There are some Early Action/Decision cycles in which applications soar and ED/EA admission rates drop to historic lows across the Ivy League. There are other years when very few new benchmarks are set across the Ivies. And then there are still other years in which it’s a mixed bag — when some Ivies set records while others fail to do so.

It was a mixed bag for the Class of 2028 Early Action/Decision round. Of the six schools that have thus far released ample admissions figures to have an understanding of their 2023-2024 Early cycles, two — Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania — set all-time records, while four — Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, and Yale University — did not set new benchmarks. Cornell University and Princeton University have yet to release their numbers.

Mitigating Factors Behind the Class of 2028 Ivy League Admissions Statistics

So, why the mixed bag of Early Action/Decision admissions statistics across the Ivy League for the Class of 2028? A number of factors likely influenced this cycle’s figures, chief among them:

• The despicable congressional testimony of the now ex-presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as their administrations’ failure to stymie abhorrent acts of antisemitism on their campuses, cast a shadow over this year’s Early round of admissions. But contrary to what The New York Post has published, it did not lead to students eschewing the Ivy League for “second-tier universities” and, in fact, applications were up at Penn as compared to last year. They were also up at Cornell University, another Ivy in the news this past fall for the school administration’s unacceptable response to rising antisemitism on campus. Harvard’s numbers were also not abnormal — as the historical data clearly shows, applications to Harvard often fall after historic tallies in the preceding years.
• The halo of test-optional is wearing off. The Ivy League schools went test-optional during the pandemic, and all have since remained test-optional. But as we at Ivy Coach have argued from atop our soapbox in Ivy League admissions since the start of the pandemic, all else being equal, students with great test scores will always have an advantage over students who don’t submit scores. At the height of the pandemic, application benchmarks were set across the Ivy League, largely due to applicants we termed “Squeakers” — students who thought they could squeak in without scores. And while there are still Squeakers out there who dream the impossible dream, the last few years have delivered a dose of reality to students who apply without test scores. Sure, some can still get in without scores — but they’re doing themselves no favor.
• The overturning of Affirmative Action in June 2023 meant the 2023-2024 admission cycle would be the first in which schools offering preferential treatment to applicants based on race would be considered unlawful. That said, all eight Ivies found a workaround to the Supreme Court’s decision — capitalizing on Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision which stated, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” They exploited this loophole by adding “community” essay questions that indirectly asked students to discuss their life experiences, community, perspectives, etc.

Ivy League Class of 2028 Early Action/Decision Acceptance Rates

Ivy League School	Class of 2028 Early Action/Decision Applications	Class of 2028 Early Action/Decision Acceptances	Class of 2028 Early Action/Decision Acceptance Rate
Brown University	6,244	898	14.38%
Columbia University	6,009	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released
Cornell University	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released
Dartmouth College	3,550	606	17.07%
Harvard University	7,921	692	8.74%
Princeton University	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released
University of Pennsylvania	Over 8,500	Not Yet Released	Not Yet Released
Yale University	7,856	709	9.02%

Ivy League Early Admission Statistics by College

Brown University

Brown University received 6,244 Early Decision applications to its Class of 2028 and offered admission to 898 students, marking an ED acceptance rate of 14.38%. Of those students who did not earn ED admission to Brown’s Class of 2028, 67.6% were denied admission outright and 16.8% were deferred for consideration in the Regular Decision round, which reflects a trend of decreasing deferral rates and increasing denial rates in recent admissions cycles.

While Brown’s Early Decision pool and Early Decision acceptance rate did not set new benchmarks, Brown secured its second-largest pool and boasted its second-lowest ED acceptance rate in the university’s history. Brown’s largest ED applicant pool and lowest ED acceptance rate were set last year for the Class of 2027.

Columbia University

Columbia University received 6,009 applications in the Early Decision round to its Class of 2028 — a figure that combines applications to Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

And while Columbia, as usual, has yet to release its Early Decision acceptance rate for this cycle, the 6,009 ED applications mark a nice uptick from last year when the school received only 5,738 ED applications, though it remains a far cry from the 6,435 ED applicants to its Class of 2025.

Last year, as our readers may remember, Columbia plunged in the US News & World Report rankings because the school was caught with its hand in the cookie jar misreporting data to the publication. This year, the school recovered in the rankings — though it still lags behind its pre-scandal rankings. 

Cornell University

Cornell University, as has been the case in recent years, has yet to release its Early Decision admissions statistics for the Class of 2028. However, Ivy Coach has its ear to the ground in Cornell’s admissions office — and we hear Early Decision applications were up from last year. We will publish these figures when they become available.

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College received a record number of Early Decision applications to its Class of 2028 — 3,550 in all, eclipsing by 18% the previous benchmark of 3,009 set for the Class of 2027.

606 of this year’s 3,550 students earned admission, marking an Early Decision admission rate for Dartmouth’s Class of 2028 of 17.07%, a historic low and an over 2% drop from last year’s record-low figure.

Harvard University

Harvard University received 7,921 Early Action applications to its Class of 2028, offering admission to 692 students for an EA acceptance rate of 8.74%. The school’s 8.74% EA acceptance rate marked Harvard’s highest since the Class of 2024, yet it is still the fourth-lowest in the university’s history.

Of those students who did not earn admission in the Early Action round to Harvard’s Class of 2028, 83% of applicants were deferred, while a mere 7.7% were denied outright.

Princeton University

Princeton University has yet to release its Early Action admissions statistics for the Class of 2028. We will publish these figures when they become available.

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania received a record-breaking over 8,500 Early Decision applications to its Class of 2028. The figure eclipsed the 8,000 students who applied ED to Penn’s Class of 2027, the 7,795 students who applied ED to its Class of 2026, and the 7,962 students who applied ED to its Class of 2025.

Penn has yet to release its Early Decision acceptance rate for the Class of 2028, though we’ll publish this figure when it becomes available.

Yale University

Yale University received 7,856 Early Action applications to its Class of 2028, the second-largest EA applicant pool in the university’s history (eclipsed only by the 7,939 EA applicants to the Class of 2025). Of the 7,856 EA applicants to the Class of 2028, 709 earned admission for an EA acceptance rate of 9.02%, the lowest in the history of Yale’s EA program.

Of those students who did not earn Early Action admission to Yale’s Class of 2028, 1,531 students (or 20%) were deferred to the Regular Decision pool, while 5,537 students (a whopping 70%) were denied admission outright. Yes, there’s a difference between a Harvard and Yale deferral.

Ivy Coach’s Forecast for the Ivy League Class of 2028 Regular Decision Cycle

At Ivy Coach, we have a famously accurate crystal ball, a crystal ball that’s even been cited on the pages of America’s oldest college newspaper, The Dartmouth.

Our crystal ball hereby forecasts that the 2023-2024 Regular Decision round across the Ivy League will mirror the Early Action/Decision round for the Class of 2028. We anticipate that most of the eight Ivy League schools will not set new benchmarks this year for Regular Decision and overall applications, though we do anticipate new records at a couple of them.

Will our forecast prove true? Only time will tell! We’ll know at the beginning of April.