Early action (EA) applications to Harvard University dropped 17% to a four-year low. The school admitted 692 of its 7,921 EA applications for an acceptance rate of 8.7% which is a bit higher than last year’s 7.6% EA acceptance rate for the Class of 2027.
There is talk about how much of this may be due to the antisemitism controversy. We believe that any fallout from this controversy will more likely show up in the yield of this year’s applicants. The Congressional testimony did not occur until well past the EA deadline and most applicants at this juncture are planning to target a wide range of schools for the regular decision deadlines in approximately two weeks. Furthermore, many of these prospective students began working on their applications before this controversy arose and some will still hope for an acceptance offer from Harvard if for no other reason than leverage for a better financial aid package from a similarly selective college. That’s at least according to a small and unscientific sample size represented by some applicants I have spoken to directly within the past week or so.
