Williams Acceptance Rate: Class of 2030 Admissions Statistics

Williams admitted just 1,295 students out of 15,225 applicants for the Class of 2029, an 8.51% acceptance rate and one of the lowest in the college’s history. To put that in perspective, roughly 9 out of every 10 students who applied didn’t get in.

ED decisions for the Class of 2030 came out in December 2025, where they accepted 25.2% of applicants. RD results are expected in April 2026.

In this blog, we’ll walk through Williams’ latest available overall, early, regular, waitlist, and transfer acceptance rates and see how they’ve changed over time.

• Williams Acceptance Rates
• Williams Early Decision Acceptance Rate
• Williams Regular Decision Acceptance Rate
• Williams Transfer Acceptance Rate
• Williams Waitlist Acceptance Rate
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Takeaways

Williams Acceptance Rates

Williams’s overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 rose to 8.51%, a modest increase from the 8.25% recorded for the Class of 2028. This shift was driven by a slight dip in applications, from 15,411 to 15,225, while the number of admitted students ticked up slightly to 1,295.

However, Williams’s overall acceptance rate has declined considerably over the past decade, falling from above 14% to single digits in recent years. Here’s the complete picture:

Note: All data has been compiled from Williams’ Common Data Set.

Applications nearly doubled from 8,593 for the Class of 2021 to a peak of 15,411 for the Class of 2028, a surge likely fueled by test-optional policies. The slight decline to 15,225 for the Class of 2029 may reflect the broader post-pandemic normalization in application volumes.

Meanwhile, the number of admitted students has remained relatively stable, ranging from 1,099 to 1,322 across all years. That combination of surging applications and a fixed admit pool drove the acceptance rate from 14.58% for the Class of 2021 down to 8.25% for the Class of 2028, a near-halving in just seven years. The modest rebound to 8.51% for the Class of 2029 closely tracks the slight dip in applications that year.

Williams Early Decision Acceptance Rates

The most recent ED figures we have are from the Class of 2030, when Williams received 1,092 early applications and admitted 258 students for an acceptance rate of 25.22%, up from 23.34% for the Class of 2028.

Williams Early Decision acceptance rate trends

Williams’s ED acceptance rates have fallen sharply over the past decade, dropping from above 35% to the mid-20s. Here’s a breakdown:

Note: All data has been sourced from Williams’s Common Data Set.

ED applications grew steadily from 634 for the Class of 2024 to a peak of 1,067 for the Class of 2028 before pulling back to 1,023 for the Class of 2030. Admits have remained remarkably consistent, ranging narrowly from 238 to 258 across all years. That combination of rising applications and a fixed admit pool pushed the ED acceptance rate from a high of 39.27% for the Class of 2024 down to a low of 23.34% for the Class of 2028. The recovery to 25.22% for the Class of 2030 corresponds directly with the decline in applications that year.

Even so, early applicants have continued to see considerably stronger odds than their regular decision counterparts.

Williams Regular Decision Acceptance Rate

The most recent RD data comes from the Class of 2029, where 14,261 students competed for 1,038 spots, resulting in a 7.28% acceptance rate, edging up from 7.13% for the Class of 2028. Williams has not yet released its RD statistics for the Class of 2030.

Williams Regular Decision acceptance rate trends

Over the past decade, Williams’s RD acceptance rate has been cut nearly in half, falling from above 12% to the low single digits. Here’s a full breakdown:

Note: RD figures are estimates derived by subtracting ED data from overall totals in Williams’s Common Data Set.

The number of RD applicants nearly doubled from 7,865 for the Class of 2021 to 14,507 for the Class of 2026. But the number of students admitted comparatively didn’t change much, staying between 861 and 1,073 each year. More applicants competing for roughly the same number of spots pushed the acceptance rate down from 13.23% for the Class of 2024 to just 7.13% for the Class of 2028.

Williams Transfer Acceptance Rate

The most recent available Williams transfer data comes from Fall 2024, with an acceptance rate of 2.76%. Here’s the breakdown:

Note: Fall 2024 transfer data is from Williams’s Common Data Set for 2024-2025, the same reporting year that includes Class of 2028 first-year admissions data.

Williams’s transfer process is extremely selective, well below the 8.25% overall first-year rate for the Class of 2028.

Williams Waitlist Acceptance Rate

The most recent waitlist data comes from Fall 2024, when Williams admitted 13.17% of students who confirmed their spots in the waitlist. Here’s the breakdown:

Note: Waitlist data is from Williams’s Common Data Set for 2024-2025, the same reporting year that includes Class of 2028 first-year admissions data.

Williams has a 13.17% waitlist acceptance rate, which is higher than its first-year admit rate. However, that number can change a lot from year to year, depending on how many admitted students decide to enroll.

According to Williams, the waitlist typically holds between 600 and 750 students, with around 30 admitted in a typical year. If the class falls short of its enrollment target, Williams draws from the waitlist on a rolling basis starting in May, notifying students by email. There’s no rush to submit, and Williams does not rank students based on timing. After May 1, you can follow up through the Continued Interest form.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Williams’s current acceptance rate?

The most recent confirmed acceptance rate is 8.51% for the Class of 2029. Williams received 15,225 applications and admitted 1,295 students.

2. Is it easier to get into Williams through Early Decision or Regular Decision?

ED applicants have consistently fared better. For the Class of 2029, the ED rate was 26.66% compared to 7.28% for RD, more than three times higher. That said, ED applicants also tend to be among the most competitive in the pool.

3. How hard is it to transfer to Williams?

Very difficult. For Fall 2024, only 15 out of 543 applicants were admitted, a 2.76% transfer rate, well below the first-year acceptance rate.

4. What are my chances of getting off Williams’s waitlist?

It varies. Williams typically admits around 30 students from the waitlist in a normal year, though Fall 2024 was an outlier with 113 admitted, resulting in a waitlist acceptance rate of 13.17%.

5. Why is Williams’s acceptance rate so low?

Applications have nearly doubled over the past decade while the number of admitted students has stayed roughly the same, meaning more qualified applicants are competing for the same number of spots.

Takeaways

• Williams’s acceptance rate has fallen sharply, from 15.12% for the Class of 2024 to a record low of 8.25% for the Class of 2028, before ticking up slightly to 8.51% for the Class of 2029.
• ED offers a significant statistical advantage. For the Class of 2029, the ED rate was 26.66% compared to 7.28% for RD, though early applicants also tend to be among the strongest candidates.
• The surge in applications has been the biggest driver of declining odds. Williams received fewer than 9,000 applications for the Class of 2024, by the Class of 2028, that number had grown to over 15,000.
• Transfer and waitlist admissions are equally unpredictable, with a transfer rate of just 2.76% for Fall 2024 and waitlist admits that can vary widely depending on enrollment needs.
• With odds this tight, working with a college admissions expert can make a real difference. The right guidance helps you build a stronger application, tell a more compelling story, and put your best foot forward when it matters most.