Colby 2019 Numbers

Let’s see if those numbers can possibly work. Last year 309 applicants tried ED. Let’s say 325 tried it this year and if 43% were accepted then around 140 were accepted early this year. Since we have heard that Colby received 7600 applications, then 7275 were for RD. If the RD round acceptance rate is 28% then around 2,035 were accepted. The total of acceptances would be 2,175 this year vs. 1,441 last year. That’s around 40% more, so I think there is a problem somewhere.

Houston, we have a problem. I don’t disagree, @GrudeMonk‌. Mathematically, there is a resolution through an adjustment in anticipated yield – due, for example, to an easing of the application requirements. At the start of the thread, I thought this may have been the case for this year. But other posters have stated that no major changes were made specifically for this year. If that is the case, then the 47% jump in applications is equally puzzling.

Merc, my kind elasticity of demand friend, a 28% overall admit percentage is reported on the Colby website for the class of 2018. I confess that I know less about numbers than I do about economics (and we both know how much I know about that), but it follows that regular admission rate MUST be (or at least should be) smaller than the admit rate of the class as a whole, particularly if ED has a significantly higher admit rate than regular decision – which is typical for liberal arts schools. If last year the 28% number was for both regular and ED admits, then it follows that last year the RD admits were below 28% (I calculate about 25%). If, then, applications jumped this year by 47%, the RD admit percentage must be below 28%. Am I missing something? Anticipated yield in a small school like Colby just doesn’t explain the the percentages cited. To accept 2175 for a class of 486 would be nothing short of bedlam. It would assume a yield of 22%, which is not in accord with historical numbers. My guess is that the other poster used the numbers from the class of 2018. Colby has never seemed to like the early release of admissions numbers. Perhaps in response to the question from the other poster, admission simply used last year’s numbers, and the poster confused last year’s overall rate with the RD rate this year.

All fair points, @gointhruaphase‌, mathematically and otherwise, in my opinion. I’m completely open to your analysis of the human element of the communication.

I did consider that the admissions office gave the inquirer last year’s acceptance rate. But if so, then it was a mixed report – or interpretation – because the poster also included this year’s ~7600 application total. (See the current last post in the “Colby 2019 RD” thread.) I did refer to the post as anecdotal.

Colby’s yield is a more complex issue. Last year’s RD yield was only 21%. So in this sense, Colby is perhaps pressing its own historical norms.

If I had a point to make on this thread, it was that it shouldn’t automatically be assumed that Colby will have a <20% acceptance rate. Of course whatever the rate turns out to be would be fine with me.

Cool that you remembered me from the Wes thread. Your “graphy” comment made me laugh.

I made the mistake (post #19) of reporting hearsay. Thank you to @GrudeMonk and @gointhruaphase, as well as to the observers of this thread, for not calling me out excessively on this lapse of judgment.

Colby has officially released an acceptance rate of 22.5% for this year. The implied admissions yield is 28%. Summer melt may still impact these figures, but only within a small range.

(For anyone who has wondered, I support Colby and have recommended it to a relative recently. Perhaps I am not totally in favor of outlets such as “Colby News,” but that’s because I believe the reporting standards for PR outlets do not always reflect well on the academic institutions they represent. However, I have seen this elsewhere, as it is not unique to Colby. As for my general participation here, this is a “Colby 2019 Numbers” thread, and that was the subject of my comments. If I didn’t have a positive interest in Colby, I wouldn’t have bothered at all.)