@spayurpets
Keep in mind that Georgetown automatically defers all EA applicants who were not accepted in the EA round, and about 15% of those are accepted in RD. Therefore, the overall admit rate for EA applicants is still more than twice that of RD applicants. It appears that Georgetown does indeed apply the same admission criteria, given that the EA pool is slightly stronger than the RD pool (compared to most ED schools, where the ED pool is weaker than the RD pool and hence partially explains the higher ED admit rates).
Class of 2019 numbers:
6840 EA apps, 912 accepted in EA round, ~889 (15% of the remainder) accepted in RD round → total of 26.3% of EA apps admitted
19481 total apps, 2290 total RD admits → 1401 RD admits out of 12641 RD apps → 11.1% of RD apps admitted
Applying REA to Stanford REA is a waste of your one ED/SCEA/REA shot. After accounting for legacies and athletes, the true underlying admit rate is probably no different than RD raye
Why is Georgetown so popular based on its number of EA applicants, which rivals Stanford’s, especially given the fact that one doesn’t gain any advantage by applying early?
Well, first of all, Georgetown is an excellent school; that’s a pre-requisite to getting 7000 applications early. It’s also non-restrictive Early Action, so applicants can apply to other EA programs which I guess gives more flexibility. And as was noted above, everyone is deferred, so it’s almost like a free, no-commit, early look at your chances. If you look at the other EA programs similar to Georgetown’s, they also get a lot of applicants, e.g. UChicago which drew 11,000 early applications last year.
I’m not sure Early Decision is disadvantageous to lower income here. What I have seen in stats posted is these schools scooping up these kids in the ED round so they don’t have to fight for them with other elites in RD. If the school meets need, they have no worry.
Like any other “hook”, they have to grab them ED, or risk losing them to another school. Unhooked rates are probably much much lower.
You should also be recording the # of deferrals. Many of these schools defer a highly significant percentage and that begs an entirely different question: if an applicant sacrifices applying to other schools early to fulfill terms of single choice early action agreement, aren’t the schools obligated to meet their end of the agreement by issuing a decision?
@HRSMom the disadvantage to lower income applicants from ED includes the fact that they are much less likely to do it, whether it’s because they don’t know about it or they are less likely to be done with testing and prepared in time for ED deadlines. So spots are getting filled by more affluent, savvy applicants especially at schools like Northwestern and Williams that fill a large percentage of the class through ED… And also the fact that few schools meet full need without loans. So a lower income applicant may still be better off to be able to compare FA offers.
Here you go (but not all of the schools reported):
MIT EA 656 out of 7,767 (8.4%) b (2175 rejected=28%)**
Stanford REA 745 out of 7822 (9.5%)
Georgetown EA 892 out of 7027 (12.7%) b**
Harvard SCEA 918 out of 6173 (14.9%) b (464 rej=7.5%)**
Yale SCEA: 795 out of 4662 (17.1%) b (29% rej)**
Princeton SCEA 785 out of 4229 (18.6%)
Brown ED 669 out of 3030 (22.1%) b (456 rej=15.0%)**
Penn ED 1335 out of 5762 (23.2%)
Duke ED 813 out of 3455 (23.5%) b**
Dartmouth ED 494 out of 1927 (25.6%)
Johns Hopkins ED 584 out of 1929 (30.3%)
Northwestern ED 1061 out of 3022 (35.1%)
Williams College ED 246 out of 585 (42.1%)
University of Georgia ED 7500+ out of 14516 (51%+)
Thank you. That is an important statistic, particularly for future applicants. If the school you are applying to early actually defers a significant percentage of applicants, it may not be worth it to apply to them in lieu of other early options. BTW, Princeton has the number available, too. I saw it yesterday. Dont have the link at the moment but will share it if I find it.
@NickFlynn Re Duke, just to clarify, the number I put in the table was wrong, it’s 663, but the percentage deferred is correct. So your comment and respect for Duke stands.
Georgetown is very upfront about the fact that they defer most EA applicants and that the EA admit rate is lower than the RD admit rate. My D went to an info session there when she was applying and they clearly stated that. I have no problem with non-restrictive EA schools having a high deferral rate. I agree that with SCEA schools it can be troubling. Everyone from D’s class who applied to Princeton SCEA was deferred, and in the end the only one who got in applied RD (after a Harvard SCEA deferral). Not sure any of them would’ve done anything differently though even if they knew how many are deferred. Hope springs eternal.
I’d be interested to know how many ED applicants Pomona deferred this year. They still have ED2 coming up so they haven’t released any stats. But a reliable CC source said ED apps were up 30%.
39 I based my comment off of the percentage, so it stands. For the record, I am a Duke athletics hater from way back, so it wasn't easy for me to even make the comment.
40 I've got nothing against Georgetown or MIT because they aren't asking the applicants to give up anything (other than first semester senior grades, I guess) but the schools with ED and REA frankly are abusing the system by deferring those kind of numbers, in my opinion.
MIT EA 656 out of 7,767 (8.4%) (4776 deferred=61.5%) (2175 rejected=28%)
Stanford REA 745 out of 7822 (9.5%)
Georgetown EA 892 out of 7027 (12.7%) (remainder deferred=87%)
Harvard SCEA 918 out of 6173 (14.9%) (4673 def=75.7%) (464 rej=7.5%)
Yale SCEA: 795 out of 4662 (17.1%) (53% def) (29% rej)
Princeton SCEA 785 out of 4229 (18.6%)
Brown ED 669 out of 3030 (22.1%) (1905 def=62.9%) (456 rej=15.0%)
Penn ED 1335 out of 5762 (23.2%)
Duke ED 813 out of 3455 (23.5%) (1663 def=19.2%)
Dartmouth ED 494 out of 1927 (25.6%)
Johns Hopkins ED 584 out of 1929 (30.3%)
Northwestern ED 1061 out of 3022 (35.1%)
Williams College ED 246 out of 585 (42.1%)
Middlebury ED 338 out of 636 (53.1%) (74 def=11.6%)
University of Georgia ED 7500+ out of 14516 (51%+)