Based on our research and discussions with directors/deans of admissions and admissions officers, regular decision applicants will be receiving their decision notifications in March and early April. It will be another highly competitive year!
Ivy League and highly selective colleges are already reporting a surge in regular decision applications. The reason for this dramatic increase is likely multifactorial. Perhaps, this is primarily because many students who took gap years and are now applying. Additionally, more international students are applying and the prestige and brand of elite colleges is more coveted in a market of uncertainty. Add to these facts many colleges have accelerated planned changes their standardized testing requirements since the start of the pandemic, which has encouraged more high school seniors to apply.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESULT? Harvard surged by 42% to 57,000 applicants, Brown surged by 26% to 46,469 applicants and Princeton surged by 15% to 37,000 applicants. The increase in applications has affected the highly competitive schools as well as the institutions that top students usually considered “safety schools”. NYU surged by 20% to 100,000 applicants, UCLA surged by 28% to 139,000 applicants and Colgate surged by 102% to 17,392 applicants (last year Colgate had 8,582 applicants).
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Within a month or so high school seniors will begin to discover, after all their hard work that they will be accepted, wait-listed or rejected. In this case, many will be rejected! Specifically, based on our projections, over 95% of students who applied to the Ivies will be rejected!
Here are regular decision notification dates (and approximate times) for Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities:
- Barnard College: Late March 2021
- Boston College: April 1, 2021
- Boston University: Late March 2021
- Brown University: April 6, 2021
- Bucknell University: April 1, 2021
- California Institute of Technology: Mid-March 2021
- Carnegie Mellon University: April 1, 2021
- Colgate University: Mid-March
- Columbia University: April 6, 2021
- Cornell University: April 6, 2021
- Dartmouth University: April 6, 2021
- Duke University: Late March, 2021
- Georgetown University: April 1, 2021
- Georgia Institute of Technology: Late March 2021
- Hamilton College: Late March 2021
- Harvard University: April 6, 2021
- Johns Hopkins University: April 1, 2021
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Mid-March 2021
- New York University: April 1, 2021
- Northwestern University: Late March 2021
- Princeton University: April 6, 2021
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: March 6, 2021
- Stanford University: April 9, 2021
- Swarthmore College: Mid-March 2021
- Tufts University: Mid-March 2021
- University of Chicago: Late March 2021
- University of Michigan: Early April 2021
- University of Notre Dame: Late March
- University of Pennsylvania: April 6, 2021
- University of Virginia: April 1, 2021
- Vanderbilt University: April 1, 2021
- Vassar College: Late March 2021
- Villanova University: Late March 2021
- Wesleyan University: Late March 2021
- Yale University: April 6, 2021
WHAT CAN YOU DO? For seniors, if you are rejected, you may want to begin to consider transferring (College Transfer Admissions Advisors). For current juniors, you may need to consider hiring an admissions expert who specializes in Ivy League admissions (Ivy League Admissions Advisors). Year after year, our clients are accepted to Ivy League and highly selective colleges and universities and BS/MD programs because they recognize the importance and the value that we add to their student profile… We are DIFFERENT and that makes us the BEST!
Please bookmark this blog. We will update decision dates as soon as we hear from schools!
“Being different and understanding differences allow me to help our clients stand out and be accepted!” – Dr. Paul Lowe
“Admissions is a competitive sport! Why gamble with uncertainty?” – Dr. Paul Lowe
“Parents hire us because they choose to pay an admissions expert who will help them avoid making mistakes.” – Dr. Paul Lowe
Dr. Paul Lowe - Admissions Expert 