The Williams College Class of 2025 admissions statistics are in the books. This year marked a banner year in admissions for Williams. In all, nearly 12,500 students applied to the Williamstown, Massachusetts college, which has long topped the US News & World Report ranking for “Best Liberal Arts Colleges.” Of these applicants, 1,000 earned admission, marking an overall admission rate for the Class of 2025 of approximately 8%. And how does this figure stack up against the overall admission rate for the Class of 2024? 13%. The figure stood at 12.4% for the Class of 2023. Additionally, the 1,000 students admitted to Williams’ Class of 2025 is notable in that 1,250 students were admitted to Williams’ Class of 2024. Why the drop in acceptances? Look no further than approximately 130 students admitted to the Class of 2024 who chose to take gap years due to the pandemic. Yes, those students ate up slots in the Class of 2025 — a trend we forecasted early on in the pandemic when others so loudly and so vociferously argued that our nation’s elite colleges would expand their class sizes. Some did. Most did not.

As Jaiha Lee reports for The Williams Record in a piece entitled “College acceptance rate lowers to 8 percent for Class of 2025,” “Unlike previous years, students who applied to the College were not required to submit ACT or SAT standardized test scores. Many other colleges and universities also went test-optional due to the pandemic. ‘As always, the admission committee worked to understand each student’s experience, the opportunities they’ve had, and the challenges they’ve faced,’ [Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Liz] Creighton wrote in an email to the Record. Creighton noted the obstacles the office faced making admissions decisions in a virtual setting. ‘As a staff, the greatest change was the need to manage the entire admission and financial aid process remotely,’ she said. ‘We love working together and getting to know applicants as a team. So, we had to adapt, but we did so successfully, and we’re thrilled about the incredible Class of 2025.’ Students will have until May 3 to respond to their offer of admission, giving them less time to make their decision compared to last year’s June 1 deadline.”

Congratulations to Ivy Coach’s students who earned admission to Williams College’s Class of 2025! And congratulations to Williams on a record year in admissions.