Columbia University posted its lowest admittance rate in school history this year, mirroring a trend among Ivy League schools and many top-tiered private colleges.
Just less than 2,500 students — or 9.8 percent of the 25,428 applicants — were admitted for this coming September.
Applications were up 13 percent compared to last year, when 10 percent were accepted.
New York University also posted a jump in applicants — 9.1 percent, to 37,057 this year — but that school admitted more students compared to last year.
NYU accepted 28.3 percent of applicants — or 10,505 students — compared to 25.2 percent in 2008.