Northwestern’s overall admissions rate dipped to just over 7% for its Class of 2029 — a slight decrease from the previous year’s 7.6% admit rate.
Prospective students were notified about Regular Decision results last Wednesday. Fifty-five percent of the incoming class was admitted last December during the Early Decision application round. The early admission rate remained consistent with previous years at about 20%.
The incoming class is expected to be about 2,100 students, selected from a pool of over 53,000 applicants — up from about 50,000 last year.
In a letter to college counselors dated March 26, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Liz Kinsley touted an increase in the number of secondary schools represented by the applicant pool, around 12,000.
This is only the second admissions cycle since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 2023 decision reversing affirmative action in college admissions. In response to the decision, Northwestern replaced its traditional “Why Northwestern” prompt with a new set of supplemental essays, giving applicants an opportunity to discuss a broader range of backgrounds and experiences.
Amid changes to the formats of the ACT and SAT exams, NU remained test-optional and will not require standardized tests for the upcoming 2025-2026 admissions cycle either. The test-optional policy, first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, has contributed to growing application pools, and, accordingly, to lower admit rates.
While the “soft deadline” for transfer applicants passed in mid-March, the portal will remain open for applications until April 10, with a decision guaranteed by the end of May.
Admitted Regular Decision students have until May 1 to accept their offers of acceptance or a spot on the waitlist.
Email: s.draeger-mazer@dailynorthwestern.com
X: @sashadm27
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— From 34% to 7%: Six takeaways from Northwestern admissions data since 2000
