http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/4/1/admissions-low-2020/
@gibby As The Crimson has noted, admissions are rapidly shifting to EA. More and more are applying EA, and more and more are being accepted. This is depressing the “RD” rate. The Crimson also noted that Harvard’s financial aid initiative, coupled with the Common App and holistic admissions, is resulting in many students applying who otherwise wouldn’t. The feeling is that you have nothing to lose.
Even though I “won” in the Ivy League lottery, I must say that I have a real problem with universities soliciting huge numbers of applications, only to reject the vast majority. Its amoral.
I think percentages of acceptance are relatively meaningless detached from the number of applicants. Does Stanford’s 4.8 acceptance rate reflect a larger number of applicants? Whatever. It is good news that Harvard’s efforts to recruit minorities and lower income students continue to pay off in (admittedly) small increments each year.
@klingon97 However SCEA acceptance rates were also at an all time low for harvard?
SCEA accepts usually convert at 94% or so for Harvard and so they can admit lot fewer people during RD.
It’s not only the size of the applicant pool but its characteristics too. Columbia and Chicago have been competing to see which has the higher applicant numbers. And Harvard has admitted that it is “aggressively” courting applicants. So their application numbers are skyrocketing. Sadly, so are their rejection rates.
Harvard Arts & Sciences yield is between 70-80%…