Comparing Ivy League Class of 2022 Early Admissions Statistics

Among the Ivy League schools, it was the University of Pennsylvania that saw the sharpest decline in its admission rate for the Early pool of the Class of 2022 (photo credit: Bryan Y.W. Shin).

Early Decision and Early Action figures are in for the Ivy League colleges. And like clockwork, each of the Ivies, with the exception of Columbia University, has released its application numbers, admission rates, and further breakdowns of admitted students from the respective Early pools. As our regular readers know well, Columbia University doesn’t release admissions statistics on its Early Decision pool at this time of year — just the number of applications received (one fewer this year than last year!). So which Ivy League universities experienced the most statistically successful Early cycles?

Ivy League Admission Rates for Class of 2022 Early Pools

It was the University of Pennsylvania that experienced the sharpest decline among the Ivy League colleges with respect to its admission rate for the Early pool of the Class of 2022 as compared to the Early pool of the Class of 2021. For the Class of 2021, 22% of students who made binding commitments to attend UPenn if admitted in the Early Decision round earned admission. That same figure stands at 18.5% for UPenn’s Class of 2022. And with the exception of a blip for the Class of 2018, the Early Decision admission rate has been steadily declining at the University of Pennsylvania under Dean of Admissions Eric Furda’s watch since the Class of 2013 submitted applications. That’s quite a run indeed!

Dartmouth College claims the runner-up prize for steepest decline in its admission rate from last year’s Early pool. The school’s admission rate dropped 2.9%, a real coup for the Hanover, New Hampshire-based institution. In fact, every reporting Ivy League college boasted a lower admission rate this year as compared to last with one notable exception — Harvard University. Harvard’s Early Action admission rate stayed steady at 14.5% from last year.

Other Ivy League Admission Statistics for Class of 2022 Early Pools

An excellent piece in “The Daily Pennsylvanian” by Julia Schorr entitled “How Penn matches up: a breakdown of early admissions statistics across the Ivy League,” compares some other interesting metrics across the reporting Ivy League colleges. Notably, Princeton claims the prize for admitting the most students who will be the first in their families to attend college. Way to go, Princeton! Dartmouth claims second place with a 13% first-generation statistic this Early cycle. UPenn’s first-generation figure this year stood at 11%, Harvard’s at 10.6%, and Brown’s at 10%, among Ivy League colleges that have thus far reported this specific data point.

The University of Pennsylvania claims the equivalent of the Razzie Award (Razzies are awarded to the worst performances and the worst films each year — kind of like the opposite of the Academy Awards) for admitting the highest percentage of legacy students to their incoming class. 25% is too high, UPenn. As Jimmy McMillan once campaigned in the New York City mayoral race, “The rent is too d*mn high.” UPenn, the legacy admission rate is too d*mn high. Comparatively, the legacy admission rate stood at 16% at Dartmouth this year, 17% at Princeton, and 22.1% at Cornell. Way to go Dartmouth College for boasting the lowest legacy percentage in the incoming class after the Early round among Ivy League colleges that have thus far reported this specific data point.

Harvard University boasts the most ethnically diverse group of Early admitted students among the Ivies for the Class of 2022 with 49.7% of admitted students identifying as students of color. Princeton claims the silver in this category with a 44% figure. UPenn’s number stands at 43%, Brown’s at 38.4%, Cornell’s at 37%, and Dartmouth’s at 33%. Way to go Harvard for admitting a class in which nearly half of its students identify as students of color, all as the United States Department of Justice now goes through the school’s admissions records.

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