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Admissions

2001 Data

RPI CalTech Carnegie Mellon Case Western Clarkson CO School of Mines Cornell Georgia Tech Harvey Mudd Johns Hopkins Lehigh MIT Rice RIT Rose-Hulman WPI
Applications 5,542 3,365 16,696 4,663 2,584 1,943 16,538 9,476 1,524 9,129 8,037 10,490 6,740 8,310 3,034 3,216
Acceptances 3,748 515 5,211 3,429 2,082 1,571 4,288 5,157 516 3,132 3,851 1,787 1,578 5,954 2,040 2,461
Acceptance Rate 67.6% 15.3% 31.2% 73.5% 80.6% 80.9% 25.9% 54.4% 33.9% 34.3% 47.9% 17.0% 23.4% 71.6% 67.2% 76.5%
Newly Enrolled 1,112 214 1,318 738 724 635 1,950 2,225 174 1,015 1,112 1,030 660 2,254 404 705
Yield 29.7% 41.6% 25.3% 21.5% 34.8% 40.4% 45.5% 43.1% 33.7% 32.4% 28.9% 57.6% 41.8% 37.9% 19.8% 28.6%
SAT Scores* 1,315 1,520 1,375 1,340 1,170 1,240 1,400 1,335 1,465 1,405 1,275 1,485 1,420 1,225 1,285 1,265

2018 Data

RPI CalTech Carnegie Mellon Case Western Clarkson CO School of Mines Cornell Georgia Tech Harvey Mudd Johns Hopkins Lehigh MIT Rice RIT Rose-Hulman WPI
Applications 20,402 8,208 24,351 26,642 6,885 12,661 51,324 35,612 4,101 29,776 15,622 21,706 20,923 19,335 4,471 10,584
Acceptances 8,770 543 4,170 7,794 4,894 6,228 5,448 8,037 594 3,417 3,488 1,464 2,328 12,765 3,049 4,402
Acceptance Rate 43.0% 6.6% 17.1% 29.3% 71.1% 49.2% 10.6% 22.6% 14.5% 11.5% 22.3% 6.7% 11.1% 66.0% 68.2% 41.6%
Newly Enrolled 1,778 231 1,572 1,393 797 1,199 3,295 3,116 234 1,413 1,275 1,114 960 2,847 501 1,280
Yield 20.3% 42.5% 37.7% 17.9% 16.3% 19.3% 60.5% 38.8% 39.4% 41.4% 36.6% 76.1% 41.2% 22.3% 16.4% 29.1%
SAT Scores* 1,415 1,555 1,500 1,435 1,255 1,370 1,465 1,465 1,525 1,505 1,360 1,535 1,505 1,300 1,375 1,380

17-Year Change

RPI CalTech Carnegie Mellon Case Western Clarkson CO School of Mines Cornell Georgia Tech Harvey Mudd Johns Hopkins Lehigh MIT Rice RIT Rose-Hulman WPI
Application Growth 268% 144% 46% 471% 166% 552% 210% 276% 169% 226% 94% 107% 210% 133% 47% 229%
Acceptance Rate -23.6 -8.7 -14.1 -44.3 -9.5 -31.7 -15.3 -31.9 -19.4 -22.8 -25.6 -10.3 -12.3 -5.6 1.0 -34.9
Yield -9.4 1.0 12.4 -3.6 -18.5 -21.2 15.0 -4.4 5.7 8.9 7.7 18.5 -0.6 -15.6 -3.4 0.4
SAT Scores* 100 35 125 95 85 130 65 130 60 100 85 50 85 75 90 115

Group Comparison

Group Avg. RPI
Application Growth 205% 268%
Acceptance Rate -19.0 -24.6
Yield 0.2 -9.4
SAT Scores 88 100

RPI's results are not meaningfully different than the group averages. The data also implies RPI's weak yield is likely holding back any further lowering of its acceptance rate. More generally, the data implies exogenous factors have helped all STEM schools post improved results (see College Board Research Brief and “The STEM Enrollment Boom” article).

* Schools provide 25th and 75th percentile ranges for reading and math test sections. The ends of each range were averaged and the two were added to approximate median total score.

Sources: IPEDS Database, Common Data Sets, Annual Reports, Annual “Fact Books,” and direct input from schools.