Class of 2028 Acceptance Rates for Top Schools

The college admissions process continues to be intensely competitive, with the class of 2028 facing particularly challenging application pools. This year, many universities reported record-high numbers of applications, making the selection process more rigorous than ever.

As top institutions like Stanford, Harvard, and UCLA experienced unprecedented applicant volumes, prospective students found themselves vying for limited spots in a highly competitive environment.

This surge in applications has resulted in lower admission rates and a more selective process, underscoring the increasing difficulty of gaining acceptance to these esteemed schools.

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With the final admission offers for the Class of 2028 now distributed by most top universities, we have a clearer picture of the current competitive landscape and any notable shifts in trends.

Over the past decade, acceptance rates at Ivy League schools have generally trended downward, with the pandemic-driven shift to test-optional admissions further accelerating this decline.

For instance, acceptance rates at many Ivies have decreased by 30 to 50% during this period. Although there are signs that acceptance rates might be stabilizing, applicants aiming for elite schools still face significant challenges, with current rates at or near the lowest they've been in a decade.

It's also important to note that regular decision applicants often contend with even lower acceptance rates than the overall average. Conversely, early decision acceptance rates tend to be notably higher than both the overall and regular decision rates.

Let's examine the acceptance rates for this year's Class of 2028 at the country's top 50 schools.

Class of 2028 Acceptance Rates

• Princeton University: TBA
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 4.52%
• Harvard University: 3.59%
• Stanford University: TBA
• Yale University: 3.73%
• University of Pennsylvania: TBA
• California Institute of Technology: TBA
• Duke University: 5.15%
• Brown University: 5.16%
• Johns Hopkins University: 6.2%
• Northwestern University: 7.5%
• Columbia University: 3.85%
• Cornell University: TBA
• University of Chicago: TBA
• University of California, Berkeley: TBA
• University of California, Los Angeles: TBA
• Rice University: 7.51%
• Dartmouth College: 5.32%
• Vanderbilt University: 5.09%
• University of Notre Dame: 11.1%
• University of Michigan – Ann Arbor: TBA
• Georgetown University: 12.33%
• University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill: TBA
• Carnegie Mellon University: TBA
• Emory University: 14.49%
• University of Virginia: 16.38%
• Washington University – St. Louis: 11.43%
• University of California, Davis: TBA
• University of California, San Diego: TBA
• University of Florida: TBA
• University of Southern California: 9.2%
• University of Texas – Austin: 11% (excluding the 75% of automatic acceptances)
• Georgia Institute of Technology: 13.81%
• University of California, Irvine: TBA
• New York University: 8%
• University of California, Santa Barbara: TBA
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: 43.7%
• University of Wisconsin – Madison: TBA
• Boston College: 14.7%
• Rutgers University – New Brunswick: TBA
• Tufts University: 10%
• University of Washington – Seattle: 10%
• Boston University: TBA
• Ohio State University: TBA
• Purdue University: TBA
• University of Maryland – College Park: TBA
• Lehigh University: 25.35%
• Texas A&M University: TBA
• University of Georgia: 36.8%
• University of Rochester: TBA
• Virginia Tech: TBA
• Wake Forest University: TBA
• Case Western Reserve University: TBA

Do you want to be among the small percentage of students accepted to a top college?

Book a free consultation with an Academic Advisor to learn how Crimson can boost your chances of admission to the country’s best universities by over 675%!