<p>I don’t know how I came across this thread. Since I enjoy playing with numbers, let me throw this out. Where 20,000 seats come from? Is it the number of admits or freshman enrollments?</p>
<p>Igloo, I think that it is a random number for the most desirable admissions, or “seats” available to entering freshman. At least that is how I read it. I am not sure there is any science or magic to that number.</p>
<p>vlines - I was wondering if the number included the yield factor. They admit more than they can take, don’t they? I thought that would counter how some kids are accepted everywhere while others are not.</p>
<p>As a round number, it’s probably not that far off the number of unique individuals who are offered admission at one or more of the 8 Ivy League colleges, Stanford, and MIT. The number who actually enrolls in those colleges is about 16,000, and they don’t lose all that many students except to each other. It’s not crazy to estimate that, as a group, they have a yield in the vicinity of 80% (although in actuality it’s probably lower than that, and therefore the number of kids who get acceptances would be somewhat more than 20,000).</p>
<p>not sure Iglooo, hopefully someone else will have that answer for you.</p>
<p>JHS - It is an interesting exercise that takes some mystery out of the admissions process. Top 15-20K kids, however we define it, get in top 10 institutions in the end for good measure, again however we define them. Good to know.</p>
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<p>Thats a pretty bold estimate, and Im not saying its not true, but Id like to see some support evidence on this. Just thinking about the other elites, full-tuition/full-ride honor colleges and accelerated BS/MS/MD/PhD programs casts some doubt on the vicinity of 80% figure in my mind.</p>
<p>It is a little high. Harvard was 77% [High</a> yield for Class of ?15 | Harvard Gazette](<a href=“http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/05/high-yield-for-class-of-’15-2/]High”>High yield for Class of ’15 – Harvard Gazette)
Yale was 65% [Yield</a> rate falls again for class of 2015 | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/aug/31/yield-rate-falls-fifth-straight-year/]Yield”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/aug/31/yield-rate-falls-fifth-straight-year/)</p>
<p>I believe JHS meant within the group. 23% from Harvard going to S or Y will still be in the group.</p>
<p>Yield drops off shockingly fast among the Ivies because it isn’t that closely correlated with competitive admissions. The yield difference between Harvard (77%) and Dartmouth/Cornell (~50%) is enormous, especially when you consider that Dartmouth & Cornell admit a substantial portion of the class through binding ED. U Nebraska handily beats MIT; Cornell has lower yield than Kentucky. It’s just not a great measure.</p>
<p>[Most</a> Popular Schools: National Universities - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/03/05/most-popular-schools-national-universities]Most”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/03/05/most-popular-schools-national-universities)</p>
<p>And yield has too many complexities to be considered a measure of popularity (BYU is a good example). I think number of applications received is a better popularity measure.</p>