Princeton acceptance rate and admissions statistics
Princeton admitted 1,868 of 42,303 first-year applicants in its 2025-26 Common Data Set, an official acceptance rate of 4.4%. Every number below comes from the college’s own Common Data Set, each year linked to its document; a figure the college leaves blank says “Not published”, and the notes at the foot of the page say where a total is the sum of rows the college printed.
What did admitted applicants have? How to get into Princeton counts the grades, scores and activities they posted.
Princeton acceptance rate by year
| CDS year | Applied | Admitted | Acceptance rate | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 42,303 | 1,868 | 4.4% | 1,408 | 75.4% |
| 2024-25 | 40,468 | 1,868 | 4.6% | 1,410 | 75.5% |
| 2023-24 | 39,644 | 1,782 | 4.5% | 1,366 | 76.7% |
Acceptance rate is admitted divided by applied; yield is enrolled divided by admitted. Both are computed by Aristo Scholars from the two counts printed beside them.
Early decision at Princeton
Early decision counts: Not published. Princeton’s Common Data Set prints no early decision applicant or admit counts (section C21) for any year shown.
Princeton waitlist
Princeton SAT and ACT scores
What Princeton says matters in admission
In section C7 each college rates its own admission factors as Very Important, Important, Considered or Not Considered. These are the factors Princeton rated in the top two tiers.
- 2025-26
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Academic GPA, Standardized test scores, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities
- Important: None recorded
- 2024-25
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Academic GPA, Standardized test scores, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities
- Important: None recorded
- 2023-24
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Class rank, Academic GPA, Standardized test scores, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities
- Important: None recorded
Princeton testing policy for students applying in 2026-27
Test optional for the 2026-27 cycle. First-year and transfer applicants seeking to enroll in fall 2027 may apply without an ACT or SAT score and are not disadvantaged. The page says Princeton is resuming testing requirements but remains test-optional for this cycle.
From Princeton’s admissions site, read 2026-11-05. Policies change; the college’s page is the authority.
How these numbers were read
Princeton offers Single-Choice Early Action rather than early decision, so C21 has no early decision counts.
Princeton acceptance rate questions
- What is the Princeton acceptance rate?
- Princeton's Common Data Set for 2025-26 reports 42,303 first-year applicants and 1,868 admitted, an acceptance rate of 4.4%. It was 4.6% in 2024-25 and 4.5% in 2023-24.
- What SAT scores do Princeton students have?
- In 2025-26, the middle half of enrolled first-year students who submitted the SAT scored 1490 to 1560, and ACT submitters scored 34 to 35. 60.0% of enrolled students submitted an SAT score.
- How many students get off the Princeton waitlist?
- In 2025-26, Princeton offered 1,370 applicants a place on the waitlist; 1,086 accepted one, and 36 were admitted from it.
- Does Princeton require the SAT or ACT for students applying in 2026-27?
- Test optional for the 2026-27 cycle. First-year and transfer applicants seeking to enroll in fall 2027 may apply without an ACT or SAT score and are not disadvantaged. The page says Princeton is resuming testing requirements but remains test-optional for this cycle.
Applying to Princeton?
An acceptance rate describes the whole pool, not one student. A Specialist can read your student’s file against what Princeton says it weighs.
Source: Princeton Common Data Set, sections C1, C2, C7, C9 and C21, each year linked above, read 2026-11-05. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with Princeton. All official acceptance rates