I think you all are absolutely right, the college will do what they need to do, obviously, and yield management is a serious issue. But, from the applicant perspective, it still feels like the colleges hold the most important the cards. Feels pretty rude that they want not just interest, but full commitment, before showing their own cards, before the applicant has any idea what the alternative options might be. And we are full pay; can’t imagine how tough it is for those waiting on financial aid.
That’s part of it, but the people running the admissions and financial aid departments also have to end up with the class the school leadership is expecting. They’re worried about tuition revenue, stats, diversity, enough students for every major, dorm space, etc.
I think the implication was fewer initial acceptances though he did not expressly say that.
I really wonder too if location will play a role in yield protection. I mean if you are clear across the country and can’t see the place, will you be more likely to get wait listed? What about internationals from variant countries? On the other hand, lots of kids did not stay closer to home last year and the surveys have been neutral.
ED is about trading you a better chance of admission in exchange for you not looking for a better option. The better option might be prestige, fit, or cost.
They did notice btw that some of us - guilty! - applied to more schools this year. So fair that they might adjust for that in their models. They are on to it being mainly? full payers. Common app has been snitching
Unfortunately they may not because their usual number would likely be based on last year’s yield percentage and it will likely be lower this year since apps are up - and they don’t know how much lower. I am sure it depends on the school and which side of being wrong about the yield they can more afford to be on!
Completely agree that the student should get some kind of indication on where they are on the waitlist before needing to commit!! Do schools ever do that??
I’ve read it’s more like a waiting pool. They take what they need as needed. Nothing revealed to applicants though to my knowledge. It would be interesting if they had differently worded letters for certain applicants.
People on CC have suggested borrowing from med school “matching” style. This would be the year! The students could list their top 3 and the schools could number their list and then better matching could be done and faster. It would be nice if some innovation came out of this terrible year.
Of course they know kids have applied to more schools, but having said that, they then also know that there are less seniors out there this year, and less coming down the pipeline as well.
Also, they must know that many of their accepted students will ultimately not be able to pay the cost to attend and won’t qualify for full unmet aid. My kids don’t have loans but is it true that you can only get something like $27k/year of loans? I don’t mean it as “only” as if that’s not a lot, because it is a hell of a lot, but for kids willing to go all in (stupid) that can’t really afford it, how do they then get the money to pay for an 80k college if they don’t qualify for aid or have enough? I’m flabbergasted by these numbers. Also, these colleges NEED money. Many internationals still won’t be able to come in, and colleges will ultimately mandate the vaccine, which may still be a problem, especially for internationals.
We are also full pay, since I have an ex husband who’s wife knocks us completely out of receiving any money from a school that requires the CSS so we didn’t bother. Not sure about fafsa only schools as we haven’t received our fafsa “awards” yet, but I suspect those will probably be zero as well.
Oh yeah, my daughter got “offered” that $5,500 and thought she got a scholarship, lmao because it was called “award”. Then when I looked at it, I realized it was a loan they offered.
So, if they get a co-signer aka a parent in most cases, they can get loans for any amount? I can see why no one wants to co-sign for that, especially when there are cheaper options out there. My son received a full tuition ride to his safety. It’s an option if he wants and if we couldn’t afford anywhere else, you can very well bet he would be going there over a school that would be $80k all in. It all comes down to what you do at that school over what the name of the school is.
Is anyone following Covid at the schools on their kids’ lists? I’m watching Richmond and it’s bumming me out. I’m in a Richmond group of parents too and they are all complaining about how bad the food is in quarantine and how there’s not enough testing. Lots of kids who have been contact traced are just going home for 14 days instead of going to the quarantine dorm. I can’t even believe that’s allowed. That school has so much money. I can’t believe they aren’t treating their students right on this one.
Yes -
I have a daughter at Cornell and it’s amazing. Due to data collection from first semester and their analysis, they’re changing some protocols from 2x/week testing to 3x/week for certain groups - athletes, sororities, frats, coop living, apartments, certain activities, etc. Also, requiring everyone have at least one test on a weekend day to avoid people from leaving campus.
Other schools doing ok too, and some not so good. My other daughter at UT, they made it harder to get covid tested, she was able to get the vaccine this week though, yay, so I feel so much better about her safety because students have been dumb in her house and the school overall and she has dodged many bullets. My son though didn’t apply there.
Other schools, he applied mixed bag. Michigan, still not great, Looking for improvement. UIUC rough at beginning of first semester, but they nailed it. Purdue good job. Others I guess we shall keep waiting but it is an important factor.
