Top Colleges Report Record Low Rates of Admission

Harvard accepts just 7% of applicants

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 1, 2008 3:01 PM CDT

(Newser) – Acceptance letters from the nation's top colleges will begin to arrive on prospective students' doorsteps today, but far more rejection letters are in the mail than ever before, reports the New York Times. Harvard and Yale accepted only 7.1% and 8.3% of applicants, respectively, both record lows as schools struggle with changing demographics.

Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, and Bowdoin also saw record lows in acceptance rates as the number of applicants swelled. Part of the increase is high school classes that have been increasing in size for 15 years. The convenience of online applications, aggressive recruiting, increased financial aid packages, and a rise in the number of applications filed by individual students also contributed to the record numbers.

Jason Lee, 21, president of the Harvard Black Students Association, poses in front of the Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, Monday, April 23, 2007 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

Harvard's Memorial Hall is seen in this undated file photo. ((c) Paul Keleher)

Sophomore Sarah Weiss, a Political Science and History major at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut is photographed at the East Gate entrance to Yale's Old Campus. (KRT Photos)

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Students Revolt Against Big Bank Recruiting

Protests spread across Ivy League campuses

Top Colleges Steer Grads Away from Wall Street

Students, staff encourage grads to expand horizons

New College Rankings: An Ivy Deadheat

Harvard, Princeton top universities list

Ivy League Offers False Hope to Kids It Won't Accept

Elite universities profit from acting interested in unqualified students

Harvard Applications Up 50% in 4 Years

School sees 50% jump in applications over 4 years

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