<p>The latest acceptance rates show regular decision 10.something% and ED 29%, which looks like quite a difference. How much of ED at CMC is taken by hooked applicants, especially athletes? Is it possible to estimate what the unhooked acceptance rate is for ED? Thanks.</p>
<p>No one really knows. Athletes actually get no benefit and being one doesn’t help one get into CMC. There is no such thing as a hooked applicant at CMC. The reason that ED rates are so much higher is due to the fact that ED applicants want to go to CMC as their first choice and typically put much more effort into the application. Furthermore, they are typically of higher caliber.</p>
<p>Athletes do get a benefit in the admission process at the vast majority of LACs, including CMC. What student athletes tend to underestimate is the high level of athletic achievement they need to have exhibited to get this “tip” at a top LAC and to overestimate how much of a boost it will provide. My experience is a student athlete who can compete but not start at the Division 1 level will get a top LAC Division 3 tip, but the tip will not get an academically unqualified applicant accepted. As for other hooks, they do exist (URM, first family member to attend college, geographic, development, etc.) but at CMC they take a closer look at leadership potential as a leading indicator of fit.</p>