“A total of 7,591 applications were submitted for Colby’s Class of 2019—a 47-percent increase over last year’s 5,148.”
http://www.colby.edu/news/2015/01/22/applications-colby-college-class-2019-soar/
Oh jeez. That should make for a sub-20% acceptance rate.
Never mind to Colby then.
Colby eliminated their supplemental essay question this year…
No application fee either
The problem with the link is that it says “Colby News.” The posts by @MandMom and @ninadasiy, as brief as they are, actually provide more news analysis than anything in the press release. With neither an application fee nor a Colby-specific essay, does a Colby application now constitute anything more than pushing a button (and using a place in the Common App limit)? As for the acceptance rate going down, that will be a function of how much the yield is impacted by the ease of applying.
Since I posted above I’ve done a little more reading. According to The Colby Echo the supplemental essay was eliminated four years ago. I couldn’t find when the application fee was eliminated.
They haven’t had a fee for years, but the essay got removed this year, which probably accounts for the huge jump.
There was a 20% increase in Early Decision applicants, though, which wouldn’t happen if the only reason was an easier application.
@merc81: how did you find the Colby Echo? All signs of its publication online seem gone. The page says it has moved, but then the new URL it gives, doesn’t seem to link up. Do you have the URL/link? Thanks
@PantherPride99: “Say ‘so long’ to the supplemental essay / The Colby Echo” will get you to the article I referenced. In terms of general navigation, I encountered the same situation as you.
Btw, I’m not sure how that article can be reconciled with @alexa2017’s post.
Merc81, Colby has not had an application fee since at least the mid-2000s.
7600 apply,1450 admitted = 19% Yikes!!
^ That would be true if there is no change in yield due to Colby’s elimination of the application fee. At one university, according to a Bloomberg article, yield went from a third to 8% due to the increasing ease of their application process.
(Colleges Use ‘Bag of Tricks’ to Juice Application Numbers.)
If Colby’s yield rate were to drop to 8%, they would have to have accepted about 6,100 applicants to reach the usual target of about 485 freshmen… No way did Colby accept 80% of the applicants! Also, half the class was already
accepted through early decision.
The example was chosen to illustrate how dramatically yield can change when major changes are made in the application requirements. I have no opinion on how much yield will change in Colby’s case as I haven’t analyzed it that far. However, estimates regarding this year’s acceptance rate made under the assumption that Colby’s aggregate yield will remain the same as last year – as have been made on this thread – will, in most likelihood, be inaccurately low.
I’m well aware of the effect ED has on yield.
Merc81,
Everything you have mentioned about application changes do tend to enhance the application numbers as general rule. But many of the changes that tend to bump up numbers happened quite some time ago. There has been no admissions fee for almost a decade. Several years ago, the option of 3 SAT2s in lieu of SAT/ACT was established. The supplemental essay was done away with in 2010.
I think the real reason for the increase in applications is Colby’s new president, who is making a number of good changes at the school. As for admissions, my understanding was that there was a targeted change in marketing the school that is responsible for the increase in numbers. If that is the case, then probably yield also will also be increased. Time will tell.
@gointhruaphase: I agree with your reasoning in general. I retract some of my analysis if no major changes were made in the application requirements for this year. Honestly, though I read your reply #10 at the time of its posting, I failed to take it into account for my more recent comments.
In aggregate, though, Colby, as have other colleges, has gotten into a bit of a yield experiment. Last year’s yield for RD applicants was only 21%. If the new president is to be successful in his efforts, he will have to find a way to improve this number too. I wish him well.
How about merit scholarships
In clarification, if Colby made no major changes to the application requirements for this year, then I don’t disagree that a <20% acceptance rate is possible.
Anecdotally, a contributor in a parallel Colby thread posted Colby’s acceptance rates for this year:
ED1/ED2 combined: ~43%
RD: ~28%
The poster states the figures were obtained through an email exchange with the admissions committee.