By Innesia Ma'sumah
When applying to college, you will likely come across the college acceptance rate statistic. Colleges list profiles of admitted classes on their website with common information such as total applicants, acceptance rate, standardized test scores, class rank, and average high GPA - all of which impact the acceptance rate.
What are the factors that contribute to the acceptance rate?
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Prestige: The more prestigious a school seems, the greater desire to attend. This is why Ivy League schools receive more applications than some lesser-known schools.
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Pull factors (lower tuition, popular sports programs, etc.): A school with a certain reputation always attracts many applications. Different schools attract more applicants than any other school, whether it's generous financial aid or a party school reputation.
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Size: Smaller schools work with smaller numbers of students. This means that they will have competitive and low rates as well - since the students who applied and accepted are also small.
List of College Acceptance Rate
School |
Acceptance Rate |
Stanford University |
5% |
Princeton University |
5% |
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
6% |
Columbia University |
6% |
University of Pennsylvania |
9% |
Cornell University |
10% |
John Hopkins University |
11% |
Barnard College |
13% |
UCLA |
14% |
UC – Berkeley |
15% |
University of Southern California |
16% |
Tufts University |
16% |
Carnegie Mellon University |
17% |
Boston University |
20% |
Northeastern University |
20% |
New York University |
21% |
Boston College |
26% |
UC – Irvine |
29% |
UC – San Diego |
31% |
UC – Santa Barbara |
29% |
UC – Davis |
46% |
UC – Santa Cruz |
64% |
UC – Riverside |
65% |
UC – Merced |
84% |