<p>Thanks for the suggestion, achat. We drive a Subaru.</p>
<p>Love my Corolla.</p>
<p>There are lots of "perfectly nice" people studying and teaching at every school.</p>
<p>... but in certain circles, driving a Prius is seen as the ultimate in ostentation.</p>
<p>I don't frequent those circles, thankfully. I frequent the ones that hope for a sustainable future.</p>
<p>The frequency of the college/car analogies on this board amazes me. The frequency of the best college=best job argument is depressing.</p>
<p>In marketing brand discussions cars are frequently used as a metaphor. For almost any young company, if you ask them what kind of car they are they can do a better job of articulating their brand standpoint. Cars provide a universal language to understand the brand-as-image, brand-as-identity, and brand-as-proxy-for-cost/benefit.</p>
<p>Yeah, no argument there: it's just that the whole consumerism thing is antithetical to what I consider to be the value of higher education.</p>
<p>And here I thought the car analogy was being extended just for fun!! Since it had long ago passed the point where it was a rational discussion!!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, it was funny, and done with a little sense of irony, for once. That's probably what inspired me to speak up, but I suppose I should have kept my mouth shut, again!</p>
<p>Anyone who drives a Prius obviously has no sense of humor.</p>
<p>Byerly:</p>
<p>Is it possible that some good student conclude that they have no chance whatsoever to get accepted in Harvard, as it is a crapshoot? Thus they take least resistance path and apply ED to Princeton. If ED was not there maybe more student will try Harvard but till that time I think ED with financial aid is very attractive. We are new in this game and find it so confusing. Anyway we are advising our son to apply ED to Princeton by thinking that Harvard takes only star kids and our kid may not have a chance against kids who have star powers. </p>
<p>Yes we do find Harvard very seductive but when we look the reality for a non URM kid, things suddenly look awful there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Anecdotal evidence: When we let our kid turn the place down for a little known university in New York City, one of my husband's Asian colleagues shook his head and told him: "If my kids get into Harvard, they're going to Harvard."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>More anectodal evidence might be the busloads of Asian tourists who make Harvard Yard a routine tourist stop during the summer months.</p>
<p>Maybe the Empire State Building should start offering an undergrad degree!</p>
<p>Obviously, a certain fraction of early applications are of the "tactical" or "strategic" variety.</p>
<p>Usually, this means that people are applying in the current year based on the admissions stats for the prior year. Therefore, there is a certain potential for outsmarting yourself, if everybody follows the same strategy.</p>
<p>For 2009. the SCEA admit rates at Yale and Harvard were 18.1% and 21% respectively, while the ED admit rate was 29% at Princeton. Each filled roughly half the class from the early pool.</p>
<p>If even 5% of those who might otherwise apply early to Harvard or Yale - given last year's numbers - do what you are thinking of doing, they'd all have about the same early admit rate.</p>
<p>I'd say that the bottom line is to pick the school that, after visiting, is really your first choice - but definitely apply early.</p>
<p>After all, what's the worst that can happen? You'll be deferred to the RD pool, where the admit rate is no worse than it is for those applying RD for the first time.</p>
<br>
<p>Anyone who drives a Prius obviously has no sense of humor.</p>
<br>
<p>Wha-huh?</p>
<p>Hi Byerly. How many of the H men's crew are foreigners? Seems they must be bringing in a few ringers.</p>
<p>So, let me get this straight. The yield rate for the ED half the Harvard class (90-95% of whom don't receive financial aid) is 100%. The yield for the other half the class is under 60%. Same for Yale and Princeton, except the yield for the other half of the class is lower than that.</p>
<p>Funny - that puts the yield of half of the class at each of these places well lower than at Cooper Union and Berea. And compared with the Middlesex Community College Nursing Program? Well, forget about it! ;)</p>
<p>Read the posts and now I know why I drive a very old, 271,800+ miles GMC truck with the front passenger door unable to open, locks are broken, cracked U-joint, leaky radiator, shot compressor on the air-conditioning (busted in Vegas) and a drink holder that sticks.</p>
<p>Gotta be a "brand-name" thing!!!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>After all, what's the worst that can happen? You'll be deferred to the RD pool, where the admit rate is no worse than it is for those applying RD for the first time.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>No, the worst that can happen is that you will get REJECTED in the early round.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>At Harvard at least, almost no one is rejected SCEA. I think the number rejected ED at Princeton is also very small.</p></li>
<li><p>Yield rates: At Harvard last year, the SCEA yield was 91%, and the RD yield was 71%. Both figures should be similar this year.</p>
<p>At Yale, the SCEA yield should be around 89%, and the RD yield should be around 57.2%. At Princeton, the ED yield should be around 98.5%, and the RD yield should be around 52%. At Stanford, the SCEA yield should be around 88%, and the RD yield around 55.7%.</p></li>
<li><p>Herewith a link to the Crew roster. Of 31, 27 are citizens of the US of A, 3 are Canadiens, and one is a resident of Hobart, Tasmania. More "domestic" than the student body as a whole, I'd say.
<a href="http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-crewhvy/mtt/harv-m-crewhvy-mtt.html%5B/url%5D">http://gocrimson.collegesports.com/sports/m-crewhvy/mtt/harv-m-crewhvy-mtt.html</a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>So I was right - the yield rate at Cooper Union, Berea, and Middlesex Community College Nursing Program, virtually all of whom required (and received) financial aid, is higher than the RD yield at H, Y, P, or S.</p>