My son got rejected, I’m a little baffled by this. His stats:GPA 4.92 weighted, SATS 1420. Multiple AP and honors classes. NHS, band, drama, select choir. He got accepted to UMass Amherst Honors College, but outright denied by Colby. Does not make sense to me.
Might be yield protection? Congrats to your son on the honors college!
Sorry, new to this, what is yield protection?
Yield protection is when colleges protect their yield (the percent of accepted students who attend out of all accepted students) by admitting students who they think will attend their school. If your son is qualified but did not demonstrate interest, then his chances are slimmer. Sorry, I was thinking this was a different thread (with a college that is less selective). Colby is probably going to have a 7-8% RD acceptance rate this year. There are just SO many qualified applicants!! But hopefully your son gets into some other great schools (he already has one)!
do anyone know how many people get off the waitlist?
Haven’t been on cc in a long time, but parent of a current Colby Jr. just stopping to to say congrats to all those accepted. It has been an academically rigorous/rewarding environment for my student. Colby has done an outstanding job managing campus life in covid times. Happy to answer any questions…
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Thank you, he’s waiting to hear from Amherst, Williams, Colgate, Wesleyan and Dartmouth. I understand why schools use yield protection, but where does it end? What if his remaining schools all do the same thing? I know he already got into a good school, but I’m nervous that his top choice school will do the same thing.
It could also be an issue of demographics. Elite/selective schools are looking for diversity, and as it was explained to us at IIRC Hamilton, if they accepted two All County brass players in NHS with 4.5+ GPA from Essex county NJ during ED, they won’t be so quick to take a third that has the same resume/CV. They stressed that it’s one of the reasons that ED can be so important.
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Congrats on the acceptance to the UMASS honors program! I am sorry you did not see the result you hoped from Colby, but do not believe this is a case of yield protection. 1420 is right around the average SAT score at Colby. Schools do not yield protect against students who are right in the mix stats-wise. It is more likely a result of a low acceptance rate than yield protection. Don’t let it discourage you from being hopeful for other acceptances. Wishing your student the best of luck.
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True. I thought this was Conn instead of Colby, that’s why I messed up my answer!
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Thank you, I know admissions can be a funny game, it just makes me very nervous about the rest of his decisions. His first choice was Brown, he got denied early decision. His remaining top choice is Amherst, my concern is if Colby said No, maybe Amherst will do the same.
@bhone39. When any school of Colby’s size is putting together a class, they are looking for all kinds of things to have the right “mix”. It is quite possible that they already had what your kid brought in its ED pool. I have often thought that at the NESCAC schools in particular, it’s hard in the regular round to be from the northeast because these schools do the bulk of their athletic recruiting in that region. In addition to being team members, recruits fill a lot of the community “buckets” admissions is looking for. That makes it hard for what CC refers to as “the average excellent kid” to bring something to the table they still need. Not impossible, but hard. And with the FA that Colby offers, they have an enormous pool to choose from. It’s rarely a matter of “not good enough” but simply “not what we needed”.
This is just a hunch on my part, no real data to back it up. In any case, you have an excellent option and your kid sounds like one who will succeed w6that option.
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Absolutely second this. I especially love the line “it’s rarely a matter of ‘not good enough,’ but rather simply ‘not what we needed.’” Each college is looking to build a unique collective class that starts to be designed with their ED admits. They are all looking for something different every year, so it is ludicrous to assume that one school decision (particularly one as selective as Brown or Colby) equates to another (Amherst). Best of luck to your son @bhone39!
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Thank you all for your input, the suspense is simply killing me.
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My daughter got into Colby but not honors college at UMass, It’s all a guessing game as to who and why
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I am right there with you…see helpful response from CrazyCatMama above. Good luck to us as we choose between crushing the kid or eating ramen for all of retirement!
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Wow! That is one outstanding kid! Just curious, did you request aid…I see a picture emerging here among these responses.
Congratulations to your daughter on her acceptance to Colby
If you were accepted and got the Pulver Scholar email (and did the conversation), are you notified about acceptance into that program later or would it have been in the letter?
Did anyone get into the Global Entry Semester program in Dijon, France? I do not want to go to that. Can I just go to Colby in the fall?