Facts, figures and trends in admissions today

Percentage of colleges attributing considerable or
moderate importance to factors in the admission decision
NACAC Admissions Trends Survey, 2021

  • Grades 90% 90%
  • Curriculum Strength 84% 84%
  • SAT/ACT 83% 83%
  • Essay 56% 56%
  • Recommendations 55% 55%
  • Resume/Activities 49% 49%
  • Demonstrated Interest 40% 40%
  • AP/IB Scores 24% 24%
  • Interview 22% 22%
  • State graduation exam 14% 14%

%

UPenn’s acceptance rate in 1991 (compared to ~6% in 2023)

%

of admissions counselors consider an applicant's social media as "fair game" in evaluating their candidacy, according to a Kaplan survey

%

of Duke’s Class of 2027 was admitted through Early Decision

%

of athlete applications to Harvard College’s classes of 2014 through 2019 were accepted (compared to 6% overall during that time)

%

Brown

%

Columbia

%

Cornell

%

Dartmouth

%

Harvard

%

Princeton

%

UPenn

%

Yale

Unique essays required to apply to Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College

Annual cost of tuition & room/board at UChicago (highest in US)

Average number of minutes a college application file is reviewed, according to a Wall Street Journal Study

Applicants to UCLA for the fall of 2023 (most in US)