History is in the making at the bustling cultural-educational epicenter that is New York University. During this past admissions cycle, NYU broke internal and external records for the lowest acceptance rate in the school’s 193-year history and the world record for most applications received by a private four-year university in one admissions cycle. We’re here to unpack it all and share our thoughts on why students seem drawn to this highly prestigious (and selective!) school.

New York University Acceptance Rate and Statistics (Classes of 2029 — 2018)

New York University Class Year	Total Applications Received	Total Applications Accepted	Overall Acceptance Rate
Class of 2029	120,000+	Not Yet Published	7.70%
Class of 2028	118,000	9,440	8.00%
Class of 2027	120,000	10,000	8.33%
Class of 2026	105,000	12,810	12.20%
Class of 2025	95,308	12,199	12.80%
Class of 2024	85,000	13,000	15.29%
Class of 2023	76,919	12,307	16.00%
Class of 2022	75,037	15,722	20.95%
Class of 2021	67,232	18,520	27.55%
Class of 2020	63,702	19,000	29.83%
Class of 2019	60,322	18,500	30.67%
Class of 2018	52,000	19,000	36.54%

New York University’s Class of 2029 in Historical Perspective

Looking back over a decade of admissions at NYU is to witness a profound transformation in prestige. More than a third of applicants were accepted when the Class of 2018 was being admitted over ten years ago. This acceptance rate would plummet in the following years, propelling NYU from a moderately selective college known for its artistic and bohemian community to a globally renowned university where 92% of applicants face rejection.

This year, more students applied to get into NYU than there are people in whole swathes of the American West. NYU’s 120,000 hopefuls could fill Madison Square Garden six times over, and still leave some stragglers. In order to have enough room on their lower Manhattan-based campus, admissions officers at NYU had to cut back on acceptances and factor in what can only be presumed to be NYU’s skyrocketing yield rate. The higher the yield, or the proportion of enrollees, the larger the incoming class. It comes as no surprise, then, that the number of admitted students has been on a steady decline just like the acceptance rate — NYU has had to account for the fact that admitted students are more and more interested in attending! Real estate prices, after all, are high in the Big Apple, and NYU can only build new dorms so quickly!

Breaking Down New York University’s Class of 2029

NYU, in line with its peer institutions, has chosen to keep the demographic details of its incoming class under wraps. This decision, possibly to avoid the controversies that have embroiled other schools in recent years, has left many curious about the composition of the NYU Class of 2029. However, this data is expected to be revealed soon with the release of this year’s Common Data Set.

When this very data was released last year for the Class of 2028, it revealed that White and Asian enrollment increased, while Black student enrollment fell from 7% to 4% and Latino student enrollment fell from 15% to 10% — which reflects that this was the first admissions cycle conducted after the Supreme Court outlawed the use of race-based Affirmative Action.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with NYU Waitlist Admission

Congratulations are in order for those lucky Violets soon to cross through Washington Square Park and join the Class of 2029. However, your road doesn’t end here for those who have been waitlisted to NYU this year. Over the last 30 years, 46% of students who first come to Ivy Coach after being waitlisted have earned admission to NYU with our assistance, and we’re here to help.

To optimize your case for admission off the NYU waitlist, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, indicate that NYU has waitlisted you, and we’ll be in touch to delineate our waitlist services led by our team of former elite college admissions officers.