College Acceptance Rates: Class of 2030 and 2029 at 37 Selective Colleges

April 13, 2026

Public flagship university campus representing the complete admissions guide to UT Austin, the University of Texas at Austin, with a 22% acceptance rate for the Class of 2029.

TL;DR: Among the 37 selective colleges in this guide, Harvard has the lowest acceptance rate of those that have posted Class of 2030 figures, at 3.7% (2,037 of 55,104), followed by Princeton at 4.1%, Columbia at 4.2%, Yale at 4.4% and Vanderbilt at 4.6%, by our calculation from each college’s own counts (Yale states its rate). Stanford, Caltech and MIT have not posted Class of 2030 counts; for the class that entered in fall 2025, Stanford and Caltech admitted 3.8% and MIT 4.6%. Of the 15 colleges with comparable figures for both years, 11 admitted a smaller share for the Class of 2030 than for the Class of 2029 and 4 a larger one. To turn these rates into a balanced college list, schedule a consultation with Oriel Admissions.

What are the acceptance rates at selective colleges for the Class of 2030?

The table lists the most recent acceptance rate each college has published for the class that entered in fall 2026 (the Class of 2030), next to the rate for the class that entered in fall 2025 (the Class of 2029) from its Common Data Set (CDS) for 2025-26. Colleges are sorted by the latest rate available. Rates are by our calculation from the published counts unless the college states the rate itself. Penn is the one exception: it has not posted a Class of 2030 admit count, so its figure uses the admits its dean reported, as explained below the table.

College	Class of 2030 (fall 2026) rate	Class of 2029 (fall 2025) rate	Source
Harvard	3.7% (2,037 of 55,104)	4.2% (2,003 of 47,893)	Harvard admissions statistics
Caltech	Not posted	3.8% (428 of 11,285)	Class of 2029 figure: Caltech Common Data Set 2025-2026
Stanford	Not posted	3.8% (2,302 of 60,646)	Class of 2029 figure: Stanford Common Data Set 2025-2026
Princeton	4.1% (1,892 of 46,618)	4.4% (1,868 of 42,303)	Princeton profile (as of August 18, 2026)
Columbia	4.2% (2,585 of 61,031)	4.9% (2,946 of 59,611)	Columbia Class of 2030 Profile (as of August 22, 2026)
Yale	4.4% (stated by the college; 54,956 applications)	4.7% (2,387 of 50,264)	Yale College Class Profile, Fall 2026 (rate as Yale states it)
University of Chicago	Not posted	4.5% (2,039 of 45,533)	Class of 2029 figure: University of Chicago Common Data Set 2025-2026
MIT	Not posted	4.6% (1,334 of 29,281)	Class of 2029 figure: MIT Common Data Set 2025-2026
Vanderbilt	4.6% (2,519 of 54,792)	5.4% (2,593 of 48,196)	Vanderbilt admissions profile
Duke	4.7% (2,930 of 61,935), decision-day count	5.2% (2,910 of 55,541)	Duke Today, March 31, 2026
Brown	5.6% (2,687 of 47,944)	6.3% (2,710 of 42,774)	Brown admission numbers (September 2026)
Northeastern	Not posted	5.6% (5,920 of 105,256)	Class of 2029 figure: Northeastern Common Data Set 2025-2026
Dartmouth	5.8% (1,687 of 28,863), decision-day count	6.0% (1,699 of 28,230)	Dartmouth News, March 30, 2026
Penn	About 5.8% (reported admits)	4.9% (3,570 of 72,544)	Penn incoming class profile (61,264 applications); admits as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer
Johns Hopkins	Not posted	6.1% (3,072 of 50,259)	Class of 2029 figure: Johns Hopkins Common Data Set 2025-2026
Bowdoin	6.5% (962 of 14,727)	Not found	Bowdoin Class of 2030 at a glance
Amherst	6.8% (1,209 of 17,786)	7.7% (1,222 of 15,819)	Amherst Class of 2030 profile
Northwestern	Approximately 7% (stated by the college)	7.5% (3,933 of 52,676)	Northwestern admission decisions FAQ (“Approximately 7%”)
Swarthmore	7.4% (969 of 13,029)	Not found	Swarthmore by the numbers
Rice	Not posted	8.0% (2,948 of 36,791)	Class of 2029 figure: Rice Common Data Set 2025-2026
Williams	Not posted	8.6% (1,336 of 15,520)	Class of 2029 figure: Williams Common Data Set 2025-2026
Emory	9.0% (3,852 of 42,873), Emory College only	10.3% (3,869 of 37,561), whole university	Emory student profile, Emory College Class of 2030
Notre Dame	9% (stated by the college; 36,104 applications)	Not found	Notre Dame admissions class profile (“9% Admit Rate”)
NYU	Not posted	9.1% (10,340 of 114,125)	Class of 2029 figure: NYU Common Data Set 2025-2026
Cornell	9.2% (6,040 of 65,514)	8.4% (6,077 of 72,523), Factbook	Cornell University Factbook (updated September 1, 2026)
Claremont McKenna	Not posted	9.4% (655 of 6,939)	Class of 2029 figure: Claremont McKenna Common Data Set 2025-2026
UC Berkeley	10.5% (13,992 of 133,157)	11.4% (14,524 of 126,864)	UC Berkeley student profile (data as of 8/2026)
UCLA	10.8% (15,903 of 146,672), preliminary	9.4% (13,659 of 145,085), UCLA profile	UC Office of the President admissions fact sheet (preliminary, offers as of June 17, 2026); applications: UC preliminary applications, Table 1a
Carnegie Mellon	Not posted	11.1% (3,859 of 34,867)	Class of 2029 figure: Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set 2025-2026
WashU	12.2% (4,057 of 33,214)	11.9% (3,968 of 33,283)	WashU Class of 2030 profile
USC	12.6% (10,006 of 79,331)	11.2% (9,345 of 83,488)	USC first-year student profile, fall 2026
Georgia Tech	12.8% (8,715 of 67,985)	13.3% (8,921 of 66,881)	Georgia Tech 2026 first-year admitted profile
Harvey Mudd	13.2% (654 of 4,971)	Not found	Harvey Mudd Class of 2030 profile
Georgetown	Not posted	13.5% (3,618 of 26,822)	Class of 2029 figure: Georgetown Common Data Set 2025-2026
Tulane	Not posted	14.5% (4,763 of 32,942)	Class of 2029 figure: Tulane Common Data Set 2025-2026
Michigan	16.1% (17,495 of 108,774)	16.4% (17,915 of 109,112)	Michigan first-year class profile (9/29/2026)
UNC Chapel Hill	Not posted	16.7% (12,751 of 76,247)	Class of 2029 figure: UNC Chapel Hill Common Data Set 2025-2026

Class of 2029 figures: each college’s Common Data Set 2025-2026, item C1 (admits of first-year applicants), except Cornell (University Factbook) and UCLA (first-year profile). “Not posted” means we found no official Class of 2030 count on the college’s own pages, and “Not found” means we could not verify a Class of 2029 figure from the college’s Common Data Set. Duke and Dartmouth figures are the counts announced on decision day, and UCLA figures are preliminary. Later counts can include students admitted from the waitlist; Harvard says its admitted count includes them (103 for the Class of 2030). Yale admitted 2,328 of 54,919 applicants (4.2%) at decision time, according to Yale News, and its class profile later stated 4.4%. Emory’s Class of 2030 figure covers Emory College only, while its Class of 2029 figure covers the whole university, so the two are not comparable. Northwestern and Notre Dame state rounded rates. Penn has posted applications but no admit count; its dean reported 3,575 admits to the trustees, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Which colleges have the lowest acceptance rates?

Among colleges that have posted Class of 2030 figures, Harvard is lowest at 3.7%, then Princeton (4.1%), Columbia (4.2%), Yale (4.4%) and Vanderbilt (4.6%). Duke (4.7%, by its decision-day count) is the only other college in this guide below 5% for the Class of 2030. Stanford and Caltech, which each admitted 3.8% for fall 2025, and MIT, which admitted 4.6%, have not posted Class of 2030 counts, and neither has UChicago (4.5% for fall 2025). Penn admitted 4.9% for fall 2025; for the Class of 2030 it has posted applications but not admits, and the count its dean reported would put it at about 5.8%. Our guide to the most competitive colleges ranks the most selective schools, and our guide to Ivy League acceptance rates covers the eight Ivies in detail.

Did college acceptance rates fall for the Class of 2030?

At most colleges that have published both years, yes. Of the 15 colleges in this guide with a Class of 2030 count and a comparable Class of 2029 figure, 11 admitted a smaller share for the Class of 2030 (Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech and Michigan) and 4 a larger one (Cornell, UCLA, WashU and USC). Penn, Yale, Emory and Northwestern are left out of this count: Penn because its Class of 2030 admits are reported rather than posted, Yale and Northwestern because their latest figures are stated rates rather than admit counts, and Emory because its two figures cover different parts of the university. The Duke and Dartmouth counts are from decision day, and the UCLA count is preliminary. These comparisons set a figure published during or after the 2026 cycle against a Common Data Set figure taken at the end of the 2025 cycle, so small changes can reflect timing as well as selectivity. The counts show what changed, not why, and we do not attribute the changes to any single cause.

How do public universities compare?

The public universities in this guide admit a larger share of applicants than the most selective private colleges, but their overall rates mix in-state and out-of-state applicants. For the Class of 2030, UC Berkeley admitted 10.5% (its student profile, data as of August 2026), UCLA 10.8% (preliminary offers as of June 17, 2026, according to the UC Office of the President), Georgia Tech 12.8% and Michigan 16.1%; UNC Chapel Hill admitted 16.7% for fall 2025. In our experience, the rate for out-of-state applicants at these universities is the more useful figure for a student applying from another state. Our guide to UNC Chapel Hill out-of-state admission shows how much that split can matter.

How do liberal arts colleges compare?

By the figures in this guide, the most selective liberal arts colleges admit at rates similar to many large research universities. For the Class of 2030, Bowdoin admitted 6.5%, Amherst 6.8%, Swarthmore 7.4% and Harvey Mudd 13.2%; for fall 2025, Williams admitted 8.6% and Claremont McKenna 9.4%. These colleges receive far fewer applications than the large universities (Amherst 17,786 and Bowdoin 14,727 for the Class of 2030, against 55,104 at Harvard), so a small change in admits moves the rate more. Our guide to Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore compares three of them.

Why do acceptance rates for the same college differ by source?

Three reasons. First, timing: Yale, Columbia and Brown announced Class of 2030 counts on decision day in March 2026 and later published different figures. Columbia announced 2,581 admits and its class profile later listed 2,585; Brown announced 2,564 admits from 47,937 applications and later posted 2,687 of 47,944; Yale admitted 2,328 of 54,919 (4.2%), and its class profile later stated 4.4%. Harvard says its count includes students admitted from the waitlist. So the same class can have two official rates. Second, coverage: some figures cover only part of a university, such as Emory College or Columbia College and Columbia Engineering. Third, method: the Common Data Set counts first-year applicants and admits on fixed definitions, while press releases and profiles may round, use preliminary counts or state a rate without the counts behind it. In this guide, every rate carries its source, and we use the latest official figure each college has published, except for Penn, as explained above.

How should families use acceptance rates to build a college list?

The view of Oriel Admissions is that an acceptance rate describes a whole applicant pool, not the chances of any one student, and that every college below about 10% in this table should be treated as a reach for nearly every applicant. In our view, the more useful questions are how a college fills its class (in our experience, many of these colleges fill a large share of it through binding Early Decision), whether the student’s testing fits the college’s policy for fall 2027, and how the college treats financial need. A balanced list includes colleges across a range of rates, with several where the student’s record is well above the typical admitted profile. Our guide to Early Decision acceptance rates shows how much the early round differs, and our admission statistics for the top 25 colleges add test score ranges.

Frequently Asked Questions About College Acceptance Rates

What college has the lowest acceptance rate for the Class of 2030?

Among colleges that have posted Class of 2030 figures, Harvard is lowest at 3.7%, admitting 2,037 of 55,104 applicants. Stanford and Caltech, which admitted 3.8% for fall 2025, have not posted Class of 2030 counts.

Which colleges have acceptance rates below 5%?

For the Class of 2030, Harvard (3.7%), Princeton (4.1%), Columbia (4.2%), Yale (4.4%), Vanderbilt (4.6%) and Duke (4.7%), by our calculation from the counts each college published, except Yale, which states its rate. For fall 2025, Stanford, Caltech, UChicago, MIT and Penn were also below 5%.

What are the Ivy League acceptance rates for the Class of 2030?

Harvard 3.7%, Princeton 4.1%, Columbia 4.2%, Yale 4.4%, Brown 5.6%, Dartmouth 5.8% and Cornell 9.2%. Penn has not posted an admit count. Its dean reported 3,575 admits to the trustees, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which would be about 5.8% by our calculation.

Which selective colleges have acceptance rates above 10%?

In this guide, UC Berkeley (10.5%), UCLA (10.8%), WashU (12.2%), USC (12.6%), Georgia Tech (12.8%), Harvey Mudd (13.2%) and Michigan (16.1%) for the Class of 2030, and Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Tulane and UNC Chapel Hill for fall 2025.

Did acceptance rates go down for the Class of 2030?

At most colleges that published both years. Of 15 colleges with comparable figures, 11 admitted a smaller share for the Class of 2030 and 4 a larger one.

Where do these acceptance rates come from?

Each rate comes from the college itself: its Common Data Set, admissions statistics page, class profile or official announcement. The one exception is Penn, whose Class of 2030 admit count comes from a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Rates are by our calculation from the published counts unless the college states the rate.

Why does Penn not have an official Class of 2030 acceptance rate?

Penn has posted 61,264 applications on its incoming class profile but no admit count. The Penn dean reported 3,575 admits to the trustees, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which would be about 5.8% by our calculation.

How should acceptance rates shape a college list?

Oriel Admissions suggests treating every college below about 10% as a reach for nearly every applicant, comparing early plans, testing and aid policies, and building a balanced list across a range of rates.

About Oriel Admissions

Oriel Admissions is a college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy, with offices in Princeton, New Jersey and New York. Our team pairs deep admissions expertise with a distinctive 360 approach spanning academic planning, extracurricular strategy, essays and application execution. To discuss your strategy, schedule a consultation.