Table of Contents
In this post, we will take a closer look at what acceptance rate is, and what the acceptance rate at 11 popular universities in US is, so keep reading.
If you apply to college, you’ve probably seen some statistical data about the admission process for a college, whether it’s posted on a college website or printed in some college rankings. Colleges release some general details about their newly accepted students each year, typically including test scores, demographics, total applicants and acceptance rates. The acceptance rate can be a main focus among these statistics for high school students currently looking at colleges. Many students believe the acceptance rate is the clearest measure of selection criteria in a college. Newspaper and television headlines tell a tale of increasingly competitive college admissions, falling acceptance rates, and more and more selective elite schools. Almost every school in the Ivy League set a record low acceptance rate this year, with Harvard setting the bar low at just 5.2%.
What is acceptance rate?
The acceptance rate for a college is the rate at which applicants are accepted. It is calculated by dividing the number of students accepted by the number of applicants totaling.
For example, if College A has 100,000 applicants and 5,000 students are accepted, their acceptance rate is 5%. If College B has 10,000 applicants and 5,000 students are accepted as well, their acceptance rate is 50%. While both schools eventually accepted the same number of students, their acceptance rates are very different as College A received 10 times the applicants that College B did.
In fact, a super low acceptance rate doesn’t tell you much about a college other than that it usually gets far more applicants than it can accept. While this may be a marker of the student types that want to attend, it is not an accurate measure of the student types that graduate from such a school.
Acceptance Rate at 11 Popular Universities in US
Looking for colleges that are easy to get into and maybe a few reach schools? We’ve listed the acceptance rate at 11 popular universities in US that are easy to get into.
Boston College Acceptance Rate
Boston College (BC) is a Jesuit private research university located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, it is classified as “R1: Doctoral Universities – very high research activity,” but its name reflects its historical position as a small college of liberal arts. The university has over 9,300 full-time graduates, and almost 5,000 graduate students. Its main campus is a historic district and features some of North America’s earliest examples of gothic collegiate architecture.
Admissions to Boston College are very selective with a 28% acceptance rate. Students who enter Boston College have an average score of SAT between 1320-1490, or an average score of 31-34 ACT. Boston College regular application deadline for admissions is January 1.
Penn State Acceptance Rate
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Pennsylvania-wide public, land-grant, research university with campuses and facilities. Penn State was founded in 1855 as the Pennsylvania Farmers’ High School and conducts teaching, research , and public service. Its mission of instruction includes undergraduate, graduate, professional, and continuing education offered through resident instruction and online delivery. Annual enrollment totals more than 46,800 graduate and undergraduate students at the University Park campus, making it one of the largest universities in the United States.
Penn State admissions are selective with a 56% acceptance rate. In other words, 56 are admitted out of the 100 students who apply. This means the school is rather selective. You’re supposed to prepare your academic scores well, but if you impress them you have an excellent chance. Students who enter Penn State have an average score of SAT between 1160-1360 or an average score of ACT 25-30.
Northeastern Acceptance Rate
Northeastern is a highly rated private university located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a large institution with 13,864 graduate students enrolled. Admissions are competitive as the acceptance rate in the Northeast is 19%. Business, economics, and mechanical engineering are popular majors.
University of California-Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a Los Angeles-based public research university. UCLA traces its early origins back to 1882 as the southern branch of the California State Normal School (now San Jose State University). It became the University of California ‘s Southern Branch in 1919, making it the second-oldest of the 10-campus University of California system (after UC Berkeley), and the oldest of the campuses in Southern California.
It offers 337 bachelor and graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines. UCLA enrolls approximately 31,500 undergraduates and 12,800 graduate students and had 119,000 applicants for the fall of 2016, including applicants for transfer, making the school the most applied to any American university. However, admissions from the University of California-Los Angeles are most selective with a 14% acceptance rate. Half the applicants admitted to the University of California-Los Angeles has a score of SAT between 1270 and 1520 or 28 and 34 ACT.
Liberty University
Liberty University (LU) is a private Christian evangelical university, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is one of the world’s largest evangelical Christian universities, and one of the United States’ largest private, non-profit universities, measured by student enrollment. As of 2017, the university is enrolling over 15,000 students at its Lynchburg campus and over 94,000 students in online courses for a total of around 110,000 students. The school is composed of 17 colleges including a medical school and a law school.
Liberty University admissions is selective with an acceptance rate of 56%. Half the applicants admitted to Liberty University have an SAT score between 980 and 1180 or an ACT score of 21 and 29.
Stanford University
Stanford University was founded in 1885 and is a private institution. It has a total enrollment of 7,087 undergraduates, its setting is suburban and the size of the campus is 8,180 hectares. It uses an academic calendar, based on a quarter. The ranking of Stanford University in the Best Colleges year 2020 edition is National Universities, #6.
Admissions to Stanford University are most selective with a 4% acceptance rate. Half the applicants admitted to Stanford University have a score of SAT between 1420 and 1570 or a score of ACT between 32 and 35. A quarter of admitted applicants, however, achieved scores above these ranges and a quarter scored below those ranges.
USC Acceptance Rate
The University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, is a private research university. It was founded in 1880, and is California’s oldest private research university. For the fall 2020 semester, more than 9,500 students were offered admission to the USC; nearly 60,000 were applied with an acceptance rate of 16%.
Auburn University
Auburn University, in Auburn, Alabama, is a public research and land-grant university. With over 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of over 30 000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is Alabama’s second-largest university. It is one of two public flagship universities in the State. The school has a 75% acceptance rate, ranking it #16 for the lowest acceptance rate in Alabama.
University of Florida
The University of Florida is ranked second overall for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to African-Americans in the United States, and third overall for Hispanic. The university ranks fifth in the number of doctoral degrees given to African-Americans, and second overall for Hispanics, and third in the number of professional degrees given to African-Americans, and second overall for Hispanics.
On one adjacent campus, the university offers multiple graduate programs — including engineering , business, law, and medicine — and coordinates 123 master’s degree programs and 76 doctoral degree programs in 87 schools and departments.
It is a large institution with 32,209 graduate students enrolled. Admissions are fairly competitive as the acceptance rate for Florida is 39%. Half the applicants admitted to the University of Florida have a score of SAT between 1280 and 1440 or a score of ACT between 27 and 32.
University of Washington
Through its 140 departments, the University offers bachelor, master and doctoral degrees, which are themselves organized into different colleges and schools. It also continues to operate on campus a Transition School and Early Entrance Program which began first in 1977. Admissions from the University of Washington are selective with an acceptance rate of 49%. Students entering University of Washington have an average score of SAT between 1220-1460 or an average 27-32 ACT score.
Clemson University
Clemson University, in Clemson, South Carolina, is a public, land-grant research university. Clemson was founded in 1889 and is South Carolina’s second-largest university in student population. It is a large institution with 18,971 undergraduate students enrolled. Admissions are fairly competitive as the acceptance rate for Clemson is 47%.
