by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
The news that UMass-Cambridge has a record low acceptance rate of 9% isn't that terrible. As the ABC article details, the school could fill its incoming class valedectorians, and come close to filling it with students who scored 1600 on the non-writing portions of the SAT. Most of the high schoolers who applied will do just fine whereve they end up. And acceptance rates for the top three or four schools has hovered around 10% for a while.
But of course, the more important number for those getting mail today is the acceptance rate for regular admission applicants (anecdotally, deferred applicants don't get in at the regular deadline very often). In the class of '10 (currently freshmen), Harvard offered admission to 804 early action applicants and 2109 overall, resulting in an acceptance rate just under 7% for the 20,000 who applied in January. Next year, when Harvard eliminates its Early Action/Decision program, spring applicants will be slightly better off, and the November applicants who enjoyed a 20% acceptance rate will now be in a much larger pool.
