Stanford University’s Restrictive Early Action (REA) program is a popular option for students looking to apply to one of the most prestigious universities in the country. With an acceptance rate of around 25% for early action applicants, the REA process can significantly improve your chances of being admitted compared to regular decision applicants.
To be a competitive applicant for Stanford’s REA program, you will need to have a strong academic record. The average GPA for admitted students is 3.95, which means you need to be at the top of your class. While there is no specific SAT requirement, applicants should aim to score at least a 1500 to be considered for admission to Stanford.
The admission process at Stanford involves submitting an application by the November 1st deadline for REA consideration. If you apply early and are denied admission, you will not be able to reapply in the regular decision round. This makes it crucial for students to carefully prepare their application and ensure that they meet all the necessary requirements to increase their chances of acceptance.
Stanford REA Acceptance Rate | Details |
|---|---|
Stanford REA Acceptance Rate | Stanford typically admits around 25% of its incoming freshman class through early action, which is significantly less than some of its peer institutions. However, applicants can expect the REA acceptance rate to be around twice that of its RD rate. |
Quality of Education | Applying to Stanford via Restrictive Early Action is a great way of indicating interest in the school and increasing the likelihood of acceptance, showcasing the high standards and academic excellence expected at Stanford. |
Admission Requirements | Average GPA requirement is 3.95, and applicants should aim for a minimum SAT score of 1500 to be considered. Stanford seeks top-performing students who show exceptional academic potential. |
Stanford University Admissions
In the fall of 2014, Stanford University received well over 37,000 freshman applications. Out of these students, approximately 150 students were accepted to Stanford from a pool of well-qualified applicants from all over the world. Using Stanford University’s REA college application, we were able to help 150 self-motivated and determined students get into the best school in the nation. We compare our top ranked college application with other companies by comparing acceptance rates.
Stanford University admissions is most selective with an acceptance rate of 4%. Half the applicants admitted to Stanford University have an SAT score between 1420 and 1570 or an ACT score of 32 and 35. However, one quarter of admitted applicants achieved scores above these ranges and one quarter scored below these ranges. The application deadline is Jan. 2 and the application fee at Stanford University is $90.
Admissions officials at Stanford University consider a student’s GPA a very important academic factor. An applicant’s high school class rank, when available, is considered very important and letters of recommendation are considered very important for admissions officials at Stanford University.
What is Stanford REA
Restrictive Early Action (REA) provides applicants with an opportunity to submit their application early without agreeing to attend if admitted. However, they do have to agree not to apply EA, REA, or ED to any other school. There are some exceptions, such as for schools that offer non-binding rolling admissions, but the general rule is: if you apply to Stanford REA, you are not applying early anywhere else.
Does early action help at Stanford?Under the new, nonbinding early-action program, students still will apply early—to Stanford only—and be notified of their acceptance early.
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ADMISSIONS.
| Type of program | Single-choice early action |
|---|---|
| Applicant must attend if admitted | no |
| Applicant may apply elsewhere early | no |
| Representative schools | Stanford, Yale |
If you gain acceptance REA, you are not bound to attend Stanford. Additionally, you do not have to decide whether to attend until May 1st. This means that you can apply RD to other schools and wait to make your final decision until you know your full slate of options.
Since applying early is typically seen to raise the chances of admission, using REA as a way to boost your likelihood of acceptance to Stanford may seem like a logical conclusion. But it may not be.
Stanford says that they do not give special preference to those who apply REA. They go so far as to say that most of the students that are admitted apply RD. Do we believe this? Yes and no.
Yes, we believe their core numbers. Stanford does offer admission to more RD applicants than REA applicants, but that doesn’t mean that they are offering admission to a higher percentage of RD applicants. If far more people apply RD than REA, more acceptances RD doesn’t necessarily mean a higher acceptance rate RD.
We also believe them when they say that they do not purposefully give preferential treatment to REA applicants. However, there’s a psychology of scarcity at play as well. When there are more seats open, it is, in some ways, easier to say yes. As seats fill and the number of available ones dwindles, saying yes may well become more contentious — which is why it’s good to get applications in early.
Even if sending an application in early doesn’t guarantee it will be at the top of the pile when they start reviewing, it may be worth a try. The number of applications submitted to Stanford has nearly doubled since 2008, while the number of seats available has stayed the same. Anything that you can do to be towards the top of the pile (within ethics and reason — so basically just submitting early) is a good thing to try.
This doesn’t make a resoundingly solid case for students to apply REA, though, so why does Stanford offer it as an option. Well, they receive over 45,000 applications. If they do not accept a version of early admission, they would have to read and review all of them in a very short period of time. That is pretty absurd, so accepting applications early is a way of spreading out their load for applications.
The final verdict: if you are 100% set on Stanford, getting your application in early can help you psychologically and may help you statistically — but no promises. If you are not 100% set on Stanford, though, applying REA means giving up your opportunity to apply ED to a school that does give preference to early applicants. This includes many schools analogous to Stanford in selectivity and prestige.
Applying to Stanford REA may help you out, but you’re also giving up a significant playing card. It is only something you should do if you are an academically competitive applicant, and you are sure that Stanford is your absolute first choice.
Stanford REA Acceptance Rate
They accepted 9.52 percent of its SCEA pool by admitting 745 out of a record 7,822 applications to the Class of 2020. At less than 10 percent, the combined rate of admissions at both MIT and Stanford remains at more than one-half of the combined Ivy League.
The Class of 2021 was one of the most challenging year to be admitted to Stanford University ever to date. For the Class of 2021, 44,073 students applied to Stanford University of which 2,050 students were accepted, yielding an overall acceptance rate of 4.7%.
- Application Deadline Jan. 2
- Application Fee $90
- Acceptance Rate 4%
Stanford University Applications
- Application deadline: Jan. 2
- Early decision deadline: N/A
- Application fee: $90
- Common Application accepted: Yes
- Deadline for housing deposit
Stanford University Admissions Requirements
- Admission interview: Neither required/recommended
- Required standardized tests: Either SAT or ACT
Entering Class Stats
- Selectivity: Most selective
- Acceptance rate: 4%
Transfer Students
- Accepting applications: Fall
- Minimum credits to apply: No
- Minimum required college GPA :N/A
- Has guaranteed admission agreement with at least one other institution: No
International Students
Application deadline
- Fall Jan. 3
- Separate application form required: No
- Conditional admission offered: No
- Early decision or early action options available: Early action only
- TOEFL (paper): Recommended
- TOEFL (internet-based): Recommended
- Michigan Test: N/A
- IELTS: Considered
- SAT: Required
- SAT Subject: Recommended
- ACT: Required
- Advance deposit required: No
- TOEFL accepted instead of SAT or ACT
stanford rea deadline
Submit your Coalition or Common Application by 11:59 p.m. (Pacific time) on the applicable deadline.
Freshman Applicants
Transfer Applicants
| Application with or without optional Arts Portfolio Deadline | March 15 |
| Materials for Arts Portfolio Deadline | March 20 |
| Last Acceptable SAT Test Date | December |
| Last Acceptable ACT Test Date | February |
| Notification of Missing Documents | April |
| Decision Released By | May 15 |
| Student Reply Date | June 1 |
stanford regular decision acceptance rate
Stanford Early Admissions
Stanford declined to release early decision data for the Class of 2021. They accepted 9.52 percent of its SCEA pool by admitting 745 out of a record 7,822 applications to the Class of 2020. At less than 10 percent, the combined rate of admissions at both MIT and Stanford remains at more than one-half of the combined Ivy League.Stanford Early Round Acceptance
| Early Applications Accepted | Total Early Applications Received | Early Acceptance Rate | Estimated Early Action Enrollment | % of Class Filled by Early Admissions |
|---|
| 2023 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 2022 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 2021 | 721 | 7,800 | 9.24% | NA | NA |
Stanford University Regular Decision
Stanford University has extended its policy of non-disclosure of its complete admissions numbers to the regular decision. Last year, Stanford declined to release the number of candidates admitted in December through Stanford’s Restrictive Early Action program. This year, Stanford only disclosed the number of successful applicants, namely 2,057 students.
We, however, believe Stanford’s numbers of applicants to be stable or increasing slightly, and have estimated the numbers for the Class of 2023. We estimate the early acceptance rate for the Class of 2023 to be just above 9 percent and its overall admission rate to be above 4 percent. Based on past years, we estimate the applicants’ pool to be around 49,000 students with 2,057 successful applicants. Last year Stanford University offered admission to the Class of 2022 to 2,071 students, or 4.36 percent of 47,450 candidates. Two years ago, Stanford admitted 2,085 students out of 44,073 applicants for admission to the Class of 2021 for an overall admission rate of 4.73 percent.
Get into Stanford
What you need to know about Stanford Admissions: insights into Stanford’s application process, admissions trends, programs & more.
| STANFORD UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS: REGULAR DECISION | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Decision Applications Accepted | Regular Decision Applications Received | Regular Decision Admissions Acceptance Rate | |
| 2023 | 1,357 | 40,500 | 3.35% |
| 2022 | 1,290 | 39,050 | 3.30% |
| 2021 | 1,329 | 36,251 | 3.67% |
| 2020 | 1,318 | 36,175 | 3.64% |
| 2019 | 1,396 | 35,539 | 3.93% |
| 2018 | 1,390 | 35,219 | 3.95% |
| 2017 | 1,485 | 32,726 | 4.54% |
| 2016 | 1,672 | 30,751 | 5.44% |
Stanford’s acceptance rate for the Class of 2020 was 5.4%. Stanford’s acceptance rate is lower than that of most other top universities, but it is not unheard of. The University of Chicago has an acceptance rate of 6.2%, while Columbia University has an acceptance rate of 5.8%. Dartmouth College also has a 5.8% acceptance rate.
The University of Virginia has an acceptance rate of 14%, which is one of the lowest among top colleges and universities, even though UVA is ranked as the #1 public university in the country by U.S News & World Report.
The low acceptance rates at these schools are due to their high standards and rigorous application processes—the number one factor being SAT or ACT scores (or both). You can improve your chances by taking high-quality SAT prep courses from companies like Kaplan or Princeton Review to prepare for these tests.
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