By not moving to ED you also make a commitment not knowing what aid or scholarships might be offered. Actually, worry that by committing to ED you might now get a scholarship that they might have offered as incentive otherwise. But if scholarship and aid are not a factor and the school is you top choice, ED is the way to go.
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You make a great point, and one that has always bothered me. Every admissions person Iâve asked has always said that ED kids have the âsame considerationâ to merit as EA/RD applicants. But a (very unscientific) scan of ED acceptances on CC seems to indicate that the merit goes more to EA/RD ⊠which makes sense as an incentive to accept the offer. ED offers are a guaranteed yield for the college, so why offer huge merit?
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Agreed. It is actually to the point that some colleges donât even appear to offer Merit aid to accepted EA/RD students initially and the trend seems to be those who accept their admission before receiving and offer are less likely to be offered aid than those who hold out to accept their offer until they receive a merit offer. After all many of these schools are for profit, why hand out free money if they donât need to.
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Customers perceive schools with low acceptance rates as better. If Harvard had a 90% acceptance rate, the school may not seem as desirable.
We are wired to be a pack and follow the pack. When we see lots of people apply to a school, we think it must be good.
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That may be true, but I think the co-op is a big draw. When my S23 was in 8th grade I dragged him to a college fair with his older brother. He stopped at the Northeastern booth and was very intrigued. Throughout high school it was on his radar. He goes to a small high school, and he liked the idea of breaking up the years of classes with actual work in his major. At the time, Northeastern was competitive but not what it is now.
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Exactly. Was going to post the same thing.
While USNWR may no longer use selectivity as a factory, itâs absolutely a factor in how applicants perceive/value a college. Colleges are well aware of this, hence the drive to increase the number of applications and drive down acceptance rates IMO.
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Sure. The co-op was a draw for me when my friend in Boston first told me about the school. I added the school to my list for further exploration by 23.
That said, all schoolsânot just one with coopsâwant to look âselective-rejective.â Anytime itâs hard to get tickets to a concert (Taylor Swift) or reservations to a restaurant or a type of car (Tesla), those in control of things benefit from the perceived scarcity.
Scarcity marketing encourages people to buy or, in this case, to apply/buy.
When we get the tickets, the car, the acceptance, we then feel special or among the chosen. I see myself fall into this with concert tickets sometimes, and itâs common for any human to get wrapped up in this even if we donât love to admit weâre susceptible!
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When we went to an open house at the University of Miami, the admissions officer discussed the huge numbers of applicants. She said some of it is because of the Common Application allowing them to apply to up to 20 schools now with a lot of ease. I guess it used to be a lower number? So applicants apply just to apply now, with no intention of going. It drives up the numbers of applicants that they get overall and makes it complicated for them to decide who was serious about them. I know this is what you were all saying, I just hadnât seen the common app mentioned (unless I missed it) as a reason for the surge.
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We were definitely proud of S23 for getting accepted, although we are aware applying ED made it easier. The exclusivity was not the driving factor in his applying there though. We looked at some other schools that were similarly competitive and he really wasnât interested.
When we decided ED was doable for him, there was that small sense of realization that he would never find out if he would have gotten into some of the other schools he applied to and that wanting to knowâŠwanting that sense of accomplishment of getting into several schools (or maybe not!). Once the acceptance for NEU came in, that was gone.
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Hm, my D23 applied EA and hasnât gotten a solicitation from Northeastern to switch to ED2. Not sure if thatâs a sign of anything. Yikes. I wish these decisions would come out already.
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They wonât nudge her to apply ED2 until after EA results are out (and only if sheâs been deferred).
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Tell your students to check their junk mail folder. I have noticed on a lot of these forums some important emails go to junk. In one case a parent inquired here about the tuition bill. It was in her studentâs junk mail!
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That would be a bad one to miss!
Do you think they do that for everyone or just the applicants they defer for yield protection?
My guess (and thatâs all it really is), is that they would nudge the applicants they deferred due to yield concerns. For candidates that were deferred because NEU wants to consider them along with the rest of the RD pool, they would probably not actively try to push them to ED2.
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Same here. Time will tell if that means anything.
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Makes sense. I was speaking to how scarcity causes us humans to buy. That was an answer to a question upthread about acceptance rates. 
My answer regarding scarcity marketing wasnât about a particular student.
So today is the 20th, the day the ED2 candidates were asked to have their preferences uploaded into the system by. I imagine that means that by tomorrow, theyâll be in line for consideration.
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I agree. Iâm not sure NU is working to increase the number of applications anymore⊠not in the last 5-6 years at least. It is just happening.
When my older D decided to go to NU in 2012 and got an amazing scholarship, had amazing coops and world travel experiences through DOCs, other kids in her school and area took notice. Otherwise NU would not be on the radar for many at all, coming from CA. I think the variety of experiential learning experiences is a big draw for many kids, esp after covid, when theyâve been cooped up for so long. I think people in general are looking for new quality experiences in life and NU has had their finger on the pulse of this for a long time. Coops, Boston city living, cool experiential learning⊠Iâm very grateful both my Dâs have had this experience even if I wish theyâd come back to CA.
Fun fact, my older D was just approved to hire a coop student for her work at a big biotech company! Actually, everyone on her team is going be hiring a coop student! The cycle continuesâŠ
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I understand it wasnât about my son or any one particular student.
My view is that there is more to it than the scarcity effect. If that was the driving factor, the effects would be limited and short-term. Think of the hottest Christmas toyâŠlegos have endured while zhu zhu pets (if you remember those!) fizzled out within a year.
If Northeastern was not producing real results, especially in terms of career placement and value, you would see the applications and yield drop. I am definitely biased because I am excited for my son, but I also grew up in Massachusetts. When I was in high school, pretty much anybody could get into Northeastern. My 84-year-old uncle went there because the co-op was the only way he could afford college!
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