<p>"unless you're willing to say that Tufts accepted no one off the waitlist this year (and we know they have)"</p>
<p>Why are you so sure about the waitlist? The certainty with which you said that perplexes me since it's fairly well known that Tufts overenrolled last year and had to turn down everyone on their waitlist.</p>
<p>If you snoop around CC and look at the Tufts Admit threads and then look at the post histories of the ppl who got admitted, it becomes apparent that most of them are NOT going to HYPS-level schools. Most are instead going to state schools and colleges that give large amounts of merit aid. Quite a few ended up in the honors programs at places like BU and Rutgers, which are very good schools, but not "higher up the food chain" as you say. Thus many Tufts admits don't matriculate not becuase Tufts is their 2nd or 3rd choice school, but because they can't afford to go or decide they would rather save money or take advantage of grade inflation elsewhere (note: I am NOT accusing Rutgers or BU of grade inflation. I know that BU is very aggresively anti-grade inflation, which I greatly admire. The schools I'm referring to are the UC and UT-type schools, which it seems would also claim a large portion of the Tufts-admit pool.) This goes a long way in explaining the low yield rate.</p>
<p>Are you telling me Tufts loses most cross-admits to B.U.? I rather doubt that this is so ... particularly on the basis of greater financial aid.</p>
<p>Byerly, can't you make the argument that the applicant pool to Wesleyan is self-selective like the University of Chicago? With people now applying to 7+ more universities rather than the limited number decades ago, this will dramatically decrease yield rates across the board. Because Wesleyan is a specialized LAC it will attract the attention of those who are looking for such (and thus a fewer number of applicants). Tufts is a national university and will therefore get people to apply from all over; therefore it will likely fall victim to money considerations. I don't believe that is the entire explanation for a lower yield rate/selectivity in this instance as you suggest.</p>
<p>I don't agree or disagree with anyone about the BU Tufts wesleyan thing that is being argued about I'd just like to point out that Tufts does loose some (who knows how many) kids to BU because BU is probably the best school in the Boston area that offers merit money. Their need based aid is no where as good as Tufts because they don't pledge to mett 100 percent but it terms of merit BU reserves many scholarships for kids with very low financial need, making it more affordable for people who aren't at either side of the financial aid bracket.</p>
<p>Well being so-called "self-selective" doesn't guarantee a high yield rate ... the University of Chicago and Caltech are two prime examples. In each case, a relatively high number of the admits "self-select" another school if they have a chance!</p>
<p>Surely the increased number of applications (due to both demographics and to the trend towards multiple applications) has led many schools to crow about their "selectivity" because the number of applications per spot has increased. IMHO, the number of apps received has precious little to do with "selectivity" - since the number of marginal applicants actually interested in attending the school (if offered a choice) has probably not increased proportionately.</p>
<p>Yield rates, on the other hand, are much slower to change. Where you see a yield rate increase over time, yoiu will often find that the number has been goosed by (1) merit aid (ie, tuition discounts), or (2) a policy of increasing the fraction of the seats filled via a binding ED policy.</p>
<p>Again, IMHO, the best measure of true "selectivity" at elites (adjusting for the quality of the student body as measured by SAT scores, etc) is the RD yield rate - the fraction of admits who voluntarily select the school from among real alternatives.</p>
<p>Absent the reporting of such a stat - which I think USNews could develop if it wanted to - the next-best measure are the "Revealed Preference" rankings, based on a large survey taken in 2000-2001.</p>
<p>It is true that either a need based or so-call "merit" aid package can influence a decision to matriculate. </p>
<p>It is also true that BU (8% of students) offers more "merit" aid than Tufts (2% of students). </p>
<p>But BU also seems to offer more need-based aid, with 50% of students getting an aid package that is sliughtly higher than the 40% of Tufts students getting need based aid. (according to USNews)</p>
<br>
<p>Why are you so sure about the waitlist? The certainty with which you said that perplexes me since it's fairly well known that Tufts overenrolled last year and had to turn down everyone on their waitlist.<</p>
<br>
<ol>
<li><p>Tufts' own CC Waitlist thread indicates several posters were admitted from the waitlist; whether the cumulative total will add as much as a % to Tufts' final admit rate is the only thing no one is sure about.</p></li>
<li><p>I wasted an awful lot of bandwith trying to persuade franksloan to choose Wesleyan over Tufts' when one look at his posting history should have told me Tufts was his first choice. :p</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Not BU-specifically, but I think Tufts probably loses more admitees to BU-type schools than to Harvard-type schools (does ne1 have stats on this?)</p>
<p>the high cost was a major disincentive (not that we couldn't afford it, its just high), I almost went to BU instead where I got major merit aid. </p>
<p>It makes sense that a lot of Tufts admitees don't go due to cost. The other girl accepted from my school couldn't afford to go, and is at a public european university.</p>
<p>I wonder how things would change if Tufts were ever to adopt merit scholarships. I suppose it revolves around ethics and money - is it necessary to "buy" students or is it better for a university's reputation to stand alone on its own. Because this experiment hasn't been adopted at Tufts we'll never know, but it seems to have done well for a college such as USC. The difference between USC and Tufts is that Tufts has traditionally been a school of "higher" caliber without the same connotations of being a University of Second Choice (or has it LOL).</p>
<p>I think this device will be used more broadly in years to come, although often disguised as "travel grants", "research opportunities" etc.</p>
<p>Its really nothing more than "recruiting" scholars in the same way many top schools (although not the Ivies, currently) recruit athletes with "merit pay."</p>
<p>Intel winners etc., should be able to drive a pretty hard bargain when they figure out their value on the open market!</p>
<p>Come to think of it I think it already has as we've seen in the forum history evidence of people receiving "research opportunities" with various professors and grant money ($10k I believe) to support any endeavors he or she takes part in. Tufts does have unofficial merit scholarships though they are rare and not highly publicized. Ariesathena got a full ride from Tufts through a private sponsor from a Tufts alumnus I believe (I don't think it was need based either).</p>
<p>but IIRC, I don't think that was offered by the University itself, but rather by someone affiliated with it. I know 1 or 2 ppl at Tufts on similar programs.</p>
<p>Yeah, like CSEMS.</p>
<p>Now I hate to say it but I know there are some kids in my situation - whose parents are able to pay for their college tuition, even though they're not "rich" - are probably in a position where their parents say, Well, we'll pay for your education if it's a really well-known, good school, but if it's a step below, you should go to a state school, save money, and go to a great grad school. Even if the student is convinced that Tufts is every bit as good as a school with Ivy-recognition, or even better in some scenarios, the parents themselves are not convinced. I know tons of really amazing kids who chose the BC honors program, or Rutgers/TCNJ (I'm from New Jersey), or schools that are below the Tufts level but were giving them money for this reason.</p>
<p>I also know some people who are really good at scamming financial aid. Some of these parents are ridiculously good at squirreling away money, even with the help of an independent "consultant" to help them do so!</p>
<p>The fact that Tufts doesn't offer merit aid nearly made me have to turn the school down. I knew I really wanted to go there out of all the schools I got into, but they didn't offer me any money. At the same time, I got a full ride merit Trustee scholarship from USC, as well as several merit half-tuition scholarships at other colleges. But I just KNEW that I'd feel like I cheated myself if I didn't go with the school I liked the best. It was a really difficult decision, and I know what a sacrifice it is for my parents to send me to Tufts. But I also know how lucky I am that they have enough money to allow me to go to Tufts, whereas other people who are accepted aren't so lucky. I wish Tufts could offer merit aid, and maybe in the future, they'll be able to, because it'll attract a wider diversity of people.</p>
<p>You know merit aid is sometimes disguised as financial assistance. Schools sometimes have a financial policy where if you receive grants of any kind then they subtract that from your financial need. So what happens is you are getting "merit" aid but losing financial aid. The only merit aid that is truly worthwhile is a full ride.</p>
<p>A full ride at USC! I don't know if I could have turned that down (at the time). But Cali is a hella great place to be, but alas UC Berkeley and the likes are far too close for my tastes. Well I hope that you'll have the best four years you could ever imagine here :)</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I was wondering if there was a way to find out the acceptance rate of Tufts ED. I'm considering applying EDI this fall, and kind of wanna know what I'm getting into.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>