vol. 24, no. 21	April 23, 1999

Columbia Maintains Place in Top 3 Most Selective Ivy Schools

The admit rate to Columbia College has dropped to below 14 percent for the first time ever, keeping Columbia in the top three most selective Ivy League schools, along with Harvard and Princeton, for three years running.

Columbia's admit rate of 13.6 percent ranks third in selectivity behind Princeton (10.8 percent) and Harvard (11.3 percent), but ahead of all other Ivy League schools, including Yale.

This year Columbia again received a record number of undergraduate applications, crowning a near decade-long admissions boom.

The undergraduate admissions office reported 13,011 applications to the College's Class of 2003, and 2,293 to the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. For the College, the figures represent a 6.2 percent increase above those recorded in 1998, which was also a record year.

"The reality is that with a combined total of over 15,000 applications for the College and the Engineering school, the admission decisions are extremely difficult given the strength and depth of the applicant pool," says Eric Furda, director of undergraduate admissions. "Nevertheless it affords us the opportunity to sculpt a class of tremendous academic ability and far-reaching talents."

The selectivity rate of the College dropped to 13.6 percent from a rate of 14.2 percent in 1998. The selectivity rate is the ratio of applications to admittances. As the number of applications to the College rose during the 1990s--indeed, they have nearly doubled in the past seven years--the selectivity rate has steadily dropped.