Boston College and Tulane University are releasing their Early Decision notifications tonight. Good luck to all who applied Early Decision. Learn more about the latest ED admissions stats at both institutions by watching the video below.
Word to the Wise: Apply ED and EA this Fall
It should go without saying, but to be a smart, strategic, and successful college applicant this fall, you should try you hardest to apply to multiple Early Action colleges at the same time as you apply Early Decision to your first choice college.
Learn more by watching the video below, and good luck as the official start to the 2024-2025 admissions cycle kicks off tomorrow.
Early Decision applicants to make up nearly 60% of Boston University’s Class of 2028
Those students who are being reviewed Regular Decision for Boston University’s Class of 2028 will receive their admissions decisions on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Such first-year applicants will receive emails when their decisions are available within their BU web accounts on the MyBU Applicant Portal.
The news comes as Boston University also announced that it received 78,634 applications for its Class of 2028, and 6,916 applications of these applications were submitted through BU’s binding Early Decision and Early Decision 2 programs. The ED numbers represent a 0.4% increase over last admissions cycle, and BU expects to enroll approximately 58-60% of its first-year class through ED1 or ED2. BU’s enrollment target for the Class of 2028 is now 3,300 students, which is 155 more than last year. For context, over 80,400 students applied to join BU’s Class of 2027, which was made up of 57% of students accepted through ED1 or ED2 and 43% of students accepted through Regular Decision. BU’s overall admit rate will end up at roughly 10.7% this year.
In total, only 42% of BU applicants during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle indicated an interest in having standardized test scores considered. Meanwhile, enrollment of first-generation, low-income, and students from underrepresented groups continues to be a priority for BU, and applications from first-generation college students made up 25% of BU’s applicant pool. International students contributed 15,469 applications to the mix, and these applicants hail from 167 countries.
Tulane reduces number of students accepted Early Decision II
Tulane’s Gibson Hall
Tulane will release Early Decision II (EDII) notifications to first-year applicants on Monday, February 5, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and just as during Tulane’s Early Decision I (EDI) round, Tulane has reduced the number of EDII acceptances to provide more opportunities for students – particularly those from first generation or low/middle income backgrounds – who did not feel comfortable making a binding commitment to Tulane. Tulane has also intentionally left more space in its entering class to admit students who were deferred in its Early Action round or who applied Regular Decision.
According to Tulane’s admissions office, those accepted EDII had an average core unweighted GPA of 3.62 and an average standardized test score – for those who submitted a score at all – of 1450 on the SAT and 32 on the ACT. First generation students and students from Louisiana also make up a larger percentage of the accepted student cohort than they did last year, while international numbers held steady.
Tulane also prioritized avoided waitlisting students EDII applicants who were deferred in the Early Action round as to not leave them in limbo for a second time. For the most part, students who applied Early Action and converted to EDII will be accepted, denied, or offered a nonbinding spot in Tulane’s Spring Scholars through which students start their Tulane experience in Rome, London, Barcelona, Paris, or Tokyo. Spring Scholars have until May 1st to enroll, so they have plenty of time to consider their options.
More Applying, Fewer Getting Accepted to Tulane Early Decision
Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana will release its Early Decision I (EDI) decisions tomorrow, December 5, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time.
Those about to receive decisions – and those who follow this type of thing – should know that Tulane experienced a 20 percent increase in Early Decision applicants this admissions cycle while reducing the number of Early Decision I acceptances for the second year in a row in order to provide more opportunities for students unable or unwilling to make a binding commitment to Tulane, “particularly those from first generation or low/middle income backgrounds,” according to Tulane’s admissions office.
The vast majority of EDI applicants will receive one of three decisions: an acceptance, a denial, or a nonbinding offer to join Tulane’s cohort of Spring Scholars. Spring Scholars do not have to tell Tulane of their decision until May 1, 2024.
Meanwhile, Tulane also received 30 percent more Early Action applications this year than it did last year. Early Action applicants will get their admissions decisions by January 10, 2024 at the latest.
The top 23 songs to listen to while completing your college applications in 2023 are…
Picture it. You are all alone in your bedroom at 11:47 p.m. on a Tuesday night.
By day you are an overloaded high school senior year who feels dominated by IB or AP course assignments, juggling the responsibilities that come with leading four time-sucking extracurricular activities, and cramming to get an A in every class for your first quarter report card.
Unlike your classmates who could best be described as one or more of the following —
- Ivy League legacies
- Recruitable athletes
- Paying unscrupulous consultants to write their applications for them
- Paying dastardly ‘doctors’ to write faux concussion, migraine, or Crohn’s Disease sick notes for them in order to secure very real SAT or ACT extended time testing accommodations
- Full-pay international students
- Completely disinterested in college (and, as a result, probably far smarter than you give them credit for)
— you are going to have to actually earn your way into an Ivy on your own! So, you find yourself staring at your computer screen at nearly midnight and into the abyss that is the Common Application filled with various application supplements that you have yet to complete.
By night, you must shift into truly high gear. You need inspiration. You are tapped out from doing somersaults throughout high school but you can’t afford to get tired now when there are so few spots at America’s ‘top’ colleges for students who actually have to earn their way into them on their own – with their own wits and moxie. Your fate will depend on your wisdom and your will – and whether or not a lot of legacies et al. are applying to your first choice college this year.
You have to work for at least two more hours to draft essays if your final essay drafts will ever be of the quality that they need to be to get you in. You turn to YouTube (which is also home to the great CollegeMeister channel) for a song or a soundtrack to pump you up; yet, most of the tracks that pop up aren’t capable of taking you to the level that you need to be at in order to pump out what you need to pump out tonight – and every night – between now and November 1, the date when you aim to submit all of your college applications to your one Early Decision, five Early Action, two Priority, and two Rolling admission colleges.
You turn to Google to find inspiration and you type in, “College Application Completion Playlists” or “Motivational Songs” or “EDM Motivation” or some other search query that gets you to this blessed page where you find yourself right now.
Lucky you.
Without further ado, here they are – the top 23 tracks in 2023 to have playing in the background as you complete your college applications, especially the essays, if you are serious about doing all that you can do to get in by virtue of your work ethic alone:
23. T-Pain – Best Love Song ft. Chris Brown
You really do need to consider your college application supplemental essays as individualized ‘love songs’ to each college on your list. If you write a generic love note or song to a potential love interest, he or she is not going to take your seriously, and the same goes with colleges getting a generic supplement from you. This track underscores the point that you are in the love song writing business until you are finished each and every app that has supplemental writing.
22. Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now
That feeling you get either when your writer’s block clears or you realize the sun is rising and school starts in two hours.
21. Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters – Destination Calabria
Because, let’s face it, even if you put in 200% effort over the coming nights, the “destination [is] unknown” and you very well may end up at Tulane or Wisconsin.
20. Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand Let Me Think About It (Extended)
“Give us your Top Ten List.” Come on Wake Forest! “Let me think about it.”
19. Better Off Alone
No. You won’t be better off alone. The very thought of a gap year “alone” scares/inspires you to complete a better application during the dead of night. Plus, you can’t afford a gap year to find yourself like Malia or your lax-playing buddies.
18. Gina G Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit
This one’s good because it reminds you that one day this will all be over. You can do it! “Just a little bit” more.
17. Viola Wills – If You Could Read My Mind
Why can’t the admissions officers “just read my mind” instead of forcing me to communicate well in 650 words or fewer? After all, you’ve likely endured an extremely poor education in English throughout your K-12 career due to too many English teachers being focused on serving up critical theory rather than traditional literary analysis, strong writing instruction, or any sort of celebration of the best works of Western Civilization. By the way, there are a lot of versions of this song, but we chose this one because Viola Wills put her soul into it – just like you will need to put your soul into your apps.
16. Lighthouse Family – High
“When you are close to tears remember, someday it will all be over, one day we’re going to get so high!” Enough said, but don’t do drugs, even if it’s legal.
15. Don’t Stop Believin’
Don’t stop believin’ that you will get in…unless you are honest and of Asian heritage, in which case, just stop believing because the Ivies value ‘diversity,’ which is code for ‘they have more Asians than they currently wish to accept.’ Your only hope is the Supreme Court.
14. The Jacksons – Can You Feel It [Audio HQ] HD
Can you feel the acceptance notifications coming your way?
13. Cass Elliot – Make Your Own Kind of Music (HQ)
Because, really, you do need to be true to who you are and utterly unique if you are going to have any chance of getting into Harvard, Princeton, or Yale without any of the characteristics mentioned in that bulleted list above.
12. One Day More! – Les Misérables – 10th Anniversary Concert
Only play this one on October 31 – or the day before you know you will be finished your dastardly applications once and for all.
11. Michael Ball, Alfie Boe – He Lives In You (From “The Lion King” / Lyric Video)
Indeed, you must, “have faith” and “he does live in you!” You need to draw on generations of your ancestors to find strength. After all, if they could get through famines, wars, living without an iPhone, you can complete a few college applications.
10. Avicii – Levels
You need a good feeling or two right about now.
9. Jason Derulo – “Want To Want Me” (Official Video)
“It’s too hard to sleep…” Please, Columbia and Brown, I just “want you to want me”…despite you preferring well-connected social justice activists and loaded legacies…or better yet, those who check both of those boxes. :-/
8. Deorro x Chris Brown – Five More Hours (Official Video)
Whether you are up against the deadline on November 1 with just five more hours to go or “you are just getting started,” this one works.
7. P!nk – So What (Official Music Video)
“So, what?” Even if I have to go to Emory, “I’m still a rockstar!”
6. Bob Seger – Hollywood Nights (Lyrics)
At least you can comfort yourself knowing that you are not Aunt Becky or a Desperate Housewife out in “Hollywood” bribing the powers that be at USC for the honor of living in South Central LA for four years.
5. Let It Be (Remastered 2009)
Try your best and all, but maybe it’s time to just “let it be” and settle for Barrett Honors College at ASU?
4. Eric Prydz – Call On Me (Official HD Video)
You can always “call on me,” CollegeMeister Craig Meister, the best and most refreshingly honest college admissions coach on the planet. Cue this EDM classic.
3. Kygo & Whitney Houston – Higher Love (Official Video)
Okay, it’s a visual knockoff of Eric Prydz’s song above, but the vocals are pure – early Whitney Houston – and the accompaniment is rock solid and by Kygo. It’s of course far more current, though also feels classic. Not to mention the lyrics are perfect for ascending to the ‘higher’ level that you to need to reach in order to at least get into Cornell or Dartmouth.
2. Joel Corry x RAYE x David Guetta – BED [Official Video]
You’d much prefer to be in bed yourself, but lyrics like, “And I got work in the morning, early, early in the morning,” and, “Oh, and why’d I gotta do this the hard way?” certainly resonate. Other lyrics…well…let’s just say, I don’t advocate for premarital coition. Overall, this song certainly gets one pumped up, though it’s hard to get out of your head.
1. Kylie Minogue – Padam Padam (Official Video)
Did you know that Kylie Minogue is beating cancer? Really puts things in perspective. As a former colleague once told me when I was a bit stressed helping all my high school seniors, “Craig, the college admissions process isn’t life or death.” Very good advice. With that said, I know what it feels like when you hear your own heartbeat – “Padam Padam” – in your head because of adrenaline or apprehension. This track will at least help you harness being so hyped up for good. How can’t you be productive when you have it playing?
P.S.: As you wait for your admissions decisions, or as an alternate to some of the options above, how about playing on loop “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco?
P.P.S.: Do realize that the above list is completely subjective and somewhat satirical – just like the crazy college admissions process at America’s most selective colleges; therefore, I apologize in advance if your favorite songs didn’t make the cut, if you don’t get in where you want, and/or if you are offended. Life’s unfair like that. Just remember that if you don’t get in, you need to sing this one last song out loud whenever your friends – and frienemies – get into their top choices:
You will survive!
Regular Decision at Emory University becomes more selective
Emory University’s campus.
Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, has become more selective to get into when applying Regular Decision.
While approximately 78%, of admission offers at Emory are made Regular Decision and roughly 22% of offers are extended to Early Decision applicants, that doesn’t mean an applicant’s statistical odds of getting into Emory Regular Decision are better than getting in Early Decision. The university, which accepts first-year applicants into two colleges – Emory College and Oxford College, has shared that in 2023 Emory College’s Regular Decision acceptance rate was 8.4% and Oxford College’s Regular Decision acceptance rate was 15.1% whereas Emory’s overall Early Decision I acceptance rate earlier in the 2022-2023 admissions cycle was roughly 37%. Last year (2022), Emory accepted 9% of students who applied Regular Decision.
2023-2024 Regular Decision (RD) Applicant Pool
| Emory College | Oxford College | |
|---|---|---|
| RD Applicants | 29,330 | 18,612 |
| RD Admits | 2,463 | 2,815 |
| Offered Spot on Wait List | 5,663 (plus additional 199 placed on wait list from ED II) |
2,991 (plus additional 37 placed on wait list from ED II) |
Regular Decision Admitted Class Composition
| Emory College RD Class |
Oxford College RD Class |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mean Recalculated GPA | 3.92 | 3.90 |
| 25-75th Percentile Max Testing (of students who opted to share their SAT or ACT scores with us) | 1470-1560 | 1470-1550 |
| % Admitted Without SAT/ACT | 36% | 33% |
| # of States Represented | 50 plus DC, PR, VI, Mariana Islands, and Guam | 49 plus DC, PR, and Guam |
| # of Non-US Citizenships | 71 | 58 |
Of course, final acceptance rates are contingent on what action occurs on Emory’s waitlist.
Interestingly, only roughly one third of those accepted to both Emory College and Oxford College Regular Decision did not submit ACT or SAT scores. These numbers were a bit lower than numbers released earlier this cycle when 38% of the admitted Emory College Early Decision class and 41% of the Early Decision class admitted to Oxford College applied without an ACT or SAT score.
For Regular Decision at Emory College, nearly 22% of domestic admits would be the first generation in their family to graduate from college. The most represented high school states in the admitted RD class are Georgia, California, New York, Texas, and Florida respectively and the most represented high school countries in the admitted RD class are India, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Singapore respectively. Approximately 9% of the Emory College RD admitted class are from rural or small town communities across the United States.
For Regular Decision at Oxford College, approximately 16% of domestic admits would be the first generation in their family to graduate from college. The most represented high school states in the admitted RD class, in order, are California, Georgia, New York, Texas, and Florida. The most represented high school countries in the admitted RD class, in order, are India, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom and China. Finally, as was the case with Emory College, approximately 9% of the Oxford College RD admitted class are from rural or small town communities across the United States.
Ultimately, the university is aiming to enroll 1,420 students at Emory College and 525 students (up from 450 last year) at Oxford College this fall.
Emory will remain test-optional for first-year and transfer applicants during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.
Brown’s Regular Decision Acceptance Rate Now 3.8%
Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Brown University’s Regular Decision admission decisions will be posted on Thursday, March 30 at 7:00 p.m. US Eastern Time, and, as in previous years, most students will not be thrilled by the decision they receive.
According to Logan Powell, Brown’s Dean of Admission, Brown received 51,302 applications for the Class of 2027, which represents a 1% increase over last year and makes the Class of 2027 applicant pool the largest in the university’s history. Brown will make 1,730 Regular Decision offers of admission to the incoming Class of 2027 in addition to the 879 Early Decision admission offers made in December. The overall acceptance rate for the 2022-2023 admissions cycle was 5%, the Regular Decision acceptance rate was 3.8%, and the Early Decision acceptance rate was 13%.
A total of 18% of accepted students represent the first generation in their family to attend college, and this year’s admitted students come from 90 countries, all 50 American states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The top countries represented outside the United States are China, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and South Korea.
Of the 4,192 applicants to the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), 74 students were admitted with a 2% acceptance rate. Of the 916 applicants to the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program, 20 students were admitted, also with a 2% acceptance rate.
If spaces in Brown’s entering class are available after the May 1 reply by date, Brown will make additional admission offers to students on its waitlist; yet, all spaces in the Program in Liberal Medical Education have been filled. The number of students admitted from the waitlist will depend on how many students accept Brown’s admission offers by May 1. In recent years, the number of waitlist spaces available in Brown’s incoming class has ranged from 15 to 120. Waitlist activity will conclude by mid-summer, and more information on the waitlist is available here.
Meanwhile, Brown will host two admitted student programs on campus for the Class of 2027. A Day on College Hill (ADOCH) will take place on April 14 and 21 for students who are able to visit Providence in person. Brown will also continue to support its admitted students with a variety of virtual programming that provides opportunities to explore, learn, ask questions and connect to Brown’s campus while showcasing Brown’s vibrant community.
Boston University’s Overall Acceptance Rate Drops to 10.7%
Boston University (BU) will be notifying Regular Decisions applicants tomorrow, Saturday, March 25, 2023.
According to Kelly A. Walter, BU’s Associate Vice President for Enrollment & Dean of Admissions, “It has been the single most challenging admissions cycle of my career given that we received 80,492 applications for just 3,100 seats in our first-year class…we had to make some extraordinarily difficult decisions about who was admitted to the class.”
BU’s overall acceptance rate during the 2022-2023 admissions cycle fell to just 10.7%. Last year, BU got a similar number of applicants but accepted roughly 14% of them.
Walter added that, “since we have been significantly overenrolled for each of the past two years, it was absolutely critical for us to plan for yet another increase in yield. As a result, we had no choice but to significantly decrease the number of students to whom we offered admission.”
BU’s Early Decision acceptance rate was roughly 25% this cycle.
Northwestern Releases Regular Decisions, Class of 2027 Statistics
Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois, finalized is Regular Decision selection process and notified applicants of their decisions today, Friday, March 24.
Overall, Northwestern reviewed over 52,000 first-year applications from over 10,000 high schools around the world for a class that will ultimately only include roughly 2,100 students, according to Liz Kinsley, Northwestern’s Associate Dean & Director, Undergraduate Admission. Last year Northwestern reviewed 51,554 applications.
Northwestern previously admitted about half of its incoming Class of 2027 through Early Decision, and the university’s overall admit rate will stay roughly 7%. Northwestern’s Fall 2022 ED applicant pool grew by 3.5% to just over 5,200 applicants. This means that Northwestern’s Early Decision acceptance rate now hovers around 20%. In addition to growth in volume, Northwestern saw growth in the number of secondary schools represented in its ED pool of applicants: the number of schools represented by ED applicants was up 22% overall with a 25% increase in U.S. public schools represented.
Students admitted Regular Decision have until May 1 to accept their offer. Official steps toward enrolling in the Class of 2027 are outlined on Northwestern’s Admitted Student Website and will also be mailed with an admit packet.
For applicants offered a place on Northwestern’s waitlist, the deadline to accept a waitlist offer is May 1. Students who accept a waitlist spot before April 15 will be asked to reconfirm their interest in the waitlist on that date; the university will reach out via email with reconfirmation steps. Northwestern’s waitlist is unranked, and waitlisted students are welcome to write the admissions office if they’re still particularly interested in Northwestern. Additional materials should be uploaded via the applicant portal or emailed.
In other news, high school students in the Class of 2024 should know that Northwestern has confirmed that it will remain test-optional for the 2023–2024 admissions cycle.
Northwestern University’s campus in Evanston, Illinois, USA.
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