptance rate also dropped, to 9% from 10%, as did the Regular Decision acceptance rate, dropping to 2.75% from 3.5% a year ago.
Yale University has announced a record-low acceptance rate for first-year students admitted to the Class of 2028. The acceptance rate decrease marks a five-year trend, sinking to 3.7% (down 0.65% from last year), the lowest in the school's history and a strong affirmation of the increasing competition for admissions at the nation's top colleges and universities.
1,365 Regular Decision (RD) applicants received offers this year, out of 49,609 RD applicants, a decrease of 13.5% in the number of RD applicants admitted, compared to just one year ago, further evidence of how selective Yale's admissions process has become.
The RD round admits will join the 709 students who won admission in the Early Action round.
Overall, 57,465 hopeful young scholars applied to join as first-year admits to Yale in the Fall of 2024 (a robust increase of 10% compared to last year).
These overall figures comprise the 7,856 EA round applicants (up 1.4% from last year), in addition to the 49,609 RD applicants (an astonishing 11.3% increase from a year ago).
The EA round acceptance rate of 9% is an all-time low, but seems highly favorable in comparison to the overall acceptance rate of 3.7% (4.5% last year), and the dismal 2.75% RD round acceptance rate (down from 3.54% last year).
Number of Applications | Accepted Students | Acceptance Rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Regular Applications | 49,609 | 1,365 | 2.75% |
Early Applications | 7,856 | 709 | 9% |
Overall | 57,465 | 2,146 | 3.7% |
How does this year's shrinking overall acceptance rate fit into the larger admissions landscape at Yale University viewed over the past several years?
Last year's overall acceptance rate of 4.5% (Yale's Class of 2027) was a negligible drop from the prior year's 4.6% (Yale's Class of 2026). However, over the past ten years, the acceptance rate has trended downward steadily, often dropping a full half percent from one year to the next.
Over five years the overall acceptance rate has dropped from just above 6% on average to this year's all-time record low of 3.7%. Between 2013 and 2019, Yale's overall acceptance rate hovered in the 6-to-7% range but the statistic abruptly dropped to 5.3% for the Fall of 2021 (Class of 2025), the same year Yale instituted test-optional admissions. This drop was followed by a second notable decline in the subsequent year, down to 4.6% (Class of 2026).
In late June of 2023, the Supreme Court struck down race-based admissions policies, making the Class of 2028 race-blind in terms of admissions evaluations. For this reason, Yale officials announced they will need to complete all admissions steps before aggregating and releasing racial data about the Class of 2028.
In response to the the landmark Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Yale officials ramped up outreach and recruitment efforts in an effort Yale described as one intended to identify "exceptionally promising students of all backgrounds from across the nation and around the world." Decoupled from application reviews, the new hires in Yale's admissions office were free to focus on recruitment work, "even during the busy application reading season" said Moira Poe, Yale's Senior Associate Director of Strategic Priorities for admissions.
The outreach efforts, aimed, at least in part, according to Yale officials, at helping "students from underrepresented and historically excluded communities" chart a path to Yale, may have been another factor contributing to the this year's glut of applicants.
For those aspiring to apply to Yale in the coming years, it's also worth taking note of the shifting standardized testing landscape. Yale is reinstating testing requirements, adopting a 'test flexible' approach that goes into effect for the Class of 2029. Joining Yale's move away from test-optional admissions are other top schools — Dartmouth, Brown, and UT Austin — all three also reinstating SAT/ACT testing requirements for applicants beginning with the Class of 2029.
Will Yale's shift back to standardized testing reverse the dominant admissions trend?
Will the number of overall applicants decrease and acceptance rates increase?
It's reasonable to assume the end of test-optional admissions will impact Yale's admission statistics. Afterall, the year Yale adopted a test-optional admissions policy (for the Class of 2025), in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, applicant numbers jumped dramatically across both EA and RD rounds, rocketing up nearly 35% overall.
While some of this steep rise can be attributed to deferred admissions from COVID-related isolation, it seems certain the test-optional policy also had a sizeable impact.
As it reinstates testing requirements, albeit more flexible ones, Yale will likely experience some level of decrease in the number of applicants, perhaps boosting the overall acceptance rate, beginning with next year's in-coming class.
Overall statistics for Yale's Class of 2028 are marked by a historically low acceptance rate amid multifaceted change forces impacting the larger admissions landscape. All in all, however, this year's admissions numbers showcase the university's enduring commitment to selecting a diverse, talented, and dynamic cohort of first-year students.
The Regular Decision (RD) acceptance rate plummeted to 2.75% (from last year's 3.54%), the first drop below 3%.
RD applicants numbered 49,609, or 86.3% of the 57,465 total applicants for the Class of 2028, amounting to a steep 11.3% increase in the number of RD applicants compared to last year's figures.
Overall, RD applicants made up slightly more than 63.6% of all admitted students, a noteworthy 13.5% decline in RD admits when compared with last year's numbers.
Class of | RD Applications | RD Accepted | RD Acceptance Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2028 | 49,609 | 1,365 | 2.75% |
2027 | 44,559 | 1,578 | 3.54% |
2026 | 42,772 | 1,489 | 3.48% |
2025 | 39,481 | 1,672 | 4.23% |
2024 | 29,443 | 1,503 | 5.10% |
As the table shows, Yale has experienced a steep increase in RD applicants over five years, rising from 29,000 for the Class of 2024 to nearly 50,000 this year. A closer look, however, reveals much larger jumps in RD numbers for the Class of '25 and '28, but more incremental increases in other intervals, a reminder that admissions dynamics can be hard to predict from one year to the next.
Yale reported making admissions offers to 709 applicants who applied under the school's Early Action (EA) round. This figure represents a drop of 8.6% in the percentage of EA applicants who received offers, compared to last year.
The number of students applying under EA this year increased by 1.4% compared to last year, totaling 7,856 and yielding an EA acceptance rate of 9%.
In all, EA applications made up 13.7% of the total first-year applications Yale received for the Class of 2028.
While the EA acceptance rate statistic of 9% points to a very competitive admissions dynamic, even in the EA round, it's clearly an advantageous rate compared to the RD rate of 2.75%, and the overall rate of 3.7%.
In light of this kind of statistical advantage, our Admissions Advisors typically recommend students targeting Yale consider applying early, assuming the accelerated timeline doesn't prevent you from submitting a strong and thoroughly prepared application.
Class of | EA Applications | EA Accepted | EA Acceptance Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2028 | 7,856 | 709 | 9% |
2027 | 7,744 | 776 | 10% |
2026 | 7,288 | 800 | 11% |
2025 | 7,939 | 837 | 10.5% |
2024 | 5,777 | 796 | 13.8% |
Over the past five years students applying early to Yale have had favorable acceptance rates overall, and rates with smaller fluctuations from year to year. With this kind of steady advantage and acceptance rates that are appreciably higher than the painfully low rates for RD applicants, these data further attest to the potential benefits of applying EA if Yale is a top choice on your target list!
Yale University's acceptance rate accents just how daunting the admissions process can be at Ivy League schools. Let's take a look at some of the important trends and what they mean for prospective applicants.
Class of | Total Applications | Total Accepted | Total Acceptance Rate | RD Acceptance Rate | EA Acceptance Rate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2028 | 57,465 | 2,146 | 3.7% | 2.75% | 9% |
2027 | 52,303 | 2,354 | 4.5% | 3.54% | 10% |
2026 | 50,060 | 2,289 | 4.6% | 3.48% | 11% |
2025 | 47,420 | 2,509 | 5.3% | 4.23% | 10.5% |
2024 | 35,220 | 2,299 | 6.5% | 5.1% | 13.8% |
2023 | 36,844 | 2,241 | 6.1% | 4.69% | 13.2% |
2022 | 35,307 | 2,241 | 6.3% | 4.73% | 14.7% |
2021 | 32,914 | 2,288 | 7% | 5.09% | 17.1% |
2020 | 31,455 | 1,988 | 6.3% | 4.45% | 17.1% |
2019 | 30,236 | 2,034 | 6.7% | 5.02% | 16% |
These trends align with the broader landscape of college admissions at top universities and colleges today. Yale's reputation for excellence, it's high regard for pursuing student cohorts that are inclusive and high-achieving, and the clear advantage you might get by applying early, set some clear guideposts for those seeking to discern their chances for admissions to this world-class institution.
How I Got Into Yale and Oxford
It's clear that Yale has a high bar for admission, so students applying to the school will typically need to present a remarkable record of rigorous academic achievements and a profile with outstanding extracurriculars.
According to Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale's Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, “The diverse range of strengths, ambitions, and lived experiences in this year’s applicant pool was inspiring."
Yale's incoming students are also geographically very diverse, with students hailing from all 50 states and 62 different countries.
Yale's acceptance rates are lower now than ever, highlighting how challenging it has become to gain entry into top universities. In this highly competitive landscape, seeking guidance from experienced college admissions advisors can offer a significant advantage.
Advisors offer personalized support informed by experience and insight, taking chance and guesswork out of the application process and helping you:
Crimson Education has a track record of helping students achieve their admissions goals. This year alone, over 200 Crimson students were accepted to top US universities in the early round. Here's a breakdown of our early-round numbers:
Congratulations, Students! From Crimson Strategists
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