Yeah, just the question above.
No, like others with higher ED rates than regular, it is not a single factor issue as some like to claim. Duke is very up front with its admission rate of 28% for ED compared to 9% regular admission and specifically states there is an advantage to applying ED. Its ED to regular admission rate is not unusual for high ranked colleges having ED, e.g., Dartmouth is also 28% ED and 9% regular, and Dartmouth has no NCAA division one sports team. The higher rate is usually the result of a combination of factors and one of them is definitely that the college is using ED to up its yield rate for rating purposes and others include that it is in fact somewhat easier to be admitted ED than RA, but you also just have a large contingent of students with high stats who apply ED, the expectation that those seeking legacy consideration should apply ED, and that athletes may also be admitted ED.
^ Duke’s ED rate for the class of 2020 is 23.5% but everything else you mentioned is pretty accurate.
Legacy and athletes is part of it, but another part is that many schools give ED applicants a bump for committing to the university which locks in a group of students and improves yield rates.
It’s also important to point out that Duke is one of a few schools I know that gives a definite bump to ED applicants,––regardless of athletes, legacies, etc. For most schools, the ED rate is higher, but once you extract the aforementioned groups, the rate is comparable to the RD rate. But with Duke, I don’t believe that’s the case.
Dartmouth still admits the athletes they want ED, they just don’t give them explicit athletic scholarships.
^ And Dartmouth does indeed compete in Division 1 athletics. The Ivy League is a NCAA Division 1 league.
“It’s also important to point out that Duke is one of a few schools I know that gives a definite bump to ED applicants,––regardless of athletes, legacies, etc.”
How do you know this? All you’re doing is speculating.
@Jwest22 Because Duke is one of the few top schools (along with Northwestern and a few others) that explicitly states that ED gives an advantage, unlike other schools (e.g. Columbia) that claim no ED advantage and that the higher ED rate is simply a function of the “stronger” (i.e. more hooked) applicant pool.
“There is an advantage in the admissions process to applying Early Decision.”
http://admissions.duke.edu/application/timeline
Columbia also plays the “wait list” game (this is anecdotal). I’m not a fan of their tactics.
Duke admissions counselors have handouts illustrating the increased chances of admission when applying ED. Or at least they did when D attended the Duke session at her high school. Duke pushes hard to get commitments as early as possible, not just from hooked kids but from everybody.
The question is going to be when the number of ED applicants continues to increase and Guttentag has stated he wants the “majority of Duke freshman to be from the RD pool,” will the ED admission rate continue go down or will Duke be like Penn and bring in more than half its freshman class from the ED pool? We’re already getting close to the 50%… Interesting, Penn states IF you want a legacy advantage you SHOULD apply ED. Duke doesn’t state that explicitly (i.e. they don’t say there’s no advantage to legacy status during the RD round). Duke likes to see a commitment/enthusiasm for the university as more frequently exhibited by ED applicants as they believe it adds to the college pride/experience for the entire freshman class (and, certainly athletes, legacies, and Duke’s desire to boost its yield numbers plays into it some too). There are probably more “hooked” applicants during ED though.
Schools like Duke, UPenn, and Northwestern all have relatively low yields in RD. This isn’t surprising, because most of their RD applications are applying to HYPSM, as well as a number of other top schools. They might try to identify candidates who have them as a low priority through weak essays or lack of demonstrated interest, but it is hard. Same are still most interested in their state school or others giving them significant merit aid.
Accepting more in ED provides two distinct advantages. First, overall, they have a better yield. Second, by filling up a low of seats in ED, and they have a low acceptance rate in RD. With 90% of their applicants still being in RD, this gives them a nice low acceptance rate!.
To elaborate, let us say they get 3000 applicants in ED and accept 800. Now, say, for the remaining 800 seats, they accept 2000 candidates from 30,000 applications. Overall yield is 1600/2800, and acceptance rate is 2800/33,000.
Let us say, instead, they accept only 500 in ED. Now they need to accept 2750 in RD out of the same applicant pool, assuming the same 40% rate from RD. Suddently, their yield is 1600/3250 and acceptance rate is 3250/33,000.
Which number will the school like to report more?
I get the impression is that Northwestern is trying hard to have acceptance rate lower than 10 or 11%. They might be successful in that this year.