Early Action and Early Decision Acceptance Rates 2022-2023

Padya Paramita

Early Action and Early Decision Acceptance Rates 2022-2023

We’ve arrived at that fateful time—it’s nearly the end of December and almost all top colleges have started notifying students whether they’ve been accepted, denied, or deferred in the early application round. You might be curious about what the early action and early decision acceptance rates 2022-2023 look like for the Class of 2027. As the numbers start to become publicized, it can help to take a look at each of them side-by-side to get a sense of the selectivity across the highest-ranked schools this year. 

For a lot of institutions, the early round is when a big portion of the class starts to take shape. And it’s only going to get tougher from here. If you’re applying early decision II, in the regular decision round, or even next year, reviewing these numbers can give you an impression of what to expect. Regardless of which stage you’re at currently in your process, take note of some of the top schools’ early action and early decision acceptance rates 2022-2023, alongside how they were last year, and what the data and trends look like for top colleges.

Early Action and Early Decision Acceptance Rates at Top Schools 2022-2023

School Early Round Acceptance Rate 2022-2023
MIT 5.7%
Harvard 7.6%
Yale 10%
Brown 12.98%
Notre Dame 15.2%
Duke 16.5%
Dartmouth 19%
Vanderbilt 24.1%
Barnard 25%
Williams 27.04%
Boston College 30%
UVA ED: 31.11%
Wash U St. Louis 35%
Emory 37.1%

These admit numbers shown by the EA and early decision acceptance rates 2022-2023 fall among some of the lowest in history. This comes after a couple of cycles where we saw a huge fall in acceptance rates after many colleges received record numbers of applications in the 2020-2021 cycle, the first after the arrival of COVID-19 to the landscape. While MIT and Vanderbilt for example accepted a higher percentage of students this year early than last, almost every other school has experienced record-breaking early acceptance lows. Students have continued to take advantage of the majority test optional policies and applied to top colleges. In the table below you will find the acceptance rates from the past two cycles as well, so that you can compare how the numbers have fared.

How the Numbers Compare to Previous Years

School Early Round Acceptance Rate 2022-2023 Early Round Acceptance Rate 2021-2022 Early Round Acceptance Rate 2020-2021
MIT 5.7% 4.7% 4.8%
Harvard 7.6% 7.9% 7.4%
Yale 10% 10.9% 10.5%
Brown 12.98% 14.6% 15.9%
UPenn Undisclosed 15.6% 15.9%
Notre Dame 15.2% 17% 21.6%
Dartmouth 19% 20.1% 21.2%
Duke 16.5% 21% 17%
Vanderbilt 24.1% 17.6% 18.1%
UVA 31.1% (ED) 31.6% (ED) 33% (ED)

As you can see, the changes in acceptance rates are primarily towards decreases. Even if a college has become less selective, the difference isn’t too palpable—for example Emory’s acceptance rate has only increased to 36.5% from 37.1% while MIT’s has increased from 4.7% to 5.7%. The early action and early decision acceptance rates 2022-2023 have actually gone down at most schools, including Harvard, Brown, Yale, and Duke.

Early Action and Early Decision 2022-2023: Admissions Trends

Application Numbers are Up

Vying for a place at the top colleges have remained competitive, as they will receive thousands of applications during the regular decision round. Due to the continued pandemic, the number of early action and early decision applications has been booming. Dartmouth had a record-breaking pool of 3,009 early decision applicants, compared to 2,633 last year. Meanwhile, Yale received 7,777 single-choice early action applicants this year, which is up from last year’s 7,288. 9,553 candidates applied to Harvard last year, whereas the Cambridge school’s REA plan saw 9,406 candidates in the 2022-2023 cycle.

More Colleges Continue to Withhold Data

Princeton joined Columbia, Stanford and Cornell last year in keeping its early action and early decision acceptance rates under wraps—and continues to do so. This year, University of Pennsylvania has made a similar decision. According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, “Over 8,000 students applied to Penn through the Early Decision Program this year — an increase from last year’s 7,795 applicants and the largest early decision applicant pool in its history. Penn did not disclose the acceptance rate, continuing its decision to withhold detailed admissions results immediately. Last year, 15.6% of early decision applicants were admitted to the Class of 2026, but the University opted not to release the acceptance rate for regular decision applicants.”

Admissions Trends By School

MIT

Despite falling from last year’s ED acceptance rate, MIT’s numbers continued to be the most competitive among the early action and early decision acceptance rates 2022-2023. This year, 11,924 students applied early to the MIT Class of 2027. 685 applicants got admitted, 2,815 students got rejected, and 7,892 applicants got deferred. Last year, 14,781 students applied for early admission.

Harvard

Harvard admitted 722 students out of a pool of 9,553 who applied early action. Last year, Harvard admitted 740 of 9,406 early applicants to join the Class of 2026 in its early action round. This is Harvard’s second biggest early applicant pool, up from 9,406 for the Class of 2026 but still slightly below the 10,086 students who applied for early admission to Harvard’s Class of 2025, the first post-pandemic year.

Yale

Yale has offered admission to 776 applicants for the Class of 2027 through its early action program. Among the other early action applicants, 21% were deferred for reconsideration in the spring, 67% were denied admission, and 2% were withdrawn or incomplete. Last year Yale accepted 800 students out of 7,288 applicants

Duke

According to the Duke Chronicle, “There were 4,855 Early Decision applicants, the second highest number in Duke's history, which brought the Early Decision acceptance rate to a record low 16.5%.” Last year, Duke admitted 855 students to the Class of 2026 through the early decision application cycle. Therefore, this year’s rate represents a 4.5% decrease from the 21% acceptance rate for the Class of 2026. The Class of 2025 had an Early Decision acceptance rate of 17%, the second lowest in University history. 

Brown

Brown University accepted 879 students to the class of 2027 from a pool of 6,770 early decision applicants. Last year, the school accepted 896 students to the class of 2026 from a pool of 6,146 early decision applicants. According to the Brown Daily Herald, “Accepting approximately 13% of early applicants, the University set its lowest-ever acceptance rate in the early decision program for the fifth year in a row. Roughly 1,286 students — 19% of early decision applicants  — were deferred, and will receive decisions from the University along with regular decision applicants on March 30.”

Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the early action and early decision acceptance rates 2022-2023 and admissions trends at some of the most prestigious colleges and universities, make sure that the schools on your list are still a suitable fit for you if you’re still applying. As you take the final steps in revising your essays and updating your activities list, use the data to your advantage and make the decision that’s best for you. Good luck!

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