With the fall 2024-25 application cycle approaching, it's important to keep an eye on interview requirements for the schools on your list—especially if they're looking for evidence of demonstrated interest.  

For example in cases like Hillsdale College where interviews are encouraged and demonstrated interest is very important, it's a good bet that taking advantage of an optional interview — in-person or virtual — is worth your time and may more strongly weigh on your candidacy for admission.

To compile this list, we first surveyed every school in our coverage universe where the latest Common Data Set entry for "level of applicant's interest" was reported as important or very important.  We then identified the schools where interviews are offered, encouraged, or required. 

 The devil is in the details, so to help you figure out your strategy we've also included a link to each listed school's interview policy.  Do keep in mind that interview requirements may often vary by major.   Also note that the Common Data set defines four options—very important, important, considered and not considered—and that inconsistencies are likely to exist in the way colleges define these terms.

This information is current as of 6/26/2024.

College Kickstart subscribers: this information is already available to you in the Summary and Requirements views.

 

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

For those of you who have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's our initial update of Class of 2028 waitlist notification dates and status where available.  

To get a sense for what's happening at the macro level, we took a look at recently released Class of 2027 waitlist statistics from 84 private and public institutions.  Our analysis paints the following picture:

• The number of students admitted from the waitlist increased 134 percent year over year from 19,000 for the Class of 2026 to 44,000 for the Class of 2027

• On average, 23 percent of Class of 2027 students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted, down from 19 percent in for the Class of 2026

• Students admitted from the waitlist accounted for 15 percent of Class of 2027 enrollments, up from 8 percent for the Class of 2026

• 42 percent of the schools sampled admitted 10 percent or less of the students accepting a place on the waitlist for the Class of 2027 (vs. 67 percent for the Class of 2026)

Be sure to bookmark this page as we expect to be updating status over the next several weeks.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

Here's our updated list of reported overall admission rates for the Class of 2028. Results are now available for American University, Amherst College, Auburn, Barnard, Boston College, Boston University, Bowdoin, Brown, Bucknell, BYU, Carleton College, Colby, Colgate, Colorado College, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Elon, Emory, Fairfield, Florida State, Fordham, Franklin & Marshall, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Holy Cross, Howard, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette, Lehigh, Macalester, MIT, Northwestern, Notre Dame, NYU, Oberlin, Rice, Santa Clara University, Swarthmore, Tufts, Tulane, University of Georgia, University of Miami, University of Richmond, University of Southern California, University of Tennessee - Knoxville, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Wellesley, Wesleyan, William & Mary, Williams College and Yale.  Latest year application totals are available for many more.

Bookmark this page as we'll update frequently as more institutions report results. 

Click Continue Reading for the list.

 

Here's our updated list of regular decision notification dates for the Class of 2028.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here, along with the notification dates from last year.  Bookmark this site, as we'll post updates often.

Good luck, seniors!

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2028.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

 

Looking for a way to enhance admission odds without obligating yourself to attend?  Here's a list of colleges with early action admission rates that are at least 50% higher than their regular decision admission rates.  

Unlike Early Decision, Early Action is non-binding, so it nearly always works to your advantage.  And as the list shows, this advantage can be meaningful if you're a competitive applicant...all for simply applying 45-60 days earlier than normal.  

With most early action deadlines occurring in early November, the time is now to take a closer look. 

Looking for a way to enhance admission odds? Here's a list of schools with early decision admission rates that are at least twice as high as their regular decision admission rates.  

Because Early Decision is a binding commitment, it only makes sense if you're a competitive applicant, affordability isn't an issue, and you're absolutely certain it's the school for you. But as the list shows, there can be a meaningful advantage in applying this way if you are.  For example, at Bucknell University, roughly 60% of the Class of 2025 was admitted through Early Decision, and the admission rate was 73% vs. 31% for those who applied via Regular Decision.  Or at Bates College in Maine, roughly 80% of the incoming class was admitted through Early Decision and the admission rate was 46% vs. 10% for those who applied via Regular Decision.  These are differences too big to ignore.

Note: most early decision deadlines occur in early November, so the time is now to consider if it makes sense for you. Click here for more information about early admission, and here to find out how College Kickstart can help you take full advantage. 

U.S. News & World Report released their 2024 college rankings yesterday.  Approximately 80% of the nearly 1,500 schools ranked returned their information, including 99 of the top 100 ranked national universities and 97 of the top 100 ranked national liberal arts colleges.

Significant changes were made to this year's methodology, including more emphasis on social mobility and outcomes and changes to weightings.

Princeton retains sole possession of the top spot for National Universities, and Williams College tops the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.  

Click on Continue Reading to see the rankings changes. 

Here's our updated list of reported overall admission rates for the Class of 2027. Results are now available for American University, Amherst College, Barnard College, Bates College, Boston College, Boston University, Bowdoin, Brigham Young University, Brown, Bryn Mawr, Bucknell, Carnegie Mellon, Colby College, Colgate, Colorado College, Columbia University, Cornell, Dartmouth, Denison, Duke, Elon, Emory College and Oxford at Emory, Fairfield University, Florida State, Fordham, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Holy Cross, Johns Hopkins, Lehigh, Macalester, Middlebury, MIT, Northwestern, Notre Dame, NYU, Pitzer College, Rice, Santa Clara University, Smith College, Swarthmore, Tufts, Tulane, University of Georgia, University of Richmond, University of Southern California, University of Vermont, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, VillanovaWellesley, Wesleyan, Williams College and Yale.  Latest year application totals are available for many more.

Bookmark this page as we'll update frequently as more institutions report results. 

Click Continue Reading for the list.

Here's our updated list of reported early decision and early action admission rates for the Class of 2027.

This list includes results from Amherst College, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Colorado College, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Fordham University, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, MIT, Notre Dame, Rice, University of Georgia, USC, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Washington University in St. Louis, Williams College and Yale.  

Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next several weeks.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

For those of you who have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's our initial update of Class of 2027 waitlist notification dates and status where available.  

To get a sense for what's happening at the macro level, we took a look at recently released Fall 2022 waitlist statistics from 101 private and public institutions.  Our analysis paints the following picture:

• The number of students admitted from the waitlist declined 3 percent year over year from 26,000 for the Class of 2025 to 20,000 for the Class of 2026

• On average, 19 percent of Fall 2022 students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted, unchanged from the previous year

• Students admitted from the waitlist accounted for 8 percent of Fall 2022 enrollments, down slightly from 9 percent for Fall 2021

• 62 percent of the schools sampled admitted 10 percent or less of the students accepting a place on the waitlist for Fall 2022 (vs. 57 percent for the Fall 2021)

Be sure to bookmark this page as we expect to be updating status over the next several weeks.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

Here's our updated list of regular decision notification dates for the Class of 2027.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here, along with the notification dates from last year.  Bookmark this site, as we'll post updates often.

Good luck, seniors!

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2027.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

U.S. News & World Report released their 2023 college rankings earlier today.  1,500 schools were covered nationwide and evaluated on up to 17 measures of academic quality.

This year's methodology adjusts for the decline in SAT/ACT test takers, introduces a more comprehensive measure of faculty resources and reflects changes to Carenegie Classifications made in 2021.

Princeton retains sole possession of the top spot for National Universities, and Williams College tops the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.  

Click on Continue Reading to see the rankings changes. 

For those of you who have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's our initial update of Class of 2026 waitlist notification dates and status where available.  

To get a sense for what's happening at the macro level, we took a look at recently released Class of 2025 waitlist statistics from 120 private and public institutions.  Our analysis paints the following picture:

• The number of students admitted from the waitlist declined 46 percent year over year from 61,000 for the Class of 2024 to 33,000 for the Class of 2025

• On average, 15 percent of Class of 2025 students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted, down from 32 percent in for the Class of 2024

• Students admitted from the waitlist accounted for 13 percent of Class of 2025 enrollments, down from 27 percent for the Class of 2024

• 61 percent of the schools sampled admitted 10 percent or less of the students accepting a place on the waitlist for the Class of 2025 (vs. 28 percent for the Class of 2024)

As expected, surge in waitlist activity brought on by the pandemic to more normal levels with the Class of 2025, as institutions worked through a surge in gap year deferrals, vaccinations kicked into gear and students were finally able to return to campus. We anticipate waitlist activity to continue to moderate for the Class of 2026.

Be sure to bookmark this page as we expect to be updating status over the next several weeks.

Click Continue Reading for the list.