^ Note, though, that you can’t really compare the RD yields of ED schools with the yields of schools without ED as many/most of the kids who are most gung-ho about a school with ED would have applied there in ED.
So having both is useful.
Comparing yields and overall admissions rates for colleges has never been less reliable based on all of the games many of the schools are playing with all of their different application options, making it easier than ever to apply, and varying levels of “solicitation”.
I remember a few years ago when my older daughter was applying to colleges (class of 2019) she kept getting emails from U Penn AFTER their application deadline telling her there was still time and that they extended their deadline to 1/10. Now do we really think that U Penn NEEDED my daughter to apply to give them enough choices to have a great class? Or do we think they wanted some more applications so they could try to get their admit rate under 10%??? Granted this is not a yield example, but it is an example of the game playing that is going on. I guess they are all trying to keep their high ranks.
You really need to peel back the onion on some of these stats to decipher your chances of admission and the true yields. Comparing the Yield of a school with ED I and ED II to a school like UVA that has unrestricted EA is truly like comparing apples to oranges.
And as for the U Penn solicitation example, do we really think a school like U Penn would admit my daughter who would clearly only be applying as an after thought because U Penn told her they extended their deadline? I’d love to see the acceptance rate of the kids that fell for that trick and applied after 1/1 that year. Probably close to 0%.
@collegemomjam I think it’s like comparing apples, oranges, grapes and lemons. Every school has its own way to go through the application process, and we can not compare the outcomes of all of them as comparing one unique variable. It just doesn’t make sense.
- EA Restricted, RD
- EA Unrestricted, RD
- EA, ED1. ED2, RD
- ED, RD
Maybe another one?
@carino very well said…and you probably are missing some others…lol. Not to mention the intangibles like which schools are doing more mailings, waiving application fees, not requiring you send test scores,…lots and lots of variables! I’m glad my daughter is done. I have a son who is a freshman in HS…I wonder what things will be like when it is his turn in a few years!
@collegemomjam
My daughter is graduating from HS this week and going to UChicago (accepted in EA), and my seventh-grade son was a witness to the whole application process. His prediction is that by the time he is applying to college the admission rates will be negative :)
Good luck to your daughter! My next door neighbor is at U Chicago and is thriving. He loves it and is doing very, very well. Handling the academics just fine and has made great friends from all over the country from all different backgrounds. My daughter is off to Georgetown in the fall, after weighing all of her options. My other daughter is at Boston College and just finished her sophomore year. 2 down, one to go. I’m hoping it’s a bit easier for my son as the bubble has burst a little, but it all depends on how high you are aiming. Not sure it will ever get easier at the top schools. Good luck and I have enjoyed your posts!
@collegemomjam Congratulations! Great schools and amazing cities!
Thank you so much for your information about UChicago. Greatly appreciated! My daughter will love to hear that.
Good luck to your son in HS and beyond!
@spayurpets I got the number of applications from Caltech via email. This is overall, so EA and RD are not broken out.
For class of 2021:
Number of admits (not counting waitlist admits): 525
Number of applications: 7339
Admit rate: 7.15%
Applications were up by 484 from 6855 (7%) in last year’s Common Data Set.
Admission rate was down significantly from 8.07% last year, though waitlist admits will bring this year’s admit rate up a bit.
If people want the EA vs RD rates, the person who gave me this data seems willing to provide more information.
Seems most of the schools with the lowest admit rates don’t do ED at all, only EA or SCEA. A couple of exceptions in the top ten but overall, they don’t play that particular game.
SCEA is a bit different thought because they know they are your first choice. But not the same commitment from an ED school.
Somewhere IIRC there is an MIT blog that says they don’t believe ED is moral because of its unfairness to low-income students. I expect Caltech feels the same way or at least is happy to do the same thing as MIT in this area. Until this year, I thought UChicago was the same.
That’s a good point and is probably true. I mean, you can back out of ED if you convince them you cannot afford it, but I’m sure ED applicants with financial needs are a little more trigger shy because they need a school that they can afford. And sometimes applying to the EA schools gives them more opportunities for need and merit based aid. I wish the schools all had the same policy…let’s just pick one and all go with it. Would make things a lot easier.
While students can back out of ED “if it isn’t affordable” they can’t compare, and some really need to compare. The difference between a $3k family contribution (I don’t think any school expects less than that even to the very poorest students as they expect them to work summers and on-campus as well) and a $7k contribution can be critical to a family earning $20/k year. Can they round up work, loans,etc to cover the $7k/year? Maybe. Is it much better if it’s $3k/year? Of course.
Not sure if you’re still interested in yield rates, but I know Bowdoin just came out today. 13.4 % admit/ 52% yield I think.
@Dorothy28, all seems consistent with what Swarthmore and Williams reported - 50-60% URM and 1st Gen, add 8-10% legacy and 10-15% sudent-athletes and the spots remaining is pretty thin.
@Ynotgo I disagree, the FA is fairly standard, at least year to year among the same schools, just a little bit of work and you will have a very good idea of what each school will offer (at least among the top schools that say they meet 100% of financial need). If you are below $60K than you will have all of your FA met by the schools that guarantee 100%. This is not a mystery and they don’t pull FA out of a hat they use a standardized forum.
There is always a student contribution even if the family contribution is determined to be zero. This is often on the order of $4k a year.
For the many families in the doughnut hole (make too much for significant financial aid but can’t afford their EFC), being able to compare merit aid packages including competitive merit ends up being essential.