Based on admissions trends, the Class of 2027’s acceptance rate may be 5.82 percent or higher

Continued from page 1 the Class of 2025 — the regular decision acceptance rate that year was 3.98 percent.

The Class of 2027 will be the second expanded class in the University’s four-year push to increase undergraduate enrollment by 125 students per year. The first, the Class of 2026, was the University’s largest incoming class in history at the time. The University’s expansion includes three new residential colleges: New College West and Yeh College opened this academic year; Hobson College, which is under construction, has a revised timeline for opening before spring 2026.

Princeton admissions statistics

The ‘Prince’ analyzed the University’s admission cycles over a ten year period from the 2012-2013 cycle to the 2021-2022 cycle using the Common Data Set.

As the University continues its suspension of the standardized testing requirements, the number of applications to the University may have continued to increase. The Class of 2025, the first class entering Princeton with the test-optional policy in place, was selected from a recordbreaking applicant pool with an increase of 4,765 applicants from the previous year. As a result, the University saw a markedly lower overall acceptance rate that year of 4.38 percent (including Early Action), based on calculations by the ‘Prince.’ This mirrors a larger trend among the Ivy League as a whole. For the Ivy League Class of 2027, the average acceptance rate among the eight schools is an estimated 5.23 percent, compared to the 6.96 percent average acceptance rate among all Ivy League schools for the Class of 2024.

Princeton’s acceptance rate increased for the Class of 2026 due to expansion, up to 5.7 percent — Princeton is the only Ivy League school that is currently expand- ing class sizes. Based on admission trends at other Ivy League institutions, the ‘Prince’ estimates the Class of 2027’s acceptance rate may be 5.82 percent or higher.

Gender balance by ad-

Continued from page 1 inclusive and funded healthcare and childcare,” “affordable housing guaranteed through graduation,” “guaranteed cost of living adjustments and contingency funding,” and “fair, clear and safe work standards.” Much of the conversation has focused on affordable housing and increasing stipends.

Shaurya Aarav, a fifth-year graduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department, said that neither issue warranted a union.

“[PGSU] was trying to work for better housing, and better healthcare and childcare. So on these fronts, it seems that we are already well off. We received a considerable stipend hike last year, and when I talked to my other friends from other cities, it seems that [Princeton graduate students] receive a good stipend already,” Aarav said.

“So if I was in one of the University of California Schools, I would fully understand that demand. But at Princeton, it seems that [our] stipend is good enough,” he added.

Aarav also told the ‘Prince’ that he had reservations about the union ultimately becoming “an intermediary between the univer- sity and me.”

“I don’t know what the unintended consequences of that intermediary would be,” he said. Aarav said he is not involved with the unionization nor does he personally know anyone who was involved with the unionization efforts.

Divisions between STEM and the humanities

One challenging dynamic that organizers have run into is the general difference in outlook between graduate students in STEM departments and those in the humanities. The division is evident in the departmental breakdown of union organizers by department.

Although, according to a former PGSU representative who was granted anonymity, the union has taken steps to ensure each department has some representation in union leadership, there are still wide disparities in fields. Of the union organizers listed on PGSU’s website, 13 are in politics and nine are in English, whereas physics, neuroscience, and chemistry have only four organizers combined.

Multiple graduate students who spoke to the ‘Prince’ said this dynamic is likely due to the different treatment of graduate students in STEM compared to those in the humanities. According to graduate students, humanities de- missions cycle For the 2020-2021 Princeton admissions cycle, more women applied than men, breaking a nine year trend. However, of the eight Ivy League colleges, the Uni- partments tend to have less funding than their peers in STEM — therefore, the graduate students in the humanities do not always know if their funding will extend throughout the summer.

Tim Alberdingk Thijm, a fifthyear graduate student in the Department of Computer Science who is heavily involved with the unionization effort, gave reasons why STEM students should be more engaged with unionization.

Thijm told the ‘Prince’ that a “problem that people in STEM face is that [their] funding is very dependent on [their] advisor … That can put people in a precarious position, especially … if their advisor is harassing or overworking them.”

“That can actually be a lot more difficult to deal with, in some ways, than in the humanities,” he said.

The former PGSU organizer, who is in a STEM department, said that, in his experience, graduate students who are not in the humanities and do not have friends in the humanities tend to be singularly focused on their research and do not care about unionization.

Lack of confidence in leadership Students noted that union leadership never provided a specific explanation for what it means to sign a union card.

“I’m signing something legally binding, right? So I should get legal documentation [explaining] what I am signing. What does that mean? What is going to happen after?” asked the former PGSU organizer.

With information sparse from PGSU, the University sent an email to all graduate students that discussed what unions meant and gave an interpretation of the effects that unionization has on wages. In the email, administrators expressed “concern” about unionization, while stressing students could make their own decision.

This communication gap may have had an impact on student perspectives.

“[The University is] cautiously telling us stuff like ‘Hey, this is information that they didn’t tell you.’ And they’re holding a lot of helpful information sessions, which the union could have done. [Because we’re] like, ‘hey what does the union mean for me?’” said the former PGSU organizer. However, Thijm told the ‘Prince’ that students should be skeptical of the University’s messaging.

“Universities will sort of play versity had the second lowest number of female applicants. Starting with the class of 2021, more women have been admitted to the University than men. this role of presenting themselves as sort of these neutral kinds of information givers. But they are hiring union-busting law firms or are consulting with various organizations which have a history of busting unions or being antiunion to hone their messaging. And [University emails are] often designed to confuse people and make things unclear,” Thijm said.

The former PGSU organizer, however viewed the failure of communication as crucial. “The University doesn’t need to do much to thwart the union. I think the union’s biggest enemy at this point is the union itself, because they are making these mistakes so then the University can seem like the good guy by providing documents and information sessions.”

Another perceived misstep, which the union has not fully corrected, is that union leadership made guaranteed housing a key plank in the unionization effort. The University clarified in an email that unions cannot promise guaranteed housing.

Himawan Winarto, a fifth-year in the Program in Plasma Physics and the Graduate Student Government representative for the department wrote an op-ed in the ‘Prince’ referencing the claim, saying that he “compared ratified and historical contracts from graduate student unions at similar universities. I found that there is no precedent that suggests that PGSU can achieve what it has promised.”

“In fact, unionization may lower expected stipend growth in the long run and use members as pawns in political agendas. The benefits that a union can actually achieve are marginal, at best,” Winarto wrote.

The University is already attempting to increase capacity for graduate student housing by building the Meadows Housing Complex in 2024 across Lake Carnegie, which will provide 379 additional units for use by both graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, and will allow the University to offer subsidized housing to all graduate students. The majority of graduate students who spoke to the ‘Prince’ were enthusiastic about the Meadows Housing Complex and said that, in their eyes, it decreased the need for a union.

PGSU-affiliated graduate students pushed back against the idea that the housing problem will be solved.

“The University tells us that we’re shifting towards a model where there’s going to be 100 percent [housing for graduate

Justus Wilhoit is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’

Louisa Gheorghita is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ students], which means that the University is going to be everyone’s employer and everyone’s landlord,” a second-year graduate student, who is actively involved with PGSU and wanted to remain anonymous, said in an interview in which he emphasized the need for graduate students to have some power to negotiate with the University.

“The University has been saying that [housing’s] actually not something that we can negotiate, which is just not true. We can have negotiations; all the graduate students should be able to successfully negotiate over housing policies,” the second-year student continued.

One other misstep referenced by the former PGSU organizer was that the group took credit for the University’s increase of the graduate student stipend, even though it was a scheduled pay increase, while the union is not yet formed and thus does not negotiate with the University. Union leaders also exaggerated the size of the stipend increase in a communication to all graduate students.

“That made a lot of us question the union, like why are they misleading us? They lied to us, so why should we believe them?” asked the former organizer.

The former PGSU organizer still argues that a union would be beneficial for graduate students, but doubts the current leadership.

“The doubt [about unionization] mostly comes from the leadership, like, okay, can we trust these people? They have already made mistakes, and they can claim ‘well it happens,’ but people have doubts because of that. Most people want to union. But misleading people to vote for a union will have the opposite effect,” they said.

One first-year graduate student who wanted to remain anonymous noted that they were happy with their living situation and stipends, saying, “I don’t need the union, because I feel like Princeton is meeting all my needs. I feel like I’m more than satisfied.”

However, like the former PGSU organizer, this student told the ‘Prince’ that they could understand the benefits a union may bring.

“In the future, we might need a space of debate. And that’s what a union is for.”

Julian Hartman-Sigall is an assistant News editor at the ‘Prince.’

Zach Lee is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’