Does the infamous "Tufts syndrome" really exist?

College Search & Selection
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<p>the latest SAT Scores for Class that entered in Fall 2010, from IPEDS</p>

<p>2030-2260 - Tufts
2040-2330 - Stanford</p>

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<p>but it is Tufts that has fudged its SAT for years, not JHU, BC or Stanford</p>

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<p>Yeah, if you read earlier, I said I used data from USNWR which used 2009 data. I got my data from college pr-o-w-l-e-r. You can look there yourself if you want. But they used an acceptance rate of 27%. That’s what USNWR used this year (and is the year U of Chicago and Northwestern had acceptance rates of 27%). But they used the Fall class of 2009 (since they release in August, they don’t have the data for the Fall class of 2010). Obviously this year was different.</p>

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<p>Yeah, you have yet to prove anything. I went to IPEDS. They don’t have 2010 out! TROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! (You seem to be fudging numbers!!) But they do have 2009 (the most recent year), and guess what? It says what college p-r-o-w-ler said earlier:</p>

<p><a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/Snapshotx.aspx?unitId=acb1b3acafb3[/url]”>http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/Snapshotx.aspx?unitId=acb1b3acafb3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>cores for enrolled full-time student 25th percentile 75th percentile
Critical Reading 680 750
Math 680 790
Writing 680 760</p>

<p>So yes, Tufts range was 2040-2300.</p>

<p>And IPEDS also says Stanford’s 2010 - 2300.</p>

<p>Check it:</p>

<p><a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/Snapshotx.aspx?unitId=adafaeb2afaf[/url]”>http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/Snapshotx.aspx?unitId=adafaeb2afaf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Scores for enrolled full-time student 25th percentile 75th percentile
Critical Reading 660 760
Math 680 780
Writing 670 760</p>

<p>So I am going to go to bed since i just proved you wrong. Gnight!</p>

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<p>As you can see below, the top universities show that 22% to 26% of their enrolled students submitted both the SAT and ACT, yet Tufts shows that ZERO of their Class of 2014 submitted both their SAT and ACT. </p>

<p>The links below the figures show a post by a student that attended many Tufts Admissions Department meetings whereby Tufts admitted that they received both SAT and ACT’s from some students. The other links shows samples of Tufts applicants and admits that submitted BOTH the SAT and ACT.</p>

<p>Apparrently what Tufts is doing is not reporting the SAT’s of students that have low SAT’s and reporting only their ACT’s. Notice that the SAT plus ACT figures reported by Tufts equal EXACLTY 100%.</p>

<p>Also note that Tufts is reporting the highest percent of students sending in only the SAT and the highest percent of students sending in only the ACT - very unusual compared to the other schools shown.</p>

<p>from IPEDS:</p>

<p>% Submitting Only SAT’s
68% - Harvard
69% - Princeton
68% - MIT
63% - Stanford
71% - Tufts</p>

<p>% Submitting Only ACT’s
9% – Harvard
9% – Princeton
7% – MIT
11% - Stanford
29% - Tufts</p>

<p>% Submitting Both SAT’s and ACT’s
23% - Harvard
22% - Princeton
25% - MIT
26% - Stanford
0% – Tufts</p>

<p>A report from a student that attended many Tufts admissions sessions where Tufts Admission admitted that they receive BOTH SAT and ACT test scores from the same applicants:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/1095981-how-sat-act-scores-treated.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/1095981-how-sat-act-scores-treated.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A sample of Class of 2015 applicants that have submitted both SAT and ACT scores:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/11961926-post16.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/11961926-post16.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12166215-post33.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12166215-post33.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>One of the Class of 2014 threads showing 3 Tufts admits that submitted both SAT and ACT scores:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/895882-official-tufts-university-rd-decisions-class-2014-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/895882-official-tufts-university-rd-decisions-class-2014-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>this is your post:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12181929-post44.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12181929-post44.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and this is the Fall 2010 figures for Tufts and Stanford as I reported previously form IPEDS:</p>

<p>Stanford:
[College</a> Navigator - Stanford University](<a href=“College Navigator - Stanford University”>College Navigator - Stanford University)</p>

<p>Test Scores: Fall 2010 (enrolled first-time students)
Test Scores 25th Percentile* 75th Percentile** </p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading 670 760
SAT Math 690 790
SAT Writing 680 780 </p>

<p>2040-2330</p>

<p>====================</p>

<p>Tufts
<a href=“College Navigator - Tufts University”>College Navigator - Tufts University;

<p>Test Scores: Fall 2010 (enrolled first-time students)
Test Scores 25th Percentile* 75th Percentile** </p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading 670 740
SAT Math 680 760
SAT Writing 680 760</p>

<p>2030-2260</p>

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<p>No it does not. Tufts Syndrome is not real. Consider a college with an applicant who seems highly overqualified. The school may have a very low chance of getting the student - in facts the odds may be exceedingly low. However the school is better off giving the student a large merit scholarship and getting the possibility of having a very good student then waitlisting them and slightly improving the yield.</p>

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<p>Comparing stats for Tufts and Stanford can be misleading. Stanford is about 40% larger. They are also a major D-1 sports school. They recruit and admit athletes who, while certainly Stanford-smart, may bring their numbers down a drop.</p>

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<p>I have some anecdotal evidence which suggests that the “syndrome” is true at some schools. My daughter was admitted to a number of top schools but was waitlisted at a certain well-known school in St.Louis. She didn’t care but her college advisor was upset and called the admissions office. After inquiring why she was waitlisted, she was told that if my daughter would commit to attending, they would change the decision to an acceptance. </p>

<p>While this is only one event and therefore may not “prove” anything, it sure smells like yield protection to me. </p>

<p>To be fair, this happened a few years ago, back when USNWR still took yield into account in their ratings. I have no idea if the same thing would happen today.</p>

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<p>

What you say makes sense, but when I looked at the scattergrams for a magnet high school, I observed that Swarthmore had waitlisted a significant number of students with stats higher than the students it admitted. Of course, even this is anecdotal, but I was surprised. I didn’t see that pattern at Tufts. The sample is big enough to see patterns like this (such as whether some schools seem to care more about scores or GPAs), but you can’t be sure if the patterns are really meaningful.</p>

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<p>

Well, to get technical for a moment, that’s not correct. Penn’s 14% acceptance rate last year was lower than Swarthmore’s 16% acceptance rate:</p>

<p>[College</a> Search - University of Pennsylvania - Penn - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>[College</a> Search - Swarthmore College - Swat - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>and Swarthmore’s SAT mid-range is essentially equivalent to, and not higher than, those of Brown Penn, Dartmouth, and Columbia. For example, compare Swarthmore to Penn:</p>

<p>[College</a> Search - Swarthmore College - Swat - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>[College</a> Search - University of Pennsylvania - Penn - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>However, you are correct in your overall assertion that Swarthmore’s admissions and students are comparable to those of the non-HYP Ivies (and those of Williams, Amherst, etc.). :)</p>

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<p>It may also be that yield management is different at a smaller school like Swarthmore than it is at a larger school.</p>

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<p>Northeastern jumped 120 spots in only a few years and now has the highest number of applications of any other private school with a small number of spots to fill. It is entirely possible that Northeastern’s class has filled up with a more selective student body than last year, or in previous years, given its recent trend.</p>

<p>Tufts syndrom is most likely an excuse used by people who didn’t get into schools they thought they should have been accepted to.</p>

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<p>OP, I don’t think your rejection has anything to do with yield management. Check out these numbers:</p>

<p>“A record high of nearly 43,000 hopefuls applied to Northeastern for 2,800 spots in the incoming freshman class…”</p>

<p>[Applications</a> to Northeastern surge - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/24/applications_to_northeastern_surge/]Applications”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/24/applications_to_northeastern_surge/)</p>

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<p>NYU got 42,000 applicants.
Tulane got around 40,000 applicants.</p>

<p>A school almost 40 spots higher and another 20 spots higher. I got a huge scholarship from Tulane as well (not really that impressive considering they give scholarships to anyone). I’m not saying that I was a 100% guarantee to get into Northeastern, rather more like a 80%-90% of me getting in. As Ron Burgundy says, “60% of time, works everytime”. It is pretty surprising if I got in to Tulane and NYU but not Northeastern.</p>

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<p>^ It’s not just the numbers, but WHY. From reading that article, it sounds like there are several factors that make the Northeastern experience different from other schools. When the numbers allow colleges to be more selective, their admissions decisions don’t have to be driven by GPA and test scores; instead, they can can focus on building a community based on a more subjective assessment of fit and, specifically, what you might contribute. </p>

<p>Congrats on your Tulane and NYU acceptances. You earned some great choices!</p>

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<p>Smokey why do you care so much? You have been accepted at two schools you perceive as “better”, so what does it matter why you were rejected at Northeastern?</p>

<p>I personally doubt you were “syndromed”. Your SAT of 1980 puts you just above the mid-point for Northeastern. Earlier you also mentioned a tough semester grade-wise yet you’ve never told us your GPA. Northeastern, while slightly less selective than Tulane (38% admit rate vs. 26%), has the same admit rate as NYU. Furthermore NYU has a mid-point SAT of 1980 only marginally (30 points) higher than Northeastern. A school with a sub-40% admit rate with a student around the 50th%-tile statistically isn’t a safety, it’s a match school. Maybe the mistake isn’t at Northeastern but in your assessment of them.</p>

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<p>This is going to sound stupid but my ex-girlfriend broke up with me (a particularly bad breakup) and she’s going to Northeastern. I had way better stats than her (better gpa, better ec’s, better SAT Score, harder courses) but she had legacy and applied EA. Also, I just find it weird that I was waitlisted. I mean I’m not doubting Northeastern is a great school or whatever. I just think that if I was waitlisted from Northeastern I should have gotten denied from Tulane and NYU.</p>

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<p>smokeys1ce, based on your posted messages the last few days, it is now become apparent why you got waitlisted at Northeastern…</p>

<p>It is time to drop this and appreciate your acceptance to two great institutions, Tulane and NYU.</p>

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<p>Why is the bolded part a blow to your self-confidence? If anything, that should boost it. I totally know how you feel about the ex-gf situation but it really has no meaning. You got into Tulane+NYU, she got into Northeastern. You keep repeating that you got into the better schools so what’s the problem? Just be happy and move on; people would kill to have the options you do.</p>