CDSHome
Admit rate

Northeastern's transformation

Admit rate dropped from ~30% to 5.2% in roughly a decade.

Admit rateNortheastern

Northeastern's selectivity arc is the most dramatic in the dataset. Application volume nearly tripled, admit rate cratered, and the school joined Penn and Dartmouth in the 5–6% admit tier.

What's striking: yield (the share of admits who actually enroll) is still relatively low — ~54% — meaning most admits are still cross-applying with more selective peers.

Applications received — same schools
Takeaway: Selectivity rankings can shift fast when application volume spikes. Northeastern is the canonical example.
Latest year, all schools shown
SchoolYearAdmit %
Northeastern2024-255.2%