<p>Does anyone know or can speculate on the yield rates for the top schools in the class of 2014. anecdotally, it seemed like a lot of the stanford admits I have met over the last month were choosing Stanford over the likes of Yale and MIT. Also anecdotally I noticed a lot of cross admits to stanford and other top schools- I thought with admit rates so low this year there would be less cross admits- I predict a decrease in yield rates for all of the top 5 schools</p>
<p>Here’s some of the cross admits from this sight
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/920080-harvard-yale-princeton-stanford-mit-cross-admits-class-2014-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/920080-harvard-yale-princeton-stanford-mit-cross-admits-class-2014-a.html</a></p>
<p>thanks jgraider!</p>
<p>I hate this downward spiral of people applying to more places and acceptance rates going down. This is obviously going to end in some crazy low admission rates that will make admitted students look like Gods. The problem can be sourced back to the schools. Something needs to be done, even if it means deliberately lowering standards. The standards are going to increase immensely in the coming years anyway, especially with the internet and the availability of so much information about top schools. </p>
<p>About the thread: I hope that yield rates plummet and never stop plummeting.</p>
<p>
The problem is actually sourced back to the common app and every student who decides to take a flier on applying to an ivy league school. Some students feel they should toss their hat in the ring on a major reach “just in case”. Do you honestly think that fewer people will apply to Harvard, Yale and Princeton (which have the best FA of any schools) if the schools lower their standards? That may drive UP the number of apps because now everyone would have a shot.</p>
<p>SheenR: how on earth would top schools’ lowering their admissions standards (thereby widening the “viable” pool) decrease applications to their schools?</p>
<p>If they would just make their admissions by test scores, people would know they weren’t qualified, would be able to accurately predict which schools they would get into, and the applications would go down as the yield rate skyrocketed.</p>
<p>If they would just make their admissions by test scores, admission to Harvard would hinge on the difference between a 2380 and 2390. That introduces so many other problems, higher yield rate or not.</p>
<p>^^That doesn’t work. There are too many students with outstanding achievements and sub-par test scores. I’m defining subpar as below 2200 for the HYPS level.</p>
<p>My friend scored a 1900 on his SAT, but he’s an amazing composer and has won several major awards. I’ve scored 2330, but only placed in two small writing competitions. </p>
<p>I don’t think colleges want to risk sending out a message that admissions is extremely test-score driven. Test scores are often important, but there are always amazing people who don’t spend a lot of time on the SAT, and thus have lower scores.</p>
<p>haha the system is fine, I was just wondering what this year’s numbers were. Seriously, the yield rates will go down, so the universities will admit more students next year in anticipation, which will bring the admit rate back up, which will end the spiral. if it takes a few years to level off then oh well…increased competition won’t hurt anyone but those who dont get in- and they wont know what theyre missing cause they will be happy at other schools</p>
<p>I’m not the one complaining about yield rates or the number of applications being sent out (I don’t think either is really a problem). I’m just offering a solution that would work.</p>
<p>If by work you mean eliminate 1000s of the best students from contention at HYPS.</p>
<p>My guess is the more cross admits, the less the waiting list will be a soft rejection.</p>
<p>Colleges wouldn’t want to lower their number of applicants - they are getting money from Application Fees and why would they wanna cut that out? If you’re arguing that they get so much financial support App Fees don’t matter, then why bother including them in the application? Lowering standards is just non-sense. I think part of the prestige of HYPSM is that they have such low admit rate. A low admit rate is not undesirable to an academic institution. The more applicants they get, the larger the talent pool to pick from, and increasing emphasis on SAT is clearly not the way to go - getting 2200 or 2400 doesn’t really differentiate a candidate by a lot, I mean the SAT is not going to measure academic success, it all depends on how much coaching and studying you’ve got. Studying for a subject is going to increase your knowledge, studying the tricks and tips for the SAT is not, it is not making you smarter, or more intellectual, in the words of PR, the SAT only “measures how well you take the SAT”. I for one am totally against using the SAT as a heavy part of the admission decision - a high SAT score does not guarantee academic capability or intellectual ability - the skills you need in taking the SAT does not transfer to real life situations, unlike skills you gain in the classroom in academic subjects.</p>
<p>christiansoldier: I get where you’re coming from: perhaps post a “cut off” so people who score below, don’t bother applying. But the thing is that in top colleges’ experiences, some real diamonds in the rough can be found who just don’t score that well. Therefore it’s not in their interest to list a minimum cut off – frankly, they assume that most mediocre kids would be able to look at admitted students’ metrics and realize if they are or are not viable. </p>
<p>Also, the fee is in place to discourage a certain level of unrealistic dreamers from applying. I’m sure the top colleges expend more money in their admissions departments than they ever recoup in admissions fees.</p>
<p>LOL: but I guess the 3.0GPA 1750 SAT applicant who sends his $90 in is a moneymaker for the college! Auto reject pile for that dude!</p>
<p>^^^ A fool and his money are soon parted.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The yield rate would not go up if the number of applications went down. The yield is calculated by how many ACCEPTED students end up MATRICULATING. The ACCEPTED student pool (different that the APPLICANT POOL) is always going to look basically the same. Colleges want as many kids to apply as they can get because that affects their ACCEPTANCE rate (but not their yield).</p>
<p>At least, that’s how I understand it.</p>
<p>If I knew where I was going to get in ahead of time, I would have applied to fewer schools. I don’t know if everyone feels that way.</p>
<p>^seconded!!! I was feeling sort of “helpless” with my results</p>