In an admissions coup taking at least some by surprise in the Ivy League, Yale University came out on top this year as the Ancient Eight's most selective institution. With its all-time low acceptance rate of 9.9 percent of applicants for the Class of 2008, Yale beat out perennial favorite Harvard for the honor for the first time in recent memory.
Both schools made changes to their early application program for the Class of 2008, which likely contributed to the role reversal. Both schools shifted to a "single-choice Early Action" program this year. Like Early Decision, this program allows students to apply early to only one school, but, like Early Action, it does not bind them to that school if they are accepted.
For Yale, the change to "single-choice Early Action" represented a move away from a more restrictive Early Decision program. The switch resulted in a 55 percent increase in early applications last year, with 4,046 students applying for early admission. That spike alone was enough to increase total applications by 10 percent and to drive down the admit rate.
Harvard's change had the exact opposite result. Harvard moved away from a more lenient Early Action program that was non-binding and did not limit the number of schools applied to early. This change resulted in early applications being cut in half and an overall decrease in applications from last year's 20,000-plus record. Last year, Harvard's acceptance rate was a mere 9.8 percent; this year it went back into double-digits, accepting 10.3 percent of applicants.
The flip-flop represents the first time in at least a decade that Yale has come out on top -- or in this case, on the bottom -- of the historic acceptance rate rivalry.
Yale Dean of Admissions Richard Shaw told the Yale Daily News that Yale has not had a lower acceptance rate than Harvard in his 11 years as Dean of Admissions. Meanwhile, Harvard Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons told The Crimson that he did not have records comparing the two schools.
"We don't really compare acceptance rates and things like that," Fitzsimmons said. However, he noted that "Yale has a class of around 1,300 [to] 1,400, so they are of course going to go out with fewer admits."
But the fight is not over -- it is merely entering its next round. The schools must now compete with many other selective schools for the students they accepted. Many received acceptance at multiple institutions -- some at both Yale and Harvard.
"If we go head-to-head with the students admitted to both schools, we want to win the kid," Shaw said.
Around the Ivy League
While Yale and Harvard may be the top dogs of this year's competitive admissions season, the rest of the Ivy League was not far behind. Dartmouth's 18.3 percent acceptance rate placed it sixth in the Ivy League and undoubtedly in the top-ten nationwide.
Princeton, meanwhile, had the third-lowest acceptance rate in the Ivy League with 11.9 percent. The impressively-low acceptance rate may still be a bit of a disappointment for the Tigers after a record-low 9.9 percent last year that placed them just one-tenth of a percent behind Harvard.
Rounding out the top five were Columbia and Brown with 12.8 percent and 15.8 percent respectively. The University of Pennsylvania and Cornell brought up the rear. Penn accepted 21 percent of their applicants while Cornell has not yet released their numbers, but should have an acceptance rate in the low-20s.
Penn's acceptance rate was just over last year's rate of 20.4 percent, and was a result of a "slightly smaller, but stronger applicant pool," according to Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson.
That sentiment was repeated throughout. Dartmouth saw a 15-point increase in the mean SAT score of accepted students, which reached an all-time high of 1457. All the other schools contacted also reported a significant and impressive increase. Penn reported a mean score of 1431, up seven from last year's average. Princeton had over 7,400 applicants with SAT scores over 1,400 and 4,500 applicants with 4.0 GPAs. Brown had an estimated mean SAT score of 1450.
Diversity seems to be on the rise, although some schools, including Dartmouth, saw a slight decrease in students of color. Down 2 percent from last year, 36.2 percent of Dartmouth acceptances were students of color. Yale had the highest percentage with 42 percent, and Columbia the lowest with 30 percent. Penn's 37 percent minority acceptance was up 2 to 3 percent, and that seemed to be common at most other schools.
With numbers from just half of the Ivies, it appears as though Dartmouth is at the bottom in terms of international student acceptances. Just 7.7 percent of Dartmouth's acceptance came from abroad, compared to eight percent at Yale, 9.2 percent at Princeton, and 10 percent at Brown.
But acceptance numbers aside, the breakdown of those who enroll now lies out of the hands of the admissions office. The universal decision deadline for students to notify colleges of their intention to enroll is May 1, making April a busy month at all colleges who will be hosting accepted students.
