What are the acceptance rates for top 20 colleges during regular decision?

I've been researching top colleges and am curious about how competitive regular decision is compared to early decision. Does anyone have insights into acceptance rates for regular decision?

While I don't have the exact regular decision acceptance rates for all top 20 colleges, I can provide a general idea. Regular decision acceptance rates tend to be much lower than early decision or early action rates. This is generally because during regular decision, these highly selective schools receive the majority of their applications, and thus the competition is a lot more intense.

For instance, let's take Harvard University as an example. In recent years, its regular decision acceptance rate has been below 5%.

Similarly, schools like Princeton and Columbia also see regular decision acceptance rates below 5%. Stanford, Yale, MIT - all these schools have regular decision acceptance rates well under 7%.

Remember, these figures can vary year by year due to the ebb and flow of the applicant pool, and colleges never officially split their acceptance rates into ED/EA and RD. Therefore, it's tough to provide a completely precise answer. However, as a general rule, applying early decision or early action does show dedication to a specific institution and can somewhat increase your chances of acceptance.

Finally, I want to underline that even though these rates might seem discouraging, many students are admitted during regular decision. Keep in mind that strength of profile - grades, test scores, extracurriculars and personal essays - is the ultimate deciding factor. Whether you apply early or regular, you'll want to put forward your best application.