<p>‘Yield’ has always been a game played by a few giants. In BS world, it is among the few top schools of similar calibre and close to each geographically. I have done surveys and attended events where admit rate and yield were talked about at some of the top schools, and I left with the impression that the competitions in yield are really just among Andover, Exeter, SPS and Choate, and with Deerfield and Hotchkiss to a lesser degree. </p>
<p>Even the mid-Atlantic schools are not in the radar of these NE top schools. And it certainly feels like schools such as Lawrenceville don’t <em>care about</em> how many people are applying and whether they have a warm fuzzy feeling about their school enough that they’d choose them in the future. As for Thacher, think about it. It’s a school in the west coast, extending 60-70 admits and targeting for a yield of 50 while Andover, for example, extend around 415-450 admits to fill their 350ish spots each year. I don’t think Andover would take Thacher as a serious contender for yield at all. And even there are cross-admis of Thacher and the top NE schools, the impact to each of the NE schools is small. And, they attract a group of applicants who are <em>open minded</em> enough to consider a school away from the NE/east coast BS zone and they play the game by themselves.</p>
<p>Even communication from these schools before February can be very (mis)leading. Coaches seem the most guilty of this activity. My son received an email from one coach concluding with, “I look forward to hearing from you and at the very least seeing you on revisit days.” Another coach added a personal note to a letter about how my son was ready for the fields and classrooms of the school and concluded with, “I can’t wait to work and learn together.” Both are TSAO schools. My son’s Placement Director wants copies if he is not accepted.</p>
<p>D has coaches calling her during Jan-March time frame. AO at one HADES said “next step is we look forward to seeing you at revisit day.” Those messages DID NOT correlate well to where she got accepted, waitlisted or rejected. What are you (or your Placement Director) really going to do after the fact–complain about misleading statements? Yes, it impacted my D’s expectations, but in the end, the chips fell where they did and she moved on . . .</p>
<p>erlanger- As you may know, there is a special relationship between prep schools and feeder schools. If either Admissions or Placement has issues, you can be assured they will be addressed.</p>
<p>It should be noted that if a parent or student initiates contact during the quiet period, school admissions, faculty, and/or coaches are allowed to communicate freely. The gag order does not apply.</p>