<p>Looks like this university is getting quite competitive:</p>
<p>Rico</p>
<p>I doubt that this will have too much of an effect. It also fits the general trend. That will probably effect selectiveness by only a couple percent. It’s not good news if you are on the edge, but it won’t affect anyone else too much.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Tech, I would agree that if this were an isolated event, it wouldn’t be a big deal but RPI has done this the past 5-6 years in a row. The end result is a school that used to have an acceptance rate close to 80% (still excellent students though) will now be close to 37% or so. That is a big difference.</p>
<p>Don’t think too many major universities are on that trajectory.</p>
<p>It’s really striking when you see that the acceptance rate for as recently as the Fall of 2005 was 78% (and 80% for the Fall of 2003), with 5,600 applicants in 2005, compared to where things are now.</p>
<p>From 5,600 applicants to 14,500 in 6 years. Amazing.</p>
<p>I think you also need to look at the yield rate as well. Almost all schools have had a big increase in number of applications, as kids apply to more and more schools. While on one hand RPI can be more picky about who it accepts, if more of the kids at the top of the accepted pool decide to go elsewhere, RPI would have to go further down the list to fill the class. The rise in applications is good, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.</p>
<p>(Don’t get me wrong – I love RPI and am amazed at how good a fit it has been for my DS!)</p>
<p>@rico, that’s what I said “follows the general trend” i.e. the trend has been a rapid increase, so this is not at all surprising.</p>