Beyond the Acceptance Rate: What Matters Most in 2023

With record-high application volume and record-low admit rates, the Class of 2027 admissions statistics are similar to those for the Class of 2026. The major trends? More applications to top schools (driven by test-optional policies) and a clear commitment to a diverse incoming class.

But not everyone is smashing records. As reported in our March Madness: Class of 2027 College Admissions Edition post, Amherst, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, UCLA and UC Berkeley, among others, saw a slight drop in application volume.

Once again, UPenn, Stanford, Princeton and Cornell withheld admissions statistics for their newly formed Classes of 2027. We expect that this trend will continue and contribute to the problematic lack of transparency in college admissions.

At Top Tier Admissions, we believe that knowledge is power, so here’s the low-down on who was actually admitted to the Class of 2027 and how these accepted students reflect a college or university’s mission.

TTA Top Tip: Application Boot Camp® is a sure-fire path to scholarly depth, a wise application strategy and ultimately admittance. Our students increased their chances of admission by 5x even while acceptance rates dropped to record lows!

BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: THE VALUE OF A DIVERSE COMMUNITY

In May 2020, Yale joined 14 other universities in a joint statement asserting that “a diverse student body provides “irreplaceable value” to the quality of their students’ educational experience.” The statement goes on to state, “Diversity encourages students to question their own assumptions, to test received truths, and to appreciate the complexity of the modern world,” they state. “This larger understanding prepares [our] graduates to pursue innovation in every field, to be active and engaged citizens equipped to wrestle with the great questions of the day, and to expand humanity’s learning and accomplishment.” These important sentiments continue to resonate strongly with today’s admissions leaders at top universities around the country.

Recent articles on the newly admitted students to the Class of 2027 underscore the continued emphasis on assembling a diverse student body:

• At UPenn, admitted students collectively represent the most diverse group of admitted students in Penn’s history in terms of racial and ethnic background, socioeconomic diversity (including those who are eligible for Pell grants), and those who are the first generation in their family to attend a four-year college or university.
• At Caltech, 64% of admitted students are students of color and 17% are first generation college students.
• At Duke, 10% of admitted students are international students and 52% identify as students of color.
• 55% of admits to UVA are students of color, as compared to 52% last year.
• At Tufts, 57% of admitted U.S. students are students of color and international students comprise 11% of the admitted cohort. Women account for 52% of admitted engineering students.
• At Pomona, 62% of those admitted are domestic students of color and 14% are international students; 23% are first generation college students.
• At Georgetown, 53% of admitted students identified as Black, Hispanic, Latinx, Asian, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
• Dartmouth’s Lee Coffin, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid states, “The admitted cohort sustains the demographic highlights of recent classes…It is a cohort of individuals literally drawn from around the world—and from a rainbow of socioeconomic backgrounds, points of view, ethnicities, and geographies.”
• Colby notes that approximately 13% of admitted students are non-U.S. citizens. Among U.S. students, 48% identify as a person of color.

BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: DYNAMIC SCHOLARS

Here at Top Tier Admissions, one of our core advising tenets is that top schools seek scholars: students who willingly go above and beyond what’s required of them in their classes because they have a love of learning and boundless curiosity. Admissions officers look for a student’s academic niche: an interesting field or two; supported by courses, independent research, or projects that reflect an authentic curiosity.

We encourage our students to experiment, tinker, create, explore, and build. Their notable admissions successes each year underscore the importance of deep intellectual engagement. Notre Dame’s Vice President for Undergraduate Enrollment, Micki Kidder, states “There are a lot of intangibles that are really really important. You know, commitment to the mission. Right? How passionate are you about being a leader of character, educating the heart and the mind and going out being a means for good in this world? So how students respond and exhibit enthusiasm around that type of question [matters].”

Of those admitted to UPenn this year, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Whitney Soule states, “our admitted students shared examples of their intellectual enthusiasm and energy to explore socially and culturally. They wrote to us about how their everyday experiences connect to the classes they want to take at Penn, to the faculty whose work they admire, and to taking in the vibrancy of our home city of Philadelphia.”

Among those admitted to Johns Hopkins this year according to Ellen Chow, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions are:

• A high schooler who was selected for a college mission rocket-building team and is in the process of becoming a commercially licensed pilot
• A climate activist and photojournalist who partnered with the Korean government
• A co-founder and chief technology officer of a company that makes eco-friendly sanitary pads from dragon fruit peels

Beyond just a strong foundation in math, physics, and chemistry, Caltech sought students who demonstrated motivation, curiosity, resilience, and an eagerness to do hard work and to collaborate in an intense STEM academic environment.

According to the school, “The accepted applicants expressed a broad range of interests across fields of study, activities, and experiences, but share a strong commitment to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

Additional statistics paint a picture of the incoming class, including their depth of research experience:

“More than one-third of the students submitted a portfolio of creative and maker work, and 45 percent of the students included materials documenting their own past research. One-fifth of the class are scholar athletes who will have the opportunity to compete on one or more of the Institute’s Division III varsity athletic teams.”

BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: COMMUNITY-MINDED ACTIVISTS

“Everyone reading applications this year was struck by the academic quality of the applicant pool, but even more so by the students’ commitment to their classmates and their communities,” said Christoph Guttentag, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Duke.

He went on to state “the students demonstrated their values in both the community service they performed and their acts of kindness to each other.”

Kelley Lips, Assistant Vice Provost and Dean of Enrollment Services at Emory’s Oxford College said, “applicants to the Class of 2027 exhibited an inclination toward humanitarian efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic presented new issues in many communities, and a number of applicants volunteered to help those in need in a variety of ways.”

She also highlighted the importance of community activism and civic engagement:

“Their experiences have created a level of resilience, and we have seen examples over and over of students volunteering and becoming change agents in their communities,” says Lips. “The level of commitment and investment in their co-curriculars in addition to academics is impressive. Emory students have always been compassionate, but in the applications, I see a new confidence in their abilities to address complex issues in society. They are stars in the classroom and in the community.”

BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: THE VALUE OF WORK

Johns Hopkins notes that 93% of those admitted to the Class of 2027 held part-time jobs, internships, or summer jobs during high school. Almost 40% of students admitted to UPenn’s Class of 2026 worked during their time in high school, earning money to support themselves and their families. Additionally, many students took on significant responsibility at home by caring for younger siblings, grandparents or elderly neighbors.

BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: TO SUBMIT OR NOT TO SUBMIT

One of the most vexing questions for many seniors has revolved around the nearly ubiquitous test-optional shift. Students rightly wonder if those policies are applied evenly across the entire applicant pool. Anecdotal evidence from our seniors suggests that this may not always be the case. Now that availability to testing is more widespread, the test-optional admissions policies primarily benefit students from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds. With some schools reinstating test requirements (MIT) and others like Columbia University, the first Ivy League school to extend test-optional policies indefinitely, it’s no wonder students are left in a state of confusion.

According to The Daily Northwestern for NU’s Class of 2027, “The increases in selectivity are due in part to test-optional policies, which many colleges implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic for the class of 2025 as students struggled to find open standardized testing sites and faced other barriers to taking exams.” They go on to identify the value of these policies as a way to recruit low-income students: “According to a survey done by enrollment management firm Maguire Associates, these policies have also helped increase application numbers from low-income students and from students who belong to marginalized racial and ethnic groups.”

An excerpt from our Emory Acceptance Rate; How to Get Into Emory blog clearly highlights how important standardized testing can be. “The numbers speak for themselves: 64% of students admitted to Emory’s Class of 2027 reported SAT or ACT scores, slightly down from the 69% who submitted scores for the Class of 2026. And of the 36% who didn’t, more than half still supplied AP exam scores, which were factored into admissions decisions.”

BEYOND THE ACCEPTANCE RATE: TAKE ACTION EARLY

We know what admissions officers are looking for. But we also know it may feel overwhelming to read about the exceptional students who gained admission to top schools this year. By working with a Private Counselor, we can help you map out a four-year plan and identify clear steps to take action so you can reach your goals, without the stress.

Contact us today for thoughtful, personalized guidance as we make the selective college admissions process more transparent.