<p>Where are you getting your figure? </p>
<p>For MIT 11% of deferred get in on RD, which backs you up, but then one must notice that RD applicants are slightly less than 10% admissions rate , so never mind.</p>
<p>MIT is committed to only taking 30% of their class from early applicants. That is from their website. <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/early_action_versus_regular_action/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/early_action_versus_regular_action/index.shtml</a>
I am guessing other schools also have some sort of quota. EA applicants tend to be more qualified than RD applicants, so they pick up the rest in RD. </p>
<p>and here are some stats:
Early action
Applicants 3,493
Admitted 390
Deferred to regular action 2,638
Deferred applicants admitted during regular action 289</p>
<p>Regular action
Applicants 8,952
Total considered during regular action (including deferred students) 11,590
Admitted (including deferred students) 1,163
Waitlisted 499</p>
<p>I dont feel like researching other schools, but I am pretty sure Caltech is similar.</p>