Yale admits 2,234 students, acceptance rate shrinks to 4.46 percent (2024)

Yale’s acceptance rate reaches its lowest point in recent history

Jordan Fitzgerald 7:15 pm, Mar 31, 2022

Staff Reporter

Yale admits 2,234 students, acceptance rate shrinks to 4.46 percent (1)

Yale Daily News

Yale College admitted 2,234 students to the class of 2026 from its largest-ever pool of 50,015 applicants, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions announced on Thursday.

The acceptance rate for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle is 4.46 percent, the lowest in recent history. It dropped from 4.62 percent for the class of 2025, 6.54 percent for the class of 2024 and 5.91 percent for the class of 2023.

Of the admitted students, 800 received their acceptances through early action and 81 matched with Yale through QuestBridge in December. Yale also offered 1,000 students seats on the college’s waitlist Thursday. The class will be joined by 46 students who were admitted during last year’s cycle but chose to defer their matriculation to fall 2022. Earlier this semester, the Admissions office reported that 50,022 students applied to Yale, but this number included these 46 students who postponed their attendance and excluded 39 students who were granted application extensions due to extenuating circumstances.

Admitted members of the class of 2026 hail from 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and 58 countries. Yale denied admission to 44,783 applicants, and 1,998 applications were incomplete or withdrawn.

“The applicant pool’s strength and diversity are always more important to the admissions committee than its size,” Jeremiah Quinlan, Yale’s dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, said. “By these measures, the students who were admitted to Yale College this cycle are truly extraordinary. The committee was deeply impressed by their academic and extracurricular achievements, their wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, and the positive contributions they have already made to local and global communities.”

According to Director of Undergraduate Admissions Margit Dahl, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions accommodated the deluge of applications by hiring more staff members and spending more time reading applications and holding committee meetings. Nevertheless, she maintained that the office retained its “whole-person review process” for all applicants, despite the workload.

Dahl emphasized that “in the end, it is all about the individual student and their fit with Yale.”

The number of applications was not the only thing that set this newly-admitted class apart. The class of 2026 is the third cohort of admitted students to receive their acceptances during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are the second to apply without a standardized test requirement, which Yale originally suspended for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle due to pandemic-related challenges.

Nevertheless, this year’s class of admitted students will be the first group to be invited to New Haven for Bulldog Days — an admitted students program that showcases academic and extracurricular life at Yale — since the class of 2023 came to Connecticut in 2019. The event, which was held remotely during the last two admissions cycles, is set to run April 25-27.

Quinlan said that he and his colleagues are eager to see the event return to campus after two years of virtual programming.

Yale admits 2,234 students, acceptance rate shrinks to 4.46 percent (2)

“For decades, Bulldog Days has been a special experience for both admitted and current students,” Quinlan said. “I am excited to re-establish this important campus tradition and am grateful to the countless students, faculty, and staff across Yale College who will help to make this year’s event a success.”

Admitted students from low-income backgrounds are eligible for funding that will enable them to travel to campus for Bulldog Days.

Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Scott Wallace-Juedes emphasized that the Class of 2026 will be the first to benefit from four years of new financial aid support. These changes, which the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of Financial Aid announced in October, include eliminating what Yalies dubbed the “student income contribution,” covering the marginal tax rate for international students and subsidizing childcare for student parents.

Wallace-Juedes said that “for most students receiving financial aid, this new policy will reduce costs and increase the amount of Yale Scholarship by $7,500 over four years.”

The 2022-2023 academic year will also be the first in which Yale meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for Eli Whitney students, students who have taken non-traditional paths to higher education.

Admitted students must respond to their offers of admission by May 2.

JORDAN FITZGERALD

Jordan Fitzgerald serves as a University editor for the News. She previously edited for WKND and wrote about admissions, financial aid & alumni. She is a senior in Trumbull College majoring in American history.

Yale admits 2,234 students, acceptance rate shrinks to 4.46 percent (2024)

FAQs

Yale admits 2,234 students, acceptance rate shrinks to 4.46 percent? ›

Yale College admitted 2,234 students to the class of 2026 from its largest-ever pool of 50,015 applicants, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions announced on Thursday. The acceptance rate for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle is 4.46 percent, the lowest in recent history.

What percentage of students are accepted to Yale? ›

Yale University has an acceptance rate of 5%. Half the applicants admitted to Yale University who submitted test scores have an SAT score between 1500 and 1580 or an ACT score of 33 and 35.

What is the acceptance rate for Yale 2924? ›

For the Class of 2024, 35,220 students applied to Yale University of which 2,304 students were accepted, yielding an overall acceptance rate of 6.5%. Overall applications decreased by 4.4% over last year (2023 to 2024) from 36,843 to 35,220.

What is the average GPA of Yale admits? ›

Average GPA: 4.14

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA. This school did not officially report its average GPA, but we've estimated it here using data from over 1,000 schools.) With a GPA of 4.14, Yale requires you to be at the top of your class.

How many people get rejected from Yale? ›

Yale's acceptance rate is 6.5 percent, so 93.5 percent of applicants get rejected. There were 35,306 applicants for 2022—you do the math.

What is the hardest college to get into in America? ›

26 Hardest Colleges to Get Into
  1. 1. California Institute of Technology. ...
  2. Harvard University. ...
  3. Columbia University. ...
  4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...
  5. Stanford University. ...
  6. Brown University. ...
  7. University of Chicago. ...
  8. Yale University.

Is Yale the hardest college to get into? ›

#7 Yale University

It should also come as no surprise that Yale is one of the hardest colleges to get into. With an acceptance rate of 4.6%, the admissions process is highly competitive. Last year, 50,015 students applied for the class of 2026, and only 2,234 were admitted.

What is the lowest GPA Yale will accept? ›

What is the minimum GPA required for admission? We do not set a minimum GPA, nor do we attempt to re-weight GPA's to any standard other than what a school provides. An applicant's complete secondary school transcript (not just the GPA or class rank, if they are provided) is evaluated during the admissions process.

What is the most popular degree at Yale? ›

Most Popular Majors
  • Economics. 204 Graduates.
  • Political Science and Government. 137 Graduates.
  • Information Science. 104 Graduates.
  • History. 94 Graduates.
  • Cellular Biology. 89 Graduates.
  • Liberal Arts and Humanities. 84 Graduates.
  • Research and Experimental Psychology. 81 Graduates.
  • Mathematics. 59 Graduates.

What is the hardest class at Yale? ›

It's called "Psychology and the Good Life," and enrollment soared to almost 1/4 of Yale's undergraduates just days after registration opened. Deemed the "hardest class at Yale" according to Dr. Laurie Santos, the course focuses on accountability and positive psychology.

Does no Yale interview mean rejection? ›

No. Because of limited interviewing capacity, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions prioritizes interviews for students for whom the Admissions Committee needs more information. Students who do not receive an interview invitation will not be disadvantaged.

How many deferred students get into Yale? ›

Historically, the regular decision acceptance rate at Yale hovers around 4-6%, while the acceptance rate for deferred applicants tends to be around 2-3%. Keep in mind that these numbers can fluctuate, and it's important not to lose hope if you are deferred.

What kind of students is Yale looking for? ›

If you dream of attending Yale, you will need to achieve great scores on your ACT or SAT, a nearly perfect high school GPA from a curriculum of difficult courses, and participate in the types of extracurricular activities that allow you to demonstrate your interests and leadership potential.

What are the odds of getting into Yale? ›

The acceptance rate at Yale is 4.6%.

This means the school is extremely selective. Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation. If you don't meet their expectations, your chance of getting in is nearly zero.

What GPA is needed for Yale? ›

In truth, you need close to a 4.0 unweighted GPA to get into Yale. That means nearly straight As in every class, while also taking the highest rigor classes available to you at your high school, such as taking as many AP classes as your school will allow you to take.

What percentage of people make it into Yale? ›

Of the 57,465 students who applied to join the Yale College class of 2028, 2,146 were offered admission, with an additional 773 offered a spot on the waitlist.

Does Yale or Harvard have a higher acceptance rate? ›

Acceptance Rates by Ivy League School
SchoolRankingAcceptance Rate
Princeton#14.50%
Harvard#33.45%
Yale#54.50%
UPenn#65.86%
4 more rows
Jul 17, 2024

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Msgr. Refugio Daniel

Last Updated:

Views: 6344

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (54 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Msgr. Refugio Daniel

Birthday: 1999-09-15

Address: 8416 Beatty Center, Derekfort, VA 72092-0500

Phone: +6838967160603

Job: Mining Executive

Hobby: Woodworking, Knitting, Fishing, Coffee roasting, Kayaking, Horseback riding, Kite flying

Introduction: My name is Msgr. Refugio Daniel, I am a fine, precious, encouraging, calm, glamorous, vivacious, friendly person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.