It has always been difficult to get into the Ivies, but the pandemic has made it even harder to get into schools. With many U.S. colleges opting to make SAT or ACT scores optional over the past two years, the number of applications has increased, leading to low acceptance rates.
The eight Ivy League universities – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania and Yale – issued their admissions Thursday evening, with some reporting the lowest admission rates in their history. .
Harvard’s acceptance rate dropped to 3.19%, the lowest since it was founded 386 years ago, as a record number of applicants applied for places in the 2026 promotion, according to the student newspaper The Harvard Crimson. Yale and Brown also recorded record low acceptance rates, while Columbia did not change Acceptance rate of 3.7% last year, which was a historic low at the time. Dartmouth’s 6.24% rate rose slightly from last year.
According to the Wall Street Journal, three Ivy League schools chose not to share their acceptance rates because they want to minimize their selectivity. But it’s not just these elite universities that are harder to get into than ever. Many U.S. universities this year have reported low acceptance rates after switching to optional trial policies during the pandemic that opened the door to a larger group of applicants.
“Students who normally self-select outside of the admissions group would look at the average SAT score and would not apply, these children apply,” said Michelle McAnaney, president of The College’s counseling firm. Spy on CBS MoneyWatch.
A new report finds that major colleges and universities do not treat men’s and women’s sports equally.
03:20
He added: “They are level A students who are taking difficult classes and are performing well,” but who may not score well on the standardized tests. “They’re putting the hat in the ring.”
McAnaney said some independent education consultants are also seeing a higher proportion of applicants on the waiting list this year, which could indicate that colleges are struggling to assess their “performance” or percentage of students. admitted students who will end up accepting a place in their place. first year class.
“For students, it keeps them hanging,” he said. “The most selective schools are even more selective than they were.”
It’s a topic that goes beyond Ivy League schools. Other universities that have recorded record low acceptance rates this year include Rice University (8.56%) and Tufts (9%). Many universities also reported a record number of applications, from the University of Virginia to the University of Pittsburgh.
Returning to the SAT
At least one prestigious university is abandoning optional test policies after testing this approach during the pandemic, when it was difficult for many students to schedule SAT or ACT exams amid COVID-related cancellations and interruptions.
On March 28, MIT said it would again require SAT or ACT scores, noting that the tests help the university identify whether applicants are academically prepared.
The tests “also help us identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who do not have access to advanced courses or other enrichment opportunities that would otherwise demonstrate their readiness for MIT,” MIT’s dean of admissions wrote. Stu Schmill, in a blog post about the decision. “We believe a requirement is more equitable and transparent than an optional test policy.”
Other universities are expanding their optional testing policies, such as Boston University, or are eliminating testing from their admissions process. The 10 schools at the University of California said last year that they would no longer use SAT and ACT scores in their admissions process. In February, the school said it had a record number of applicants for the 2022-2023 school year, adding that it saw a sharp increase in socioeconomic diversity.
Overall, the admissions process is still intense for students and their families, but McAnaney noted that most U.S. universities accept the majority of students who apply.
“The problem is that people are looking at the rankings, the same universities in the top 30 to 50, and they’re thinking about all those universities,” he said. “If you look outside of them, there are wonderful hidden gems.”
- In:
- Columbia University
- Harvard
- Dartmouth College
Add Comment