The University accepted 9.6 percent of applicants to the incoming class of 2016 Thursday, resulting in the third-lowest admittance rate in Brown's history. A total of 2,760 out of 28,742 applicants - which includes both those who applied early and regular decision - were offered places in the class of 2016, according to a University press release.
The University offered admission slots to regular decision applicants Thursday, having already admitted 556 applicants under its binding early decision program last December, The Herald previously reported.
The number of total applications received was at a three-year low, following a record-setting year in which the University received 30,948 applications for the class of 2015. This year's acceptance was the third-lowest in Brown's history, above last year's record-low acceptance rate of 8.7 percent.
All Ivy League institutions announced their regular round decisions Thursday. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell posted record-low admit rates, while Penn's acceptance rate remained the same as last year at 12.3 percent. Columbia was the only other Ivy that experienced an increase in acceptance rate, rising from 6.9 to 7.4 percent.
As in previous years, Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia had lower admittance rates than Brown. Harvard posted the lowest rate, admitting only 5.9 percent of applicants this year, according to the Crimson.
Brown's admitted pool represents all 50 states and 80 countries, consistent with acceptances in recent years. The domestic admits come heavily from the Northeast and California, and the largest numbers of international admits hail from China, Canada, Korea, India and the United Kingdom.
The University anticipates an entering class of 1,515 students, a predicted yield of 55 percent. This represents an increase of 30 students in the expected size of the freshman class from last year.
The admitted students display characteristics similar to admitted students in recent years. Sixteen percent come from families without previous college graduates and 95 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. High school valedictorians and salutatorians make up 47 percent of the admitted students, according to the University's press release.
About two-thirds applied for financial aid, a number consistent with past years, according to Jim Tilton, director of financial aid. "It is far too early to predict the percentage of students in the class of 2016 who will receive need-based aid," he wrote in an email to The Herald. "We have no idea which students will commit, and we have many families who have requested consideration for financial aid and have not yet submitted all of their application materials."
Of the class of 2015, 47 percent receive need-based financial aid, Tilton wrote.
Just over half of all admitted students expressed interest in the physical and life sciences, according to the press release. Engineering, biology, international relations, economics and English were the five most popular intended concentrations.
Admitted students must notify the University of their decisions by May 1.
Will Barkeley applied to Brown in the early decision round and was deferred, but he was accepted through regular decision. Barkeley said he was not optimistic and considered Brown a reach. "My scores, in all reality, are not Ivy caliber, so I think Brown really took a holistic look at my application," he said. Barkeley said he believes his acceptance may have been won by his strong essays, frequent contact with his alum interviewer and extracurricular activity.
"If I could build a school for myself that fit my personality, it'd be Brown," he said.
