Seems like WPI is rejecting super qualified candidates so that their yield improves. That is, WPI is not admitting based on performance, but rather based on the statistical truth that applicants with middle of the road credentials are far more likely to accept an offer of admission than an uber-qualified student. This could vastly improve their “yield” which presumably puts them in a more favorable light.
I’ve seen several instances of WPI wait listed students who boast elite school credentials (some of whom actually have been accepted at the likes of Yale and MIT).
This game of poker can have devastating effects for a few students and seems like it would disproportionately harm minorities and women as these applicants may appear to have more options to matriculate elsewhere — but that is not necessarily the case. In addition to seeming to be racist/ sexist (as inadvertent as it may be) it also seems dishonest to me.
So WPI, what say you (aside from the usual “there are many factors” tripe)?
Imo they either put alot of emphasis on their EA program or miscalculated yield. I knwo plenty of high stats people (myself included) who got in EA.
EA is a great way to go if a school is absolutely your only choice. For folks of limited means it is often a gamble they cannot afford to make since one is unable to compare offers of assistance. The point is I’m sure there are many high stat applicants who were accepted EA and a few accepted RD, but it also seems like the school is chopping the tail off the RD applicant distribution based on some big data “likely to accept” probability. Some number of the top candidates in RD will be awarded spectacular scholarships no doubt, but it seems if you’re applying RD it would be best to sprinkle in some Bs on that report card so you “appear” that you are more likely to accept an offer of admission. Naviance scatter plots indicate that WPI has gone into “yield protection” mode and I think it is a terrible practice. Why else would the female entrepreneur with stellar credentials be accepted at MIT and Yale but wait listed at WPI?
At a minimum it would behoove WPI to simply state “we use a formula to assess the probability that you will accept our offer and it may disqualify your application regardless of your academic qualifications”.
By the way, WPI has some of the best professors on the planet. Congratulations snowfairy137, if you work hard, you’ll get a fantastic education and opportunities to do important research even as an undergrad.
@fuggettaboutit You’re mixing up EA and ED. ED is the binding one, which WPI does not have. EA isn’t closed to anyone you just submit your application earlier and hear back ealier.
The issue with your premise is mostly the assumption a bunch of not as qualified candidates got in RD, which is not the case. The only person I saw get accepted RD seemed to be a recruited athlete- everyone else, no matter if their stats were good or super good, got waitlisted (super good stats) or rejected.
The issue with your premise is mostly the assumption a bunch of not as qualified candidates got in RD,
NOT true. Everyone who gets into WPI is absolutely qualified. I was pointing out that at the top end there are candidates who appear that they should get in who are wait listed because the institution believes that they would not likely accept an offer of admission which would negatively affects the yield statistic. Consider the candidate who was accepted at Yale and MIT but wait listed at WPI — it is true, that candidate likely would not have accepted an invitation to matriculate at WPI, but this is not always the case. What I am saying is it appears that some applicants are apparently wait listed based on big data probabilities and not the pure merit of their academic credentials. That does not take away from the vast majority of students who absolutely are the cream of the crop and deserve a spot at WPI. WPI is not MIT. MIT rejects enough qualified candidates to fill their freshman class 4 times over. WPI has played bridesmaid to MIT for many years and WPI probably has more valedictorians enrolled than you can shake a stick at. The quality of the candidates accepted at WPI are fantastic, but it seems there is a new emphasis on yield, which can occasionally have unintended consequences.
But that applicant would have probably been accepted if she had applied EA. The thing I haven’t seen any middle of the road RD applicants get in either (which would imply they were accepted “over” the top applicants). The accepted students group chat was acutually pretty excited for RD because more people but noone else(that I’m aware of) has joined.
I was actually waitlisted at MIT and accepted EA at WPI which I feel does make me an MIT level applicant (if I had applied to more “top” schools or worked harder on my essays I probably would have gotten into a more high level school). I’m really glad I didn’t get into MIT because I would never had been able to afford it and I found the campus quite depressing. WPI was always my top choice. I applied for fun and because their application questions were less daunting than the common app essay.
If you were wait listed at MIT that means you are"MIT material" and could swap places with just about anyone admitted to MIT as far as ability — so I’m happy WPI is fortunate enough to have you. You make a good point about EA versus RD. My worry is that an applicant like you might have gotten tossed if you had applied RD. Who really knows, but that there is a fair percentage of kids “in the top 25%” as opposed to top 5% means something weird is going on with respect to some top 5% candidates who got wait listed. I guess you’re implying that RD applicants have to walk on water AND also somehow convey that they most likely would choose WPI. It would imply that ALL the accepted kids with stats that put them near top 10% or worse applied EA. Naturally EA students with your credentials are absolutely in as only good could come of that from WPI’s perspective. Only WPI admissions knows. Regardless, the kids who make it in are top notch.
It may be a fair assumption that a student who truly had an interest in a school would take advantage of EA. There is no downside to it, as its not binding. Its like visiting a school when you are fairly nearby – not doing it indicates a lack of interest. Of course, thats not true in every case. Many kids may not have had their applications together in time, or discovered the school later in the search. But when the school has more than enough qualified applicants who did choose EA, I can understand how they could make that calculation.
I think @snowfairy137 is probably correct. The reality is that more and more students are applying EA, and while they tend to have higher stats, they may also find it easier to gain admittance. I compare it to schools like Purdue who use rolling admissions. Every year, students with good stats who apply early are admitted to Purdue’s First Year Engineering program, while others who apply later with equal or better stats are denied.
One other thing I saw last year was schools deferring EA applicants to the RD pool, and then asking the students to affirmatively let the school know if they were still interested before RD came out. I believe this is one way schools protect their yield numbers.
I have some sympathy for admissions teams. With students applying to more and more schools every year, it has to have become increasingly hard to project yields. The whole system is insane, and I am glad it is in our rearview mirror!
Just a thought. Does money have a role here? Schools, like MIT, are need blind in their admissions. I believe that WPI is not. If WPI has too many top students with significant financial need, then they might not have enough money to go around and so must pick and choose who to admit.
@HPuck35
THE IRONY OF COLLEGE ADMISSION DECISIONS
- The lower the percentage of admitted applicants, the more prestige assigned to the institution;
- Prestige attracts yet more applicants, like flies to the flame.
What a great business model. Attract more applicants so you can turn them away. The evil genius can, could, might be at work here and at many institutions. HPuck35 has a point. This is a choice many admissions committees have to make at a wide variety of schools. The question remains: Did they?
Without naming names, we know ALL BUSINESSES have ethical decisions to make in their planning. This decisions are not always so easy and obvious when you sit in the managers chair. In this factitious discussion:
Practical Business (PB) argues:
" We can’t afford them and they can’t afford us. The kindest thing to do is to turn them down."
Impractical Dreamer (ID) rebuts:
" These excellent student deserves to know they are as fast as the winning horses. Let them decide, but explain . . we simply ran out of funds. It is not right for us to make the expenditure decision for them."
PB:
“If we admit with no FA they will tell the world that we have no FA and not to waste their time applying. They will
say this even though we have spent millions of dollars on FA.”
ID:
“Well, it still is not right to out and out reject them because they could not afford us.”
Welcome to admissions! On old comic strip has the answer: “We have met the enemy and he is us!” (For the younger folks see https://www.google.com/search?q=pogo+i+have+met+the+enemy+and+he+is+us&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1). That’s right, this is a self inflicted wound largely brought on by our own limited definition of prestige. If we allow ourselves the time to judge school outcomes instead of rejection rates, we will discover a much broader playing field of realistic possibilities. You can probably go anywhere in the top 100, but… what about 101??
https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=234 says that WPI does consider “level of applicant’s interest”, among other things.
It also says that financial need is not used in the admission process (at least in the narrow sense of evaluating an individual applicant).
This year was our family’s first experience sending a senior off to college. It was truly a crazy process!
My son got into comfortable reach schools (and even received a scholarship) when he applied EA and visited several times. He was deferred from EA to RD at safety/match schools that he visited unofficially over the summer or offered wait list when he applied RD.
My take-away lesson for our daughter will be: if she is seriously interested in a certain school she will need to:
- Visit it officially at least 2 times
- Apply ED
- Sit for an admissions interview
- Follow all the school's social media accounts
- Mention that school on her own social media accounts, post pictures of herself on a visit, & tag the school!
I think this is all an unintended consequence of the ease of applying to schools using common app. Kids are applying to 10-15+ colleges and the admissions officers know this! They are left with trying to figure out if their school is just 1 of 5 safety schools on an applicants list. If a school accepts every high stats applicant that comes their way, it will devastate their yield.
What is the solution? I’m not really sure, but one thought might be removing the ability to apply to an unlimited number of schools. If common app restricted the number of applications, that would reduce some of the uncertainty that the AOs face. In the meantime, I think that working very hard at demonstrating interest is vital for a high stats applicant.
BTW, my son would be considered high stats here at WPI, but he definitely demonstrated serious interest in the school and was accepted. His good friend from his high school (who got into some terrific reach schools) did not demonstrate as much interest or apply EA, and very sadly was wait listed.
Disclaimer: I realize my sample size of 2 is not conclusive. 
@fuggettaboutit Is your premise based on anything other than self reported anecdotal evidence on cc?
My son was waitlisted with high stats and other stuff. He did not have an application ready for EA and was not able to visit or interview, because it wasn’t on his radar until later and he has fall ECs. He was disappointed. My daughter will do things differently.
Class of 2021 here, I got accepted ea at MIT but got deferred ea for WPI, and then got waitlisted. It was a match school that I was somewhat confident I could get into but whatever. My friend from my high school who ended up going to Cornell also got deferred ea from WPI but he got admitted RD.
All colleges do what they can to increase their yields. So yes colleges are going to reject or waitlist kids if they think there is a low likelihood of that kid attending. There is no implied bias. At all. In fact, I know that WPI actively seeks female applicants in a number of ways.