When to know if you’re accepted: season 2007

Posted by Dee

It’s almost March, which means that results from regular admissions will start trickling in soon enough.

Since there seems to be no comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the dates when each of the top schools report their decisions for regular admissions, we at AdmitSpit created one. The name of each school, along with the date you should expect a response and any special notes are provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site. This post will likely be updated with more detailed dates and times as deadlines approach and colleges release more precise information about when notifications will be sent out.

Brown: Decisions will be mailed “end of March” 2007, and definitely they will be mailed no later than in the first week of April.

CIT: Decisions mailed “late March/early April.”

Columbia University: Regular Decision application decisions are mailed out in the first week of April, along with invitations for on-campus and regional programs for accepted students.

Cornell: Regular Decision application decisions for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hotel Administration, and Industrial and Labor Relations are rolling starting in the

When to know if you’re accepted early

Posted by Dee

It’s December, which means that results from early admissions will be back soon enough.

Again, there seems to be no comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the dates when each of the top schools report their decisions for early admissions, so I created one! The name of each school, along with the date you should expect a response and any special notes are provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site.

Brown: Early Decision applications decisions mailed “mid-december” 2006.

CIT: Early Action application decisions mailed “mid-december.”

Columbia University: Early Decision application decisions mailed “mid-december.” You will either be accepted, in which case you must accept the offer of admission unless financial reasons release you from the ED agreement, deferred, or rejected

Typical ACT scores for specific top schools

Posted by Dee

Thanks to a comment by Rocketsr71 on the post titled, “Typical SAT scores for specific top schools,” it is clear that some AdmitSpit readers are wondering about colleges’ ACT expectations. I couldn’t find a comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the ACT expectations at each of the top schools, so I created one! The name of each school, along with any ACT score statistics or information, is provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site.

Brown: No ACT information. =(

CIT: For students admitted for the Class of 2010, the middle 50% of ACT scores was 33-35.

Columbia University: I couldn’t find any ACT information for either the College or Engineering.

Cornell: No information on ACT scores.

Dartmouth: For the Class of 2009, the middle 50% of ACT scores for students who

Remember, remember the first of November

Posted by Luke

This long-awaited date will be upon us in just four days.

Four days. That’s all you have to write more clichéd epiphanies into your essays and beef up those resumes with newly-discovered extracurriculars, for in four days, all you Early Decision hopefuls must have your applications post-marked, if not already submitted, to your dream school, and then wait the agonizingly long month and a half buying college sweatshirts and waiting for your letter to arrive.

I know most of you have probably already convinced yourselves that it’s your destiny to be accepted to your Early D school. Let me burst your bubble; you’d better wait until April to pop open the champagne. Realistically speaking, most of you will not get the answer you want (or for our arrogant readers: the answer you deserve…) on December 15th.

Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Stanford all have acceptance rates around 11-ish percent. That means that you have a 89% chance of not getting in. If you apply to all of these fine schools, your probability of not getting into a single one is (.89)^6, or about 50%. If you apply to other selective schools such as MIT, or even the Ivies with relatively higher acceptance rates, like Brown, UPenn, Cornell, and Dartmouth, your chances of not getting in to any of them is much lower. (I would calculate it for you, but I’m terribly lazy. You can see the AdmitSpit post titled, “Admission statistics for top colleges: 2006” and do the math yourself).

So, you should apply to schools with higher rates, but, that said, don’t sell yourself

As promised, interview specifics for top schools

Posted by Dee

As promised, here’s the list of interview policies for specific top schools! Sorry if my use of the word ‘alumni’ is grammatically incorrect Latin-wise; I’m sort of still confused with alumni vs. alumnus vs. alumnae vs. alumna vs. alum!

Brown: Interviews recommended but not required. Once application is received, alumni in your area will contact you. If you do want an interview then you’ll set up the time and place at that point. This applies to international applicants where possible too. No on-campus interviews.

CIT: No interviews.

Columbia University: Interviews are not required. Between October and February, a member of Columbia’s Alumni Representative Committee will contact you if an interview is available in the area where your high school is located. So, if you’ve finished high school and not living by your high school anymore, you can’t get an interview. Also, to better your chances of getting an interview, turn in your Application

Typical SAT scores for specific top schools

Posted by Dee

Once again, it seems AdmitSpit readers are wondering about colleges’ standardized testing expectations.

I couldn’t find a comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the SAT expectations at each of the top schools, so I created one! The name of each school, along with the math and verbal SAT scores they usually accept and any special notes are provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site.

Brown: For Verbal, 25.5% admitted with 750-800 score, 16.7% admitted with 700-740, 9.5% admitted with 650-690, 7.9% admitted with 600-640, 7.1% admitted with 550-590, 6.2% admitted 500-540, 2.6% admitted with 450-490, and only 2 students or 1.4% admitted with score less than 450. For Math, 24.6% admitted with 750-800, 16.2% admitted 700-740, 8.3% admitted with 650-690, 8.1% admitted with 600-640, 7.7% admitted 550-590, 4.6% admitted 500-540, 2.7% admitted 450-490, and no one was accepted with less than 450 score in math. 7.2% didn’t submit SAT scores. Data based on the accepted Class of 2010.

CIT: For the Class of 2009, the range of Verbal scores was 460-800, and the range

Harvard, Harvard, Harvard

Posted by Luke

With the recent move by Harvard College to drop its early admission policy, and Princeton and University of Virginia (another fine institution; a member of the “public Ivy League” consisting of the College of William and Mary, Miami University of Ohio, University of California, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Texas at Austin, University of Vermont, and University of Virginia) blindly following suit a week afterwards, Harvard has reestablished its mantle as the best university in the world.

Therefore it’s time to talk to you about the power and prestige of Harvard and not selling yourself short during college admissions. I’m sure some people may disagree with my assertion of Harvard’s preeminent position in world academia, but let us be realistic. Harvard is the institution to which all other schools are measured. Harvard has the name recognition all schools would kill for and although it might not be the strongest school academically, its power in name alone allows it to lord over all the other institutions of higher learning. Harvard alone is given the freedom to do what it wants without radical repercussions. This is evident in the fact that it single-handedly ended a 30-year American college institution while other schools have petitioning for years against early action in vain. Even in the Ivy League Harvard is known to be “better” than the others. When Brown controversially decided to allow all classes to be Pass/No Pass, there was a shit-storm raining on all sides of Providence while Harvard has inconspicuously implemented even more radical policies with nothing but admiration from the

Standard list for colleges’ standardized testing requirements

Posted by Dee

Some readers are wondering about colleges’ specific standardized testing criteria.

I couldn’t find a comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the testing requirements at each of the top schools, so I created one! The name of each school, along with the testing requirements and any special notes, as well as the SAT and ACT codes are provided (note that SAT codes are for sending both SAT and Subject Test scores). Hope it’s helpful!

Brown: SAT and two SAT Subject Tests (except Writing), or the ACT with writing option. SAT 4-digit code is 3094. ACT 4-digit code is 3800. 

CIT: SAT or ACT (with or without the Writing Test option), SAT Math Level II, and either physics, chemistry, or either emphasis, Ecological or Molecular, in Biology. SAT code is 4034. ACT code is 0182.

Columbia University: SAT or ACT, and two SAT Subject Tests (for Columbia Engineering, take any math SAT Subject Test and either Physics or Chemistry) Also, if you have a funky grading system at your school or if you’re home-schooled

Princeton follows Harvard’s lead against early admission

Posted by Dee

According to today’s press release from Princeton University, the school is ending its early admission program in favor of a single admission process next year.

The statement is reminiscent of Harvard’s from last week, touching on the inequities of early admission for disadvantaged students. While I think the results of Harvard’s decision indeed be interesting to watch, for Princeton the stakes are even higher! For a school that admits nearly 50% of its freshman class through Early Decision (see AdmitSpit’s “Admission statistics for top colleges: 2006” post), I sure hope Princeton didn’t make this decision lightly by just following along with what Harvard was doing.

If you’re wondering whether all the Ivy Leagues are jumping on board, the answer is no. Brown and Dartmouth at least have already released announcements saying that they will maintain their early acceptance programs.

For AdmitSpit’s comprehensive post about the Harvard early admission pullout, click here.

For the full press release from Princeton, click here.

Admission statistics for top colleges: 2006

Posted by Dee

A bunch of AdmitSpit readers have written in about early application versus regular admission statistics, so I’ve compiled a list of admission statistics for the various top schools for easy reference. All the numbers were taken from the respective schools unless otherwise noted. Percentages were calculated by yours truly… hopefully my calculator wasn’t going crazy on me.

Brown — Total applicants: 18,316. Total admits: 2,555. Percentage admitted: 13.9%.

California Institute of Technology — Total applicants: “about 2,700.” Total admits: “about 500.” (For a tech school, they sure do value being precise, huh?)

Columbia — Total applicants: 19,851. Total admits: 2,296. Percentage admitted: 11.6%. (Total Early Decision applicants: 2,236. Total Early Decision admits: 583. Early acceptance rate: 26.1%.)

Cornell — Total applicants: 28,098. Total admits: 6,935. Percentage admitted: 24.7%. (Total Early Decision applicants: 2,848. Total Early Decision admits: 1,109. Early acceptance rate: 38.9%.)

Dartmouth — No specific admission statistics other than their overall admission