Boston University wasn’t always the elite powerhouse research university it has now come to be known as, but one of the things that set it on this path was a dwindling acceptance rate. And yet, BU admissions officers, despite the competition, still hold a soft spot for those students who apply in one of their two Early Decision rounds. And why? Because these prospective Terriers have taken it upon themselves to demonstrate their interest in attending the most compelling way they know how: by binding themselves to attend if admitted. A glance at the overall acceptance rate versus the Early Decision acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 bears this out: 28.03% compared to 11.11%!

But more than two out of every three applicants in the Early Decision rounds still get rejected, meaning that students waiting for decisions to come down for the Class of 2030 who have Boston University in their sights had better review the admissions statistics to develop a clearer understanding of their admissions odds.

Boston University Early Decision Admissions Statistics Over 18+ Years

To contextualize the forthcoming data for the Class of 2030, here are the Early Decision acceptance rates over the last 18 admission cycles:

Boston University Class Year	Number of Early Decision (I + II) Applications	Number of Early Decision (I + II) Acceptances	Early Decision (I + II) Acceptance Rate
Class of 2030	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published
Class of 2029	6,909	Not Yet Published	~29.47%
Class of 2028	6,850	1,920	28.03%
Class of 2027	6,866	1,791	26.09%
Class of 2026	6,309	1,599	25.34%
Class of 2025	5,659	1,820	32.16%
Class of 2024	5,050	1,671	33.09%
Class of 2023	4,877	1,462	29.98%
Class of 2022	4,474	1,267	28.32%
Class of 2021	4,159	1,229	29.55%
Class of 2020	3,398	1,098	32.31%
Class of 2019	1,643	708	43.09%
Class of 2018	1,718	727	42.32%
Class of 2017	1,496	600	40.11%
Class of 2016	1,069	501	46.87%
Class of 2015	883	368	41.68%
Class of 2014	897	395	44.04%
Class of 2013	966	386	39.96%
Class of 2012	836	340	40.67%

Breakdown of Boston University (BU) Class of 2029 Early Decision Admits

According to the BU Class of 2029 Profile, 6,909 of the 76,776 applications received for admission last year were from one of the two Early Decision rounds, and 59% of the 3,450 students who enrolled in the cohort were admitted via ED I or ED II, producing a projected Early Decision acceptance rate of roughly 29.47%. Our educated guess for the Regular Decision acceptance rate is exponentially lower than the projected ED acceptance rate (likely putting it in the low teens or even single digits, assuming a yield rate of around 20%). We really weren’t kidding about the Early Decision advantage!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance Moving Forward for Deferred or Rejected Boston University Applicants

If you’re a student who applied in one of the Early Decision rounds to BU and were deferred or rejected for admission, turn to Ivy Coach right away to turn your case for admission around! Contact us to schedule a complimentary consultation and get started. For deferred candidates, we offer a PostMortem application review and assistance in crafting a powerful Letter of Continued Interest. For rejected candidates, we provide a PostMortem application review. And while we do offer assistance with Regular Decision applications, we first must dissect what went wrong in the Early round before we can pivot to your remaining schools. Our team of former elite college admissions officers will review your application, identify what went wrong, and then equip you with a new competitive strategy to optimize your odds of admission to your remaining Regular Decision schools.