<p>I have been a bit surprised by the relatively high percentage of EA applicants at Harvard/Princeton being accepted. Last year, it was approximately 18% at both schools, compared to about 14% at Yale, 11% at Stanford, and something lower for MIT. I understand that H and P have just recently reinstated their early programs. </p>
<p>I also understand that many guaranteed-admit athletes apply EA, and, according to certain people, more URMs and legacies apply early. However, wouldn't that hold true for ANY top college, not just H and P, still making it more likely that you'd be accepted EA to H or P? </p>
<p>Also, does anyone expect these rates to drastically go down this year/next because this program is "new" at H and P and needs to match the admit rates of other top EA colleges?</p>
<p>I think maybe Princeton and Harvard’s very generous financial aid - which pretty much guarantees families making less than $180-200K that they won’t have to pay more than 10 percent of their income in college costs - makes them a much more desirable place to apply early. At other schools, if you apply early, you aren’t guaranteed a financial aid package that works for you.</p>
<p>As a result, perhaps these two schools are attracting early applications from more extremely qualified applicants and so are accepting more of them.</p>
<p>Put it this way - let’s say you’re thinking about applying early to Stanford, but you don’t know how much financial aid you’re going to get. Maybe you hold off on that application, because you want to be able to compare packages. Compare that to an applicant who knows Princeton is her first choice, and her parents encourage her to apply early because they know they will be able to afford the $13,000 a year Princeton will cost them.</p>
<p>It is my feeling that these kind of financial aid guarantees will continue to drive increased applications and higher yield at both Harvard and Princeton - I think maybe Princeton’s yield percentage surpassed Yale’s this year?</p>
<p>@baltimore that financial aid standards would also apply to Yale, but it maintains a lower EA admit rate</p>