Vela Education is happy to report on US University Admissions Trends for the 2023-2024 Cycle! We hope highlighting these trends and developments in US university admissions will help students, families, and schools make the best decisions possible.

Standardized Testing: The pandemic ushered in test-optional pathways at most US universities. However, since it is now safe to test, many schools reviewed their test-optional pathways and have readopted standardized tests, the ACT and SAT, into their admissions process. Most notable, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth,Harvard, and Cornell have decided to require testing again! MIT and Dartmouth reinstituted testing requirements for this past admissions cycle.

However, many schools have decided to keep their test-optional policies! Columbia, Princeton, and Upenn have extended their test-optional policies. Also, highly selective small liberal arts colleges like Pomona, Wesleyan, Middlebury, and Colgate will remain test optional!  For more up to date information about test-optional US university admissions, we recommend Fairtest Org.

Admissions is Increasingly Selective: Though there were reports that Harvard actually saw a decrease in applications, this was not the norm for selective US universities.  Duke had a substantial increase in ED1 applications with an increase of 29%. Also, their Regular Decision Round applications rose 8%. This made it the most selective year at Duke with no indication this trend will stop. Also, Vanderbilt had another 13% increase in the number of applicants and its acceptance rate is now 5.1%–making it more selective than Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell.

Overall, acceptance rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels and though they are levelling out at schools like Harvard and Brown, these schools remain extremely selective.

Application Strategy Matters: Related to the above trend, applying Early Decision 1 or Early Decision 2 will provide students with a significant advantage! Many students ask me if it is worth applying Early Decision or should they try to keep their options open. The data suggests that not committing to a school may mean missing out on the best options. For example. Columbia as an RD acceptance rate of 2.95% but an ED acceptance rate of 11.9%. Another great example is Duke—which has an RD acceptance rate of 5.1% but and ED acceptance rate of 12.9%. Speak with a Vela Education advisor to learn more about how an early application strategy could help you receive an offer from your first-choice school.

Diverse Students Are Still Applying to College: After last summer’s SCOTUS decision which complicated how US colleges can evaluate an applicant’s race in the admissions review process, schools were worried that the applicant pool wouldn’t be diverse! However, this was the case. In fact, diversity increased across the board. According to the Common App’s annual data “Applicants identifying as an underrepresented minority race/ethnicity (URM)1 increased by 10% in 2023–24, with fastest growth for applicants identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native (12%), Latinx (10%) and Black or African American (9%).” This is great news for campus communities across the US.

At Vela Education we carefully review US university admissions trends to provide the most up-to-date and nuanced advice to students, families, and schools. If you would like to explore working with us, please reach out and schedule a strategic consultation.