For example, skidmore told me that 8500 applied for 655 seats in the class of 2019. That’s 8%. Google tells me its acceptance rate in 2014 was 37% (somebody tell me if this is wrong). Macalester said it had 505 places for 6,000 applicants. That’s 8.4, and google tells me their 2014 acceptance rate was 35%.
Could anybody explain this to me? The drop seems far too great, and either the schools are misleading me to make myself feel better or google has its info wrong.
Places for applicants isn’t the same as actual admitted applicants. So if Skidmore has 655 seats, and they know only one-third of those who are admitted actually accept those places, then they would admit 1965 students in anticipation for that. Which would make there actual acceptance rate ~23% (just an example with random numbers)
Schools typically accept more students than the number of places, assuming that some will reject the offer in favor of somewhere else. While admission rates very well could be lower this year (I know that Swarthmore had a 47% increase in applicants, for example), comparing students admitted last year to the number of available places isn’t going to yield any accurate results.
Exactly. Like Enthouse said, not everyone who’s admitted is going to go there, so they have to admit (several times) more than the number of seats just to fill their freshman class.
All colleges have to accept more students than they have seats for. Skidmore probably accepts more like 3000 kids, because a relatively small percentage of students will actually accept the offer of admission. They accept students based on historical yield rates. If they expect 22% of accepted students to matriculate, they must admit about 3000 to yield the freshman class of 655.
Even schools like Harvard and MIT must accept more students than they have seats for, because historically about 80-85% of accepted students enroll.
Following up on Enthouse’s post look at:
and
So in 2013 Skidmore accepted 2904 student and 660 enrolled, and Macalster accepted 2283 students and 555 enrolled.
The yields at many colleges is quite low. That no doubt is the result of the increasing number of multiple applications and multiple acceptances.
This yield data makes me wonder about Ivy acceptances. If every Ivy has a 40-85% yield then either they are each looking for different things or they speak to each other.
Based on this data it would say that most people just get into one or two even though they have applied to 6, or more assuming they get into any. Yes there was the kid who got in everywhere but that was so unusual it made national news in places that that think UChicago is a state school
@SaphireNY, outside the coasts, even most kids who are Ivy-level candidates aren’t applying to 6 Ivies. In the Midwest, for instance, it’s typical for the strongest kids to apply to some Midwestern elites + some Ivies & others where they feel a fit.
And yes, schools look for different things.
You also have to consider that ED (and SCEA to a smaller extent) raises yields significantly. If a school takes in half its student body ED, then it’s RD yield is actually about half its overall yield.
I know Vanderbilt took almost half ED, but did the Ivies other than UPenn and maybe some parts of Cornell?
Admit rate is a simple mathematical equation.
Admit rate = admitted students / applications
As students apply to more schools, admit rates decrease. This isn’t surprising if you think about it.
^Plus increased applications from overseas, which the colleges are definitely encouraging considering the decreasing college age demographics in the years ahead for the USA.
Northwestern filled half of its class at ED as well.
Also @doschicos what do you mean by “decreasing college age demographics”? And why would that lead to more international students? 
The population of kids entering college age kids in the US is declining. At the same time, more and more international school are applying to colleges in the United States, something that colleges are actively encouraging.
Dos I have been hearing that for years. It was supposed to be true for this year and it is not! My mom went during the decline years for Gen X, it was great. Schools today that most people cannot touch such as NE required just a tuition payment.
My friend’s older sister was born in 1990, that was supposed to be the worst year EVER. WHEN will it get better? Should I wait to go to grad school?
@SaphireNY, close to half at Columbia, Brown, and Dartmouth
Over half at UPenn:
http://www.applicationbootcamp.com/ivy-league-admission-statistics-class-2019/
It’s still a significant factor. For example, Dartmouth has an overall yield of 48%. But they took 41% early. So their RD yield is actually 35%.
@Enthouse: Of course going from 37% to 23% isn’t as insane as going from 37% to 8%, but if that were the actual change in acceptance rate over one year it would still be ludicrous.
The point is there ARE more applications - more people are going to college than your mom’s generation, kids are applying to more colleges (more hype to get into high ranked schools, ease of applying to more with common app and online applications, more international students looking to attend college in the USA. Still, that segment of the population is in decline. The colleges know it. It is prudent for them to encourage and pursue more applicants from overseas. Although that segment of the population is in decline in the USA, it doesn’t necessarily equate into greater ease in getting into college, as you have seen. There are some exceptions and those colleges are on the less selective end of the spectrum. Sweet Briar College is an example of a college that is closing due to declining enrollments and a business model that no longer works.
@tehspacetv
Well yeah I don’t know anything about Skidmore which is why I said I’d done it with random numbers.
@doschicos
Oh okay thanks for clarifying! I think that would be very gradual change though so colleges might not be worrying about that now.
@enthouse - It is gradual and I think colleges are cognizant of it, hence developing networks overseas as a source of applicants.
Duke filled up half it’s class with ED too.
If Princeton has the same yield on its SCEA admits as RD (it’s likely higher), they filled up 40% of their class in the SCEA round. Probably safer to say that they filled up >40% of their class through SCEA.