<p>This whole Columbia thing was based off a blogger’s mistake. There was never anything more substantive than that. Let’s drop this.</p>
<p>I doubt she ever had a problem “making up her mind”. I’m sure she was subject to the same deadline (April 15th?) as everyone else. She’s just being tight-lipped. It’s probably doing more for her image (the speculation) than actually telling everyone would’ve been, while allowing her a modicum of privacy and perhaps normalcy on arrival.</p>
<p>Lawl. It’s not even that big of a deal. Relax.</p>
<p>It sounds cool to be going to school with Emma Watson, but no one REALLY would choose to go somewhere because she is there. Even if the number of applications skyrockets (doubtful), then the yield will plummet as a result.</p>
<p>^ </p>
<p>I agree with that. The yield will definitely plummet.</p>
<p>If I found out what classes Emma was taking I would make it a point to choose at least one class with her(provided we are the same major, of course).</p>
<p>But I’m sure if she is hoping for a normal life she won’t get that at Brown, I can already picture her 1st day at class and everyone in the room is talking about her, a bunch of guys trying to ask her out too I bet.</p>
<p>The number of Brown applications had already skyrocketed for the preceding year, the class of 2012 – by 20 percent (from about 20600 to about 25000). Brown, Stanford and Wesleyan had the largest percentage gains in the country.</p>
<p>I’m sure the number of “random” applicants will increase. Quite frankly, however, those people who do apply purely because Emma Watson is attending are most likely not qualified and thus not significant competition. (That is not to say that there aren’t people in the world who are BOTH smart and shallow.) I wouldn’t worry about any increase we may or may not see. The top students are still going to get in.</p>
<p>As to the entire Brown population fawning over Emma…Remember that in many senses Emma’s college tours were to determine the same things that we tour for. Does she like the atmosphere? Is she comfortable? If she picked Brown, she had good reason to.</p>
<p>
It’s funny, a number of friends that go to Wesleyan attribute, in part, it’s monumental increase in early decision applicants to the fact that Barack Obama was its 2008 commencement speaker. Late May, when he gave his speech, was pretty much during that golden time for him where he was still considered historic and amazing for winning the primary, but the Clinton/party squabbling thing hadn’t happened yet to tarnish his status.</p>
<p>And of course, October was the last track of the 2008 presidential campaign, and the latter half of October was when Obama finally started breaking away from McCain and beating him by a sizable margin in the polls. He was quite the celebrity when high school seniors were making the decision of where to apply ED.</p>
<p>So much for the common consensus in this thread that celebrities and famous figures don’t matter in students’ decisions of where to apply.</p>
<p>Celebrity is an influential force in our society. College admissions are hardly immune from this phenomena.</p>