Yeah, at Richmond
You?
Same here, Richmond!
what colleges did you fill out the application for? If you donât mind
Richmond asked me to assure them that I can pay the full cost! which I obviously canât.
âwindyâ 
you guys are too funny
admitted to medill!
from title 1 ohio public school
gpa: 4.39 w/ 4.0 uw
rank: 1
8 APs (two 3s, a 4, and a 5 on the ones already taken) (only reported 4 and 5)
9 OSU classes
34 ACT (one sitting)
band/choir/drama/tutoring at a community college/congressional campaign internship/nonprofit internship/visual art and poetry awards
my common app essay wasnât great, but my âwhy northwesternâ was very good. Iâd say like a 7/10 and a 9 or 10/10, respectively.
accepted: osu, ou, kenyon, denison, u of richmond (full ride as a richmond scholar), and now northwestern
waitlisted: emory
rejected: northeastern
waiting on: brown, columbia, yale, princeton
They are totally yield protecting. Even the wording of their waitlist offer is clear thatâs exactly what theyâre doing. They also need to do it because they only have so much dorm space and require freshmen and sophs (if I recall) to live on campus. So there are only so many beds they have.
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Unless youâre from Chicago, people donât realize that windy isnât really related to the Chicago weather and that itâs really not all that windy here.
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Thatâs not yield protection. Yield protection would be rejecting or waitlisting overqualified students. A T10 school like NU wouldnât do that.
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It is exactly yield protection and they have done exactly that, waitlisting overqualifed students. They canât accept everyone and by stating in their letter that they know you are waiting for more decisions in the next week and we will have you recommit to our waitlist after that day with more information at that time, tell you that theyâre intentionally not accepting everyone they want to accept because they know a ton of those will pull out the minute the Ivy Leagues, Duke, Stanford and Vanderbilt and whatever other big schools are still not out come out in the next two weeks. Then they can go through and start accepting those applicants.
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Thereâs a difference between managing your yield well and yield protection. I find it hard to believe Northwestern, a T10, is looking at qualified applicants and saying they are overqualified for a top 10 school in the country. Thereâs just no evidence to support that they are taking less qualified applicants than they could be.
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Same
Are there schools you are still waiting to hear from?
My son was waitlisted and I was very surprised. Where did you see/receive the language about April 15th? Is it in an email he would have received? It was not on the waitlist acceptance he was prompted to submit.
No one said theyâre taking less qualified applicants, but theyâre definitely not taking all the top applicants that they might normally have taken in a normal year and theyâre also waitlisting a ton more than in a typical year.
Michigan tends to do the same thing with their EA pool. They traditionally donât always accept all the top top candidates and hold off some by postponing them because they think some will go to the Ivies or other more âeliteâ schools. Hence they wait to see who expresses their commitment in their LOCI, what updates they provide, and their interest. Some who show no real effort to do those things will show UM (or NU in this case) that they arenât necessarily their top choice. Others will bend over backwards to do so. Itâs not ideal and itâs not a great feeling for some, but based on this year and how many students are on countless waitlists relative to past years, itâs pretty clear the position the schools are in as theyâre operating in the blind. It just is what it is. You can believe it or not.
Honestly I feel the notion that NU waitlisted âoverqualified studentsâ is just people trying to rationalize their waitlist decision.
Your student can be qualified without matching the schoolâs admissions priorities. That doesnât make it yield protection.
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Yes, after he would have clicked accepting the waitlist he should have received an email explaining the process and whatâs happening after the next decisions come out and the resubmitting on the April 15 date.
No one should be surprised to not have gotten into NU. Itâs a reach for every single person and not a likely. Anyone who thinks itâs a likely or safety is given bad information. To some degrees it has become harder to get into than some of the Ivies.
That said, if your son is a top top student and has some extra information to add and can afford it etc. he may have a good chance at getting in off the waitlist but this is such an usual year for everyone who knows how things will shake out.
Did you read the interview of the retiring President where he said that for every 1 they accept there are basically 10 others that are equally as good and 5 that are almost as good. So if you go by that standard then like the Stanford article from some years ago where they said they could fill that yearâs class with something like 7 equivalent classes from their rejected students, one could say the same with Northwestern. They could have waitlisted or accepted any of those other 15 students that they didnât take. They also take diversity into account as they are really trying to become diverse so that said, that is part of it too so they donât want all privileged kids on campus as they shouldnât have that, or low income, or all white, or minorities, etc. So all of that plays a role in how they accept and make their classes so unfortunately there will be some overqualified students put on waitlists and maybe even some lesser qualified students being accepted who will do well just because of the makeup theyâre looking for. Itâs not a big deal to me either way, but thatâs just how they do things. People canât be bitter about it. They can either take the spot on the waitlist or move on.
We know this is a top school. My son works hard, operates as if nothing is guaranteed, and treats all good news as a surprise. I am the one surprised, he has said nothing of the sort. My surprise is based on the track record and âstatsâ for acceptances from his high school. He has already been blessed with many great options at this point, but for personal reasons he really wanted to be in Chicago, and at NU specifically. Thanks for answering my question. If it is in an email he hasnât mentioned it to me yet. He is really fatigued by the process at this point, and has tough decisions to make in the coming weeks. Just getting accepted into NU would have made this easier because he would have taken it.
I already heard
I definitely agree. The simple truth is no T10 school is yield protecting. Accepting students for different reasons to build a class isnât yield protection.
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