Harvard College admission rate falls to 5.8 percent

Admissions rate edges down slightly—in Cambridge and throughout the Ivy League.

Harvard College announced Thursday that offers of admission to the class of 2017 had been sent to 2,029 students, 5.8 percent of the applicant pool of 35,023. During the prior admissions cycle, 2,032 prospective freshmen were offered places in the class of 2016—5.9 percent of 34,302 applicants.

The figures for both years reflect the resumption of early-action applications and admissions; because those applicants are considered highly likely to attend if admitted, the “yield” on offers of admission has risen compared to prior years, and so the number of offers has been decreased to assure that the freshman class is not over-enrolled.

For the class of 2017, some 895 early-action applicants were offered admission last December; 4,856 students filed early applications. (For the prior year, 774 of 4,228 early applicants were offered admission.) That means that the admission rate for applicants following the regular, spring calendar has fallen below 4 percent.

As The New York Times and Bloomberg reported, admissions rates almost universally headed in the same direction: downward. Columbia and Yale admitted less than 7 percent of applicants, and Princeton neared that threshold.

Read the College news announcement here.

You might also like

What of the Humble Pencil?

Review: At the Harvard Art Museums’ new exhibit, drawing takes center stage

At Harvard College Convocation, an Emphasis on Open-Mindedness

Garber, other leaders sidestep politics but welcome international students.

‘Passengers’ at A.R.T. Blends Acrobatics with Einstein’s Relativity

Review: Quantum mechanics meets circus arts at the American Repertory Theater’s performance

Most popular

Is the Constitution Broken?

Harvard legal scholars debate the state of our founding national document.

Paolo Pasco and the art of making crosswords

Paolo Pasco and the art of making crosswords

Harvard Research Funding Will Resume, Government Signals

Notices of grant reinstatements follow a court ruling, but the Trump administration could still appeal. 

Explore More From Current Issue

Whimsical illustration of students rushing through ornate campus gate from bus marked “Welcome New Students.”

Highlights from Harvard’s Past

The Medical School goes coed, University poet wins Nobel Prize. 

Brandon Terry, wearing a blue suit, standing before The Embrace, a large bronze sculpture of intertwined arms in Boston Common.

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

David McCord in suit reading a book at cluttered wooden desk in office filled with framed art and shelves.

The Pump Celebrates Its 85th Birthday

Giving Harvard traditions their due