Columbia University in the City of New York

Acceptance rate

What Columbia's 4% is made of

The published rate averages groups with very different odds. These are the splits Columbia reports itself.

Part of Real Acceptance Rates, our series decomposing published rates from each school's own Common Data Set.

Testing

Test-Optional for 2026-27

Policy

Columbia College and Columbia Engineering remain test-optional for the CURRENT 2026-27 cycle (fall 2027 entry). Columbia announced June 15, 2026 that it will require SAT/ACT scores beginning with the 2027-28 cycle (fall 2028 entry), making it the last Ivy to reinstate testing; a waiver option is expected once the requirement takes effect.

Announced change: required from 2027-28 cycle (fall 2028 entry)

Source (medium confidence)All 100 schools

SAT middle 50%

1510–1580sum of section 25th–75th percentiles

ACT middle 50%

34–35

Average HS GPA

Not published by the school

Applying

Deadlines, essays and AI policy

Early deadlines

Nov 1, 2026 (ED)

Regular decision

Jan 1, 2027Source

Supplemental essays

6 required

6 required written responses: 1 list question (≤100 words) plus 5 short-answer essays (≤150 words each).

AI use in essays

No Official Policy

Verified in a live browser session: Columbia's admissions page titled 'Artificial Intelligence' covers AI as a field of study, not applicant use, and the How to Apply hub and FAQs publish no generative-AI policy.

All 50 schools

Full cycle calendar: Application Deadlines.

At a glance

Size and cost

Undergraduate enrollment

8,973

Tuition (out-of-state)

$71,845

Category

Ivy League

Admissions site

www.columbia.edu

Dewey Smart

Dewey students who got into Columbia

Sources

• Columbia test policy (2026-27)
• Columbia deadlines
• Columbia admissions pages
• Columbia admissions pages
• Acceptance rate, test-score percentiles, enrollment and tuition: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, pulled 2026-08-19.

Test policy and deadlines last verified 2026-08-17.