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You probably heard that from a Harvard sophomore who probably knows the meaning of the word apocryphal.</p>
<p>In fact, current Yale admissions dean Jeff Brenzel chose to reduce the number of viewbooks Yale sends out from 120,000 to 80,000 because of a concern that Yale was encouraging too many people to apply who had no realistic chance. Some of the recruiting effort was redirected toward targeting high-achieving, low-income applicants.</p>
<p>All the Ivy admissions offices are in a growing bind: no one wants to disarm unilaterally, but everyone is getting far more qualified applicants than they can accept. It is past the point where it does much to improve the quality of the entering class – but the rejects are getting better every year.</p>