<p>Some colleges try to raise their yields by rejecting or waitlisting top applicants, on the theory that the top applicants are just using them as a safety and will probably go elsewhere. (It typically is the case that yield is highest at the lowest end of the admissions class and lowest at the highest end of the admissions class.)</p>
<p>If your first choice college is a likely safety for admissions if just looking at stats, check its common data set section C7 for whether it uses “level of interest” in admissions. If it does, you may have to play the “level of interest” game – e.g. visit and make sure that the visit is somehow recorded by the admissions office, etc… However, the super-selective colleges and most public colleges do not use “level of interest”. But using “level of interest” is common at private colleges not at the super-selective level (including those just a bit less selective that some applicants to super-selective schools mistakenly apply to as safeties), and some public colleges like Michigan do use it.</p>