Northwestern Class of 2016 Stats: 15% Acceptance Rate

[Viviste]

<p>[Northwestern</a> Notifies Admitted Students : Northwestern University Newscenter](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2012/03/notify-applicants.html]Northwestern”>Northwestern Notifies Admitted Students - Northwestern Now)</p>

<p>

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern University’s Office of Undergraduate Admission notified 4,895 applicants for the Class of 2016 of their acceptance via email over the weekend – marking a time when interest in Northwestern is at an all-time high with a record 32,065 applications.</p>

<p>Financial aid awards will follow in approximately one week.</p>

<p>This group of admitted students is the most diverse in at least 25 years, and their academic talent equals that of last year’s group.</p>

<p>Students who didn’t get accepted were also notified over the weekend.</p>

<p>The 32,065 applications were nearly double the number received as recently as 2005 (16,228), and rising applications mean, of course, that a lower percentage of students were admitted.</p>

<p>The 4,895 admitted students for the Class of 2016 changes the University’s acceptance rate from 18 percent last year to 15 percent this year. The number of students denied, in fact, equals about the same number of applications received just two years ago.</p>

<p>Admission in regular decision was the most competitive ever, because the University admitted 40 percent of the class through early decision – leaving far fewer spots available.</p>

<p>“The fact is that Northwestern University is becoming increasingly well-known,” said Alan K. Cubbage, vice president for University relations. “We see increasing applications from almost all areas of the U.S. and from abroad. A big part of that is good work by our admissions office in getting the word out there about Northwestern.”</p>

<p>Applications rose steadily over the previous few years, according to University admissions officials, while the acceptance rate has declined, as follows:</p>

<p>Fall 2009: 25,369 applicants, 6,887 admits, 27.1 percent acceptance rate
Fall 2010: 27,528 applicants, 6,367 admits, 23.1 percent acceptance rate
Fall 2011: 30,926 applicants, 5,575 admits, 18.0 percent acceptance rate
The trend continues with the latest admits to the Class of 2016, noted Christopher Watson, dean of undergraduate admissions at Northwestern. “The quality of the pool and the diversity of the pool were up, so we expect that we will enroll a very strong class next fall,” Watson said.</p>

<p>Admitted students are already signing up for Wildcat Welcome days, the University’s admitted student program, which will take place April 9, 16 and 23. Demand for the program has traditionally been very strong, but the admissions office is working to accommodate admitted students on their preferred date.</p>

<p>“We always hope for good weather on these days,” Watson said.</p>

<p>Once the national reporting deadline of May 1 has passed, the University will have a better idea as to whether or not the waitlist will be needed to round out the Class of 2016.</p>

<p>Admissions officers expressed their gratitude for all the help their staff received in recruiting students and evaluating a record number of applicants over the course of a long, thorough and painstaking admissions process. It has resulted in admission of an extraordinarily talented Class of 2016.</p>

<p>“We anticipate this will be a terrific freshman class for Northwestern,” said Michael E. Mills, associate provost for University enrollment at Northwestern. “We could not have processed this many applicants nor admitted so many diverse and academically gifted students without the strong support of the faculty, staff, alumni and our students.”</p>

<p>The Class of 2016 can look forward to joining a University that is home to a recent Nobel Prize winner and consistently gets faculty recognition for major research breakthroughs in numerous disciplines. And because undergraduate research opportunities at Northwestern have grown exponentially in recent years, students need not sit on the sidelines.</p>

<p>Northwestern students, whether working with a professor in a science lab or in countries all over the globe, are doing serious research in the natural sciences, engineering, social science, journalism, the arts, humanities and performance. And they are winning major prizes themselves.

</p>

[wildcatalum]

<p>College admissions rates are getting crazier every year.</p>

[lagunal]

<p>Did NU accept fewer students this year because they expect a higher yield than last year? Just curious. What a jump! With these numbers, could NU break into the top ten in rankings on USNWR?</p>

[Ronaldofan94]

<p>I think part of the decision to accept fewer students comes from the fact that Northwestern wanted to both decrease its overall undergraduate size and have more room for transfer students.</p>

[k_amp_s]

<p>Also, more freshman students than anticipated enrolled the past couple of classes - so NU is trying to get back closer to its traditional class size.</p>

[AJB1993]

<p>The rate is also rapidly decreasing because the new dean is committed to admitting more ED applicants because he wants more people who have NU as their first choice come there to keep retention and satisfaction high. This makes the RD acceptance rate much lower. Also, they are admitting slightly less students this year apparently because of some construction (thus they can’t fit as many people). However that is just a rumor, so who knows. What is true, however, is that they ended up over-admitting students last year because they didn’t realize how many people would actually end up choosing to go there, so they had to lower their admissions since they would expect yield to be higher than the norm, as it was last year.</p>

[zomggg]

<p>damn…if I can’t get into a university with a 15% acceptance rate how the heck am I gonna get into any of the schools with sub-10% rates…whatever hoping for the best tomorrow! and congrats to those who got in!</p>

[arbiter213]

<p>Northwestern has officially passed Cornell: [Cornell</a> Releases Class of 2016 Admissions Results | The Cornell Daily Sun](<a href=“http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2012/03/29/cornell-releases-class-2016-admissions-results]Cornell”>http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2012/03/29/cornell-releases-class-2016-admissions-results)</p>

[zephyr15]

<p>Does the 4895 include ED admits or not?</p>

<p>Not that it matters, just curious.</p>

[wildcatalum]

<p>Yep, it does.</p>

[hopefulchemist]

<p>wait a minute…NU admitted roughly 5000 people, but on my letter it said it admitted 2000 people from a pool of 32000. do they count on 3000 people to say no thanks or are they just talking about 2000 people from RD?
and do waitlisted students count in the admitted applicants number?</p>

[zephyr15]

<p>They offer admissions to about 5000. from those numbers 2000 +/- will enroll.</p>

[hopefulchemist]

<p>wow. thats a big drop.</p>

<p>does that number count waitlisted people too or no?</p>

[tenisghs]

<p>arbiter213, it’s amazing how Northwestern has become super-competitive in a span of few years!</p>

<p>When I attended, Northwestern was still in the mid-to-high 20% acceptance range.</p>

[zephyr15]

<p>@hopefulchemist</p>

<p>NU’s yield for RD could be higher. Overall yield should go up this year (purely by virtue of more ED’s). However, it takes time to improve yield.</p>

<p>A hopeful sign – NU’s yield in the last two years exceeded the admission’s offices expectations (i.e., more students accepted than they thought would). It means things are changing.</p>

[hopefulchemist]

<p>but do the 5000 admitted students that they counted include waitlisted people (like me) or not?</p>

[arbiter213]

<p>No .</p>

[jamberry]

<p>@hopefulchemist</p>

<p>My understanding is the 5000 admitted applicants # does not include the # of waitlisted. Other schools have a separate # just for their waitlist pool. NU expects 3k or so to go elsewhere, or roughly 40% yield in 2012.</p>

<p>Very tricky business trying to calculate yield, I would think-</p>

[hopefulchemist]

<p>hopefully, enough people will say no that I can actually go…</p>

[NYerr]

<p>Waitlisted not counted. Yield very challenging to predict.
And don’t be impressed by sheer number of applicants. As more and more apply, the average number of schools applicants apply to has increased significantly. With the ease of electronic submission (thanks Common App) the entire landscaped has changed. Where a student 7 years ago (2005) may have applied to 7 schools on average, today it may be closer to 17. I would be impressed by the stats of the rejected applicants. That tells you more than saying only 15% accepted.</p>